Communication network with control plane network

A communication network includes nodes communicating over a current generation network, such as 5G and some, or all of the nodes are also capable of communicating over a previous generation network, such as 4G for instance. A third node receives a first signal from a first node over the current generation network, a second signal that is a retransmission of the first signal from a second node over the current generation network, and network dimensional parameters from the first node and/or the second node over the previous generation network. The network dimensional parameters enable the third node to determine precise locations of the first node and the second node. Using a function of the network dimensional parameters, the third node correlates the first signal and the second signal to generate a simplified signal therefrom. A secondary wireless mesh acts as an overlay control plane via a non-shared non-virtualized external controller.