The recent widespread use of mobile Internet together with the advent of numerous smart applications has led to the explosive growth of the mobile data traffic in the last few years. This momentum of mobile traffic will continue due to the emerging needs of connecting people, machines, and applications through mobile infrastructure. As a result, the current and projected dramatic growth of mobile data traffic necessitates the development of fifth-generation (5G) mobile communications technology. As a result, there is significant interest in the development of innovative backhaul and fronthaul solutions for ultra-dense heterogeneous networks.

This book brings together mobile stakeholders from academia and industry to identify and promote technical challenges and recent results related to smart backhaul/fronthaul research for future communication system such as 5G. Moreover, it presents a comprehensive analysis on different types of backhaul/fronthaul technology and topology. It considers already available topology for backhauling/fronthauling and explains all fundamental requirements for deploying future smart and efficient backhauling/fronthauling infrastructure from an architectural, technical and business point of view and presents real life applications and use cases. Expanding on standardization activities, this book consists of multiple channels on specific research topics. The chapters are logically organized as the authors approach the subject from overview to specifics and from a lower to higher layer direction.