Radio Access and Spectrum

FP7FutureNetworksCluster
http://www.ictras.eu/
5G radio network architecture
This white paper is an outcome of the Radio Access and Spectrum cluster
projects funded by the European Commission under the Seventh Framework
Programme in the area of Future Networks. It presents a view from the
European research community on the architecture aspects of 5G mobile and
wireless communication systems.
1. Introduction
Theuseofmobilecommunicationnetworkshasincreasedsignificantlyinthepastdecades,in
termsofcomplexityofapplications,theirrequiredcapacities,andheterogeneityofdevicetypes.
Sofar,thistrendhasalwaysbeenmetbysignificanttechnologicaladvancementsandwill
continuetoincrease.By2020,Europehastopavethewayforanewgenerationofconverged
wiredandwirelesscommunicationnetworks,whichhastobedevelopedanddeployedtomove
forwardtoafuturenetworkedsociety.Inthiswhitepaper,wepresentourperspectiveonsucha
5Gradioaccessnetworkandfocusespeciallyonthearisingchallengesandnewtechnologies
thatenableustomeetthesechallenges.
Lookingbackatthedevelopmentof3G(UMTS,HSPA)and4G(LTE,LTEAdvanced)itisclear
thatthesegenerationsofmobilenetworksfocusedoncreatingnewphysicalradiotransmission
schemesinordertomeetnewcapacityrequirements.Fromourpointofview,5Gnetworks
shouldconsiderbothwirelessandwiredpartstargetingafullyintegratedsolution.Furthermore,
inordertoaddresstheuserorientedchallenges,weforeseeacontinuedevolutionofexisting
functions,e.g.,networkdensificationintoultradensenetworksanddevicetodevice
communications,aswellasdevelopmentofnewfunctionssuchasmovingnetworksand
massivemachinecommunications.Thisrequiresautointegrationandselfmanagement
capabilitieswellbeyondtodaysselforganisingnetworkfeatures,whichhavetobereflectedin
thearchitecturallayertoachievetheirfullpotential.Additionally,ultrareliablecommunicationsput
verystringentlatencyandreliabilityrequirementsonthearchitecture.
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Thewhitepaperisorganisedasfollows.InSection2wedescribethemostimportantchallenges
for5Gnetworks,includingtheriseofnumberofdevices,increasedrequirementsforcapacity,
energyefficiency,infrastructureissuesandvaryingservicerequirementsandcharacteristics.In
Section3wepresentnewtechnologiesthatwillenableussolvethesechallenges,withafocus
onnetworkfunctionvirtualisation,cooperativecommunications,automatednetworkorganisation,
flexiblebackhauling,aswellasadvancedtrafficmanagementandoffloading.Weconcludewith
somefinalremarksinSection4.
2. Challenges
Inthissectionwegiveanoverviewofthemainissueschallengefor5Gsystems,asdrivenby
thefastchangingmobilenetworkevolutionandtheforecastexpansionofusecasesand
applications.
2.1 Broad variation of requirements and service characteristics
Themainchallengesfor5Gsystemarethecontinuedevolutionofmobilebroadbandandthe
additionofnewservicese.g.,massivesensorcommunicationandvehiculartoanything
communication,requiringshortersetuptimesanddelay,aswellasreducedsignallingoverhead
andenergyconsumption[Bal13].Mobilebroadbandofthefuturewillhavesignificantlyincreased
trafficvolumesanddatatransmissionsrates,butalsomanymoreusecases.Theyincludenot
onlytrafficbetweenhumansandbetweenhumanandthecloud,butalsobetweenhumans,
sensors,andactuatorsintheirenvironment,aswellasbetweensensorsandactuators
themselves.Somenewