The plethora of services envisaged to support 5G use-cases requires the development of a radio access network (RAN) infrastructure with the capability to integrate a variety of user-demanded mobile traffic characteristics. It is therefore interesting to study a 5G deployment scenario showcasing heterogeneous transmission. In order to address this challenge, in this paper, we propose and experimentally assess a coarse-wavelength-division-multiplexing-compatible optical access network for joint provisioning of 4G/5G RAN services, supporting the coexistence of both digital and analog radio-over-fiber (ARoF) fronthauling. Resorting to an integrated testbed, we demonstrate the transport of 100 MHz 5G downlink using low-latency and bandwidth-efficient ARoF over 8 km fiber, seamlessly coexisting on the same fronthaul infrastructure with a legacy full-fledged 4G long-term evolution (LTE) network supported by Ethernet-based digital RoF with different functional splits. In addition, we experimentally demonstrate the successful operation of the 4G/5G system in a hybrid fiber–wireless scenario including a free-space optics fronthaul extension with 55 m. The proposed heterogeneous RAN architecture is demonstrated to provide a flexible and robust integration path for novel 5G technologies, enabling their coexistence with currently deployed 4G LTE systems over a shared fronthaul infrastructure.

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Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC) is the key enabling technology for the present and future vehicular communication for various applications, such as safety improvement and traffic jam mitigation.This paper describes the development of a microstrip antenna array for the roadside equipment of a DSRC system, whose characteristics are according with the vehicular communications standards. The proposed antenna, with circular polarization, has a wide bandwidth, enough to cover the current European DSRC 5.8 GHz band and the future 5.9 GHz band for next generation DSRC communications. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 53:2794–2796, 2011; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI 10.1002/mop.26394

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