Transport for O-RAN — fronthaul switching

Fronthaul Ethernet Switch Requirements

O-RAN fronthaul transport places unique demands on Ethernet switches positioned between O-RU and O-DU. These switches must forward eCPRI frames with deterministic low latency — typically under five microseconds per hop — to stay within the seventy-five microsecond one-way fronthaul budget. Standard enterprise or data center switches are unsuitable because their store-and-forward latency and unpredictable queuing delays exceed fronthaul timing requirements. Purpose-built fronthaul switches implement cut-through forwarding, priority-based frame preemption per IEEE 802.1Qbu, and scheduled…