Microwave capacity evolution – new technologies and additional frequencies

Microwave technology is a cost-efficient technology for flexible and rapid backhaul deployment to almost any location. It is the dominant backhaul media for mobile networks in the world today, and is expected to maintain this position during the evolution of mobile broadband.

New RAN architectures such as HSPA-evolved, LTE and heterogeneous networks have led to an ever increasing demand for backhaul capacity. In this article, key emerging gigabit per second microwave technologies that help address this issue are explored.

There are a number of ways backhaul capacity can be increased to gigabit per second levels and this article explores microwave technologies, such as adaptive modulation, radio-link bonding and how new and wider frequency bands can increase spectrum.