Investigating Integrated Access and Backhaul on the Aether 5G Testbed

The envisioned dense deployment of millimeter wave small cells threatens to require expensive and potentially disruptive installation of fiber backhaul from each cell location to a Mobile Network Operator's (MNO) nearest point-of-presence. Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB) uses part of the wireless spectrum in lieu of fiber for the backhaul connection, promising to reduce the cost of fiber deployments. But IAB architectures also introduce design challenges and open research questions at multiple protocol layers, ranging from wireless self-interference to multi-hop topology management. To explore these issues we construct a replicable research testbed to investigate systems level architectural and performance issues in multi-hop IAB settings. We show how the Open Networking Foundation's (ONF) Aether (TM) platform can be used to emulate alternative wireless backhaul architectures across a range of topologies and radio technologies. Using commercially available Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) radios and small cells, we evaluate the performance of a UE communicating over a multi-hop topology.(1)