Ericsson
Router 6000
Purpose-built for superior
RAN performance

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Ericsson | Ericsson Router 6000 – Purpose-built for superior RAN performance

Purpose-built
routers for radio
networks
The transport infrastructure is key to securing the best
performance for all 200+ foreseen use cases enabled by 5G.
Adding on Cloud RAN, the evolution of radios, interfaces,and deployment architectures - all of that drives the need forincreased capacity and connectivity, lower latency, and supportof increased traffic volumes in 5G transport networks. These
requirements have to be accomplished using less energy, thus
supporting service providers’ Net Zero ambitions.
Time and phase synchronization are crucial for high-performing
radio traffic. At the same time, capabilities such as security,
advanced quality of service (QoS), and segment routing are key
technologies to enable new functionality such as network slicing.
Agility, programmability, and software-defined networking(SDN) enable a high degree of automation across the transportdomain, reducing overall complexity and operational expenses.
As mobile networks move toward cloud and centralization, it
brings new benefits and challenges in the transport domain. Moreoperators see the need to build packet-based fronthaul networks.
Packet Fronthaul uses standard technologies that lower transport
deployment and maintenance costs and is a pre-requisite when
adding Ericsson Cloud RAN.
Combined with RAN, our extensive transport portfolio andpre-verified solutions let you design, build, upgrade, and maintaina transport network that supports the evolution of your mobile
network and the potential introduction of Cloud RAN ina cost-efficient way with minimal risk.

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Ericsson | Ericsson Router 6000 – Purpose-built for superior RAN Chapter
performance
title

Chapter title

High density of high-capacity,
radio-near interfaces
Densification of radio sites and new radio
interfaces drives the need for higher port
density in backhaul routers to handle
the new connections. The increased
radio capacity in 5G, along with the RAN
coordination functions, will require higher
speed for these router ports. No one-sizefits-all. Routers and configurations must
be tailored to the individual sites. Somesites may only demand a few high-capacity
interfaces (like 10GE). Other sites mayneed a much higher density of 25GE oreven 100GE interfaces. To match all theserequirements, the Router 6000 portfolio
includes a variety of products.
Advanced synchronization
Seamless synchronization is fundamental
to unlocking the full potential of 5G. 5G time
division duplexing (TDD) requires tight timeand phase synchronization. GNSS receivers
are sensitive to disturbances, which can
result in degraded 5G performance or evenan outage. Synchronization support in thetransport network enables a more faulttolerant architecture and, eventually, higher
radio performance at a lower cost. The
Router 6000 series offers cost-optimized
and complete time, phase, and frequency
synchronization support. By providing
more freedom for Grandmaster placement
and requiring fewer GNSS receivers, the5G network becomes more robust, faulttolerant, and cost-efficient. The Router
6000 synchronization solution also provides

excellent monitoring tools to simplify
operations and ensure the highest network
performance.

programmable. That enables efficient
network slicing and makes adjusting to theevolving demands of 5G networks easier.

Distributed security
We foresee a threefold increase in thenumber of radio sites. The main driver ofthis change is network densification causedby small-cell deployments. However, that
exposes the network to more points ofattack. A security-hardened design makes
the Router 6000 products ideal in untrusted
domains, while its hardware-accelerated
distributed security gateway function
offers IPSec-based connectivity with nocompromise in network performance. Endto-end security enforcement across theentire network is crucial for isolating andsecuring network slices.

Automation to reducecomplexity and costs
5G networks require increased connectivity,
virtualization, and disaggregation. Thereis a need to adapt to the dynamic natureof service handling as well as to provide agreater number of connection points. The
Router 6000 portfolio is fully integrated with
the Ericsson Network Management (ENM)
platform and supports auto-integration
with a seamless setup for the RAN transport
network. That enables the automatic
discovery of the Router 6000 nodes and theautomatic download of their predefined
configuration. Each configuration is kept
in sync with ENM for fast and simple
operation and maintenance. Advanced
SDN functionality enables automatic
traffic engineering, network optimization,
and advanced network-connectivity
management end-to-end.

Simplified underlay and overlay
The ability to run one physical networkwith performance and flexibility for every
use case with a policy-based overlay
and a service-aware underlay unlocks
business potential. Automated end-to-end
provisioning of traffic-engineered paths,
seamlessly spanning multiple SDN domains,translates into end-to-end optimization to
avoid constraints and guarantee KPIs and
SLAs. For example, automated provisioning
enables end-to-end VPNs where endpoints
can be dynamically provisioned from theaccess to the core and datacenters without
setting up a VPN for each domain. Segmentrouting (SR-MPLS and SRv6) has attributes
that facilitate making the network more

Efficient fronthaul networks
utilize packet technologies
The transport infrastructure is also vitalto mitigate the otherwise explosive
bandwidth requirements on the digital
fronthaul interface in centralized RAN
deployments (C-RAN). And here, packetbased technologies come into play. Evolved
CPRI (eCPRI) uses packet technology thatenables the fronthaul network to carry othertypes of traffic, such as enterprise.

