<s>
The	O
fronthaul	B-General_Concept
portion	O
of	O
a	O
C-RAN	B-General_Concept
(	O
Cloud	O
Radio	O
Access	O
Network	O
)	O
telecommunications	O
architecture	O
comprises	O
the	O
intermediate	O
links	O
between	O
the	O
centralized	O
radio	O
controllers	O
and	O
the	O
radio	O
heads	O
(	O
or	O
masts	O
)	O
at	O
the	O
"	O
edge	O
"	O
of	O
a	O
cellular	O
network	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
recent	O
years	O
fronthaul	B-General_Concept
is	O
becoming	O
more	O
essential	O
as	O
5G	O
becomes	O
more	O
mainstream	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
general	O
it	O
is	O
coincident	O
with	O
the	O
backhaul	B-General_Concept
network	I-General_Concept
,	O
but	O
subtly	O
different	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
backhaul	B-General_Concept
data	O
is	O
only	O
decoded	O
from	O
the	O
fronthaul	B-General_Concept
network	O
at	O
the	O
centralised	O
controllers	O
,	O
from	O
where	O
it	O
is	O
then	O
transferred	O
to	O
the	O
core	B-General_Concept
network	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
proposals	O
to	O
modify	O
Ethernet	O
to	O
make	O
it	O
more	O
suitable	O
for	O
the	O
Fronthaul	B-General_Concept
network	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Recently	O
,	O
a	O
novel	O
wireless	O
fronthaul	B-General_Concept
solution	O
has	O
been	O
proposed	O
for	O
ultra-dense	O
small	O
cell	O
deployment	O
where	O
networked	O
flying	O
platforms	O
(	O
NFPs	O
)	O
such	O
UAVs	O
,	O
drones	O
,	O
tethered	O
balloon	O
and	O
high-altitude/medium-altitude/low	O
-altitude	O
platforms	O
carrying	O
FSO	O
transceivers	O
have	O
been	O
introduced	O
as	O
aerial	O
hubs	O
to	O
aggregate	O
the	O
small	O
cell	O
traffic	O
and	O
offer	O
connectivity	O
to	O
the	O
core	B-General_Concept
network	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
