A radio link is a wireless connection between two nodes, or radio units, in a data network. Each radio unit consits of a tranceiver and a highly directive antenna, typically operating at microwave frequencies in the range of 6 – 23 GHz. However, the capacity of the radio links increases with frequency, and antennas for e.g. 70 - 80 GHz are being deployed to an increasing extent. Depending on frequency, the maxium communication range for a radio link varies between a few meters to hundreds of kilometers.
Data transfer in the mobile backhaul networks can be done in two ways – wireless using Point-to-Point radio communication or wired through optical fiber cables and copper wires. Today, approximately 50% of all cellular base stations are connected using wireless links. This blog post makes a comparison between wireless and wired.
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