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Ericsson | Ericsson Router 6000 – Purpose-built for superior RAN performance

To support the need for an all-packet
network, we introduced a unique packet
fronthaul gateway that enables:• Utilization of an existing installed base of
CPRI radios• Bandwidth savings totaling 60–80%,
achieved using conversion• Both C-RAN deployments and distributed
RAN (D-RAN)• Cloud RAN deployments, serving as CloudRAN gateways

Energy efficiency
Reducing power consumption is highon everyone’s agenda. Our Router 6000
products are designed with low power
consumption as a key design requirement,
resulting in four times better energy
efficiency across three product generations.
No effort is too small - even intelligent FAN
algorithms help reduce power consumption.

Router 6673 is a powerful fronthaul
gateway and a multi-service router withembedded RAN Compute functionality
leveraging the unique Ericsson Silicon. The
router enables efficient conversion to eCPRI
for our NR-ready CPRI radios but can also
be used in RoE mode (Radio over Ethernet).
In the C-RAN hub, Router 6678 is a perfectmatch to aggregate 100GE from the macrosites.
Transport for Cloud RAN
Ericsson Cloud RAN supports both D- and
C-RAN architectures and uses generichardware instead of purpose-built. It does it

by using virtualization for parts of L1 and all
L2 radio processing. With the introduction of
Cloud RAN, establishing a superior transport
network is fundamental, and it requires a
Cloud/Fronthaul Gateway to convert CPRI
from existing CPRI radios to eCPRI. Router
6673 with Cloud RAN and ERS basebands
allows for seamless transport of existing 4Gand 5G traffic, as well as future Cloud RAN
deployments. That gives the flexibility to
deploy, manage, and migrate to future RAN
technologies while efficiently transporting
existing traffic.

1. Access for 4G/5G

2. All outdoor access• Mid-band and mmWave drive
10/25GE deployment• Rail mount building practice• High capacity• Local radio co-ordination traffic
on 10/25GE• Time and phase synchronization

5

1
1
2
3

4
1

2

3. Centralized RAN hubs

4. Aggregation

5. Packet fronthaul• High port density 10GE / 25GE /100GE• 10GE / 25GE / 100GE density• Conversion and RoE-modes• Latency (ms range)• Class C-sync• Low latency (µs range)• Form factor• Support Cloud RAN• Precise synchronization• QoS and buffer size

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Ericsson | Document title

Ericsson | Ericsson Router 6000 – Purpose-built for superior RAN performance
Chapter title

5G requires superiortransport — start yournetwork evolution withtransport

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Ericsson | Ericsson Router 6000 – Purpose-built for superior RAN performance

Products and offering

Our Router 6000 family is designed to cater to the diverse,
challenging demands of modern backhaul and fronthaul
networks, all of them with energy efficiency as a high priority. The series holds the industry’s highest-performance
5G routers, each designed as part of our radio system toenable best possible RAN performance with 5G features
not found in any other router today. The Router 6000 portfolio can be used in backhaul, fronthaul, and Cloud RAN, tobuild superior transport networks that connect 5G services
everywhere.

Router 6000 family

Cost-efficient RAN routing
The Router 6000 series responds directly
to the 5G challenges concerning IP
backhaul/ packet fronthaul/aggregation.
It supports the exponential traffic growth,

increased network connectivity, and theneed for synchronization and security witha complete, scalable, and cost-efficientrouter portfolio. This product family contains
purpose-built routers with optimized

throughputs and high 10/25/100G port
densities to meet the requirements of theevolving 5G transport networks.

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Ericsson | Ericsson Router 6000 – Purpose-built for superior RAN performance

Router 6000 products

Router 6371

Router 6471

Router 6672

• IP65 hardened compact access router forsmall cells and all-outdoor deployments• Compact access router for suburbansites, emerging markets, and small cells• Advanced synchronization and IPSec
support• Advanced synchronization and IPSec
support• Advanced 4G/5G access router andpre-aggregation router with 100Gbps
forwarding capacity• Distributed security GW (SeGW) support
for small cells• Distributed security GW (SeGW)
support for small cells• ERS building practice for rail, wall, pole,or strand mount• Pay as you grow TDM support with
TDM 1001

Router 6675

Router 6671

Router 6676

• 5G-combined access and E5 switch
with 100GE interfaces and 320Gbps
forwarding capacity• Energy efficient cell site- and backhaulrouter with 100 Gbps forwarding capacity• 1 RU cell site- and backhaul transportrouter with 360 Gbps forwarding capacity• Advanced synchronization and IPSec
support• High density of 10 and 25GE ports in 1 RU

• High density of 25GE and 100GE ports• Advanced synchronization• Advanced synchronization• Programmability and SDN support• Native SRv6

• Native SRv6

Router 6673

Router 6678

Router 6273

• 1.5 RU 800 Gbps Fronthaul gateway andmultiservice node with native SRv6

• Optimized for aggregating 100GE inaggregation- and central hub-sites with
4.8Tbps forwarding capacity• Modular pre-aggregation, andaggregation router• RoE and Ericsson CPRI to eCPRI
conversion using Ericsson Silicon.
• Advanced synchronization

