Toward Mobile and Converged Backhaul: The Promise of Wireless Access and Backhaul

2026-06-04

AI Summary

This work addresses the limitations of 5G backhaul networks in flexibility, cost efficiency, and support for mobility by proposing a Wireless Access and Backhaul (WAB) framework aligned with 3GPP Release 19 standardization. The framework decouples access and backhaul functionalities to establish a modular architecture that integrates multi-RAT technologies and enables mobile backhaul links. Leveraging commercial base station hardware and an open-source software platform, the project implements a prototype system that, for the first time, demonstrates the practical feasibility and operational efficiency of WAB in real-world deployments. The study further highlights WAB’s application potential in representative scenarios such as on-demand coverage and mobile SD-WAN, thereby laying a foundational groundwork for the evolution toward 5G-Advanced and 6G.

Abstract

Wireless Access and Backhaul (WAB) is emerging as a key enabler for flexible and cost-efficient 5G deployments, offering a modular architecture that decouples access and backhaul while supporting multi-technology and mobile backhaul links. This article introduces the WAB framework standardized in 3GPP Release 19, outlining its architecture and operational principles. A practical implementation built with commercial hardware and open-source software demonstrates the feasibility and efficiency of WAB systems. We further explore four representative application scenarios - ranging from on-demand coverage to mobile Software-Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN) connectivity - and discuss the technical challenges that must be addressed for large-scale adoption. These insights highlight WAB as a promising foundation for 5G-Advanced and a stepping stone toward future 6G networks.

Problem

• Wireless Access and Backhaul
• 5G deployment
• mobile backhaul
• converged backhaul
• 6G networks

Innovation

• Wireless Access and Backhaul (WAB)
• modular architecture
• multi-technology integration
• mobile backhaul
• 3GPP Release 19