The evolution of MINI-LINK: from wire substitute to traffic node

This article chronicles how Ericsson’s MINI-LINK microwave transmission system evolved over 50 years from a simple wire substitute for remote base station connectivity into a sophisticated modular traffic node architecture handling both circuit-based and packet-dominated networks. Three design principles drove the shift: scalability across site types, remote manageability without constant physical visits, and future-readiness for evolving traffic patterns.