• Electronics and Telecommunications Trends
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.1-10
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• 2022

Traditional centralized radio access network architecture used for 4G is based on Option 8, a functional split between PHY and RF. This option is commonly used with a fronthaul interface based on common public radio interface (CPRI) specifications; however, the increased data rates in 5G make this option impractical because of the fronthaul interface's high bandwidth requirement. Since CPRI specifications have many vendor-specific options, achieving multi-vendor interoperability becomes challenging. Open RAN (O-RAN) Alliance is developing novel open fronthaul interface specifications based on the functional split Option 7-2x, one of the intra-PHY split options, to relax the bandwidth requirement of the fronthaul interface and achieve multi-vendor interoperability. This article provides a brief overview of the various functional split options for 5G fronthaul that have been reported so far and existing fronthaul technologies. Further, the technological trends in the 5G open fronthaul interface is discussed, focusing on the O-RAN Alliance specifications under standardization.