Nokia, Orange complete 20Gbps microwave CA link trial

Nokia has extended its collaboration with Orange France to upgrade its microwave backhaul network with the latest product generation. The trial successfully demonstrated the use of microwave carrier aggregation (CA) techniques, achieving a throughput of 20Gbps over a distance of 3.6km. This was enabled by combining the carriers from two microwave radios operating in the 18GHz band with two E-Band microwave radios operating at 80GHz, using a single dual-band (18GHz+80GHz) antenna.

In addition to new products from its Wavence microwave portfolio, Nokia will provide Orange France with a range of products and services from its comprehensive AirScale 5G radio access portfolio, as well as a state-of-the-art network management solution and associated professional services. The Nokia Wavence portfolio supports the evolution of both backhaul and fronthaul with multi-gigabit capacity. Christian Gacon, CTO Fixed/IP/Optical/Microwave Networks at Orange France, said: ‘Nokia’s innovative Wavence portfolio and microwave technology will ensure that we can deliver high-capacity services and experiences to our customers over long distances, which is critical as the usage of 5G increases.’