Heuristics for PON-based 5G backhaul design

Small radio cells have been acknowledged as the only technically viable way to provide the individual 100 Mb/s - 1 Gb/s access rates promised by the future 5G¹ cellular networks. This small-cell approach faces a number of technological challenges when it comes to the design of an appropriate backhaul network. However, not less importantly, it also poses a financial challenge for operators, given the high cost of deployment and maintenance of a large amount of active devices connected at gigabit speeds scattered over a metropolitan area.