Base stations evolution: Toward 4G technology

Recently, a distributed architecture for base stations was proposed. In this new configuration, the base station is separated into two parts: the radio frequency part near the antenna and the baseband processing unit. The interface connection between them is ensured by an optical fiber. In this paper, we present the ongoing works on standardization of the optical interface and the proposed solutions by telecommunications equipment manufacturers for this new architecture. Moreover, key technologies of 4G are recalled and the effect of the evolution of base station models on future cellular systems is evaluated.