Non-Line-of-Sight Microwave Backhaul in Heterogeneous Networks

In this paper we present a study on the applicability and performance of microwave backhauling of small-cells in a heterogeneous network. Microwave backhaul in non-line-of-sight (NLOS) between a hub and a client provides a cost efficient and flexible small-cell deployment. In contrast to conventional NLOS communications using sub-6 GHz frequencies we propose the use of super-6 GHz frequencies which offers high antenna gain with reasonably sized antennas and wide bandwidths in licensed spectrum. We study both Point-to-Point (PtP) and Point-to-Multi-Point (PtMP) system concepts. The PtP system is characterized by pencil beam antennas with unshared radio resources for each link. The PtMP system is characterized by a single wide-beam antenna system at the hub with radio resources that are shared between multiple clients.