ul and backhaul networks, calling for converged transport networks that unify An optical transport network consists of a set of optical network elements connected by optical fiber links and is able to provide functionality of transport, multiplexing, routing, management, supervision, and surviv- ability of optical channels carrying user signals, according to the requirements given in ITU-T Recommendation G.872. A distinguishing characteristic of the optical transport network is its provision of transport for any digital signal independent of client-specific aspects, that is, client independence. As such, according to the general functional modeling described in ITU-T Recommendation G.805, the optical trans- port network boundary is placed across the optical channel/client adaptation, in a way to include the server specific processes and leaving out the client-specific processes. A passive optical network is a communication technology which is used to provide fiber links to the end users. One of the passive optical network's distinguishing features is that it implements a point-to-multipoint architecture where passive fiber-optic splitters are used to enable a single optical fiber to serve multiple end- points. A passive optical network does not have to provision individual fibers between the hub and customer. 5G Network Architecture 63 backhaul and fronthaul equipment (i.e., integrated access and backhaul ³6, hence reducing deployment and operational costs. The deployment of these networks can be facilitated by the introduction of NGFI. Centralizing baseband processing simplifies network management and enables resource pooling and coordination of radio resources. The fronthaul represents the transport net- work connecting the central site to cell sites when some or the entire baseband functions are hosted in a central site. Point-to-point dark fiber would be the ideal transport medium for fronthaul because of its high bandwidth, low jitter, and low latency. However, dark fiber is not widely available, thus there 