Router 6274
• Modular and redundant aggregationrouter with high 10/25/100G port
density• 2.7Tb full-duplex forwarding capacity• Integrated 100Gbps IPoWDM opticalsolution for longer reach• Advanced synchronization and IPSec
support• Sealed design preventing dust fromcontacting the PCB, removing the needfor fan filter deployment and site visits• Built for high reliability with redundant
PSU and FAN• High 10/25/100G port density with
800Gbps full-duplex forwarding capacity
in only 3U height• Native SRv6

• Designed to lower CAPEX and OPEX

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Ericsson | Ericsson Router 6000 – Purpose-built for superior RAN performance

Management, orchestration,and transport

Building a superior transport network also requires efficient management and orchestration of its services. With
the introduction of Cloud RAN, edge compute, container-based architectures, and network slicing, the management and orchestration systems have become vital components to capture the booming market potential of 5G.

Advanced management oftransport services
The Router 6000 products are part ofEricsson Radio System and utilize the common management system, Ericsson Network Manager (ENM).
With Ericsson Network Manager (ENM),
all network technologies can be handled ina single management platform. The solution provides a single interface for managing the complete mobile network. It reduces
the cost of operations by automating tasks
such as monitoring, service provisioning,
software management, and initial deployment. ENM allows for SDN-based manage-

ment with open and standard interfaces, aframework for policy-driven automation,and end-to-end orchestration to support theefficient roll-out of 5G services.
Ericsson Orchestrator (EO) connects
RAN, Core, and Transport to enable endto-end network slicing. Service Orchestrator in EO is the glue between the transport
and the cloud domains for both intra- andinter-datacenter connectivity.

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Ericsson | Ericsson Router 6000 – Purpose-built for superior RAN performance

Evolve your network
to support 5G and beyond
Future-proof the IP network to support the RAN evolution.
Digital services of the future will demand new capabilities in 5G
and beyond. That includes an appropriate end-to-end QoS in
throughput, latency, device density, availability, and reliability.
The key to success is the best-performing transport network. As
the first wave of 5G deployments has begun, the race to secure
5G-ready transport infrastructures is on.
Future-proof network products require highcapacity, a compact and modular building
practice, advanced packet functionality, andaligned and backward compatible features
across different network nodes. Flexibility
and modularity are essential, and theutilization of software upgrades to existing
hardware makes the rollout of new RAN
services faster and more cost-efficient.
Modularity and flexibility for any
medium and deployment scenario
Our diverse router portfolio offers a variety
of products that can be used in all RAN
use cases. The portfolio’s modularity andflexibility support any network size, fromsmall sites to significant aggregation, evenwhen the network scale grows. It also
supports any installation need, both indoors
and outdoors. And the mix and match
approach allows your network to groworganically, also when it grows in scale andcomplexity. Our transport products support
the network evolution from 5G and beyond.
Investing when and where necessary
prevents from excessive spending and highup-front costs without over-dimensioning.

Network slicing
Network slicing is a key component in a
5G network architecture. By splitting thephysical network into multiple virtual ones,
it’s possible to separate and handle different
5G use cases according to their specificrequirements. Our components are designed
for efficient network slicing to enable trafficengineering for optimal transport pathselections based on bandwidth and latency.
QoS is tailored to support different types ofcustomers and services by allocating speed,
coverage, and capacity into logical slices.
SRv6 for scale and simplicity
Using standard summarization, SRv6 router
advertisement dramatically reduces both
host and service routes in the network. It
enables an any-to-any capability without
requiring the routers’ control plane to growto an uneconomic scale. At the same time,
this allows the network to be segmented
into smaller routing domains to protect
against failures that would otherwise affectlarge areas in the network.
SRv6 requires only IPv6 connectivity for
operation. Legacy protocols like LDP and
RSVP can be phased out of the network,
thus significantly decreasing complexity.

For traffic engineering, standardized
extensions to IS-IS and OSPF are needed.
Interoperation between SRv6 and MPLS is
also well understood and supported, bothon service and transport levels.
Network slicing, SLA enforcement, andsub-50ms path restoration in any topology(TI-LFA) are all native capabilities of SRv6,
making it the protocol of choice for backhaul
networks for 5G and beyond. Trafficengineering will be easier with SRv6.
Datacenter gateway
Router 6274 can be used as Datacenter
Gateway and is a part of Ericsson NFVI
solution. Ericsson NFVI enables operators
to deploy virtual network functions (VNFs)
or cloud-native functions (CNFs) frommultiple vendors, as well as OSS and
BSS applications, with high speed while
keeping the total cost of ownership low.
Router 6274 has the capacity, scalability,
and redundancy protocols, required for
performance and stability. The solution
is system-verified, which significantly
simplifies deployment, operations, andupgrades.

About Ericsson

Ericsson enables communications service providers to
capture the full value of connectivity. The company’s
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Services, and Emerging Business and is designed tohelp our customers go digital, increase efficiency, andfind new revenue streams. Ericsson’s investments ininnovation have delivered the benefits of telephony andmobile broadband to billions of people around the world.
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