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Glenn Wellbrock is the director of optical transport network architecture, design and planning at Verizon, where he is responsible for the development and deployment of new technologies for both the metro and long haul transport infrastructure. Prior to this position, Wellbrock ran the advanced technology lab, established evaluation criteria and set engineering guidelines for all backbone transport equipment as well as various positions within network operations. In addition to his more than 20 years at Verizon (1984-2001 and 2004-present), Wellbrock was responsible for product architecture within the U.S. optical networks group at Marconi and product planning at Qplus Networks with a specific focus on developing alternative modulation techniques.
Service Provider Keynote: Verizon
PANEL: XHAUL OPTIONS FOR THE 5G TRANSPORT NETWORK
Scale and performance requirements dictated by the 5G radio network and applications are forcing a radical re-think of the transport network that connects the macro and small cell sites to the core – including the fronthaul, midhaul, and backhaul portions. Significantly, before 5G can be rolled out at scale, operators will have to make a number of key decisions about "xhaul" protocols, technologies and architectures. There is currently much debate: should operators maintain classic distributed RAN architectures or move to a centralized/cloud RAN? Is dark fiber the best connectivity choice; or should operators adopt active DWDM systems or move to next-gen PON technologies? And how does migration to eCPRI impact all of the above? This panel session will explore the range of 5G transport options from fronthaul to backhaul and from optics to packets with the goal of mapping each to the specific requirements of the 5G radio access network and anticipated applications.
