Mobile Backhaul

1.4 Organization of the Book

The body of the book is organized in two parts.

Part I considers networks as entities, from needs and change drivers to network transitions and from mobile systems to packet networking and implementation aspects. Part II studies key functionalities in MBH: Synchronization, Resilience, Quality of Service, and Security, with the aim of going deeper into each of these topics.

The first chapter in Part I, Chapter 02, provides an introduction to the backhaul networks, to the needs and economic aspects of transport in mobile networks, and discusses the drivers for the packet-based MBH solutions as well as some transition issues. Part I continues with Chapter 03 describing mobile systems standardized by 3GPP. The emphasis is on logical interfaces and the related protocol stacks for the transport and for the end user service delivery. Radio network key functionality is introduced as well.

Chapter 04 in turn provides an overview of packet networks and networking technologies and protocols especially for readers who are already more familiar with the radio network technologies. Chapter 4 also discusses how the packet technologies are used in implementing a backhaul service for the radio network layer.

The last chapter of Part I, Chapter 05, discusses transport technologies and systems used in MBH networks, their main characteristics and briefly the services available for outsourcing MBH functionality; the focus in Chapter 05 is on the systems needed and used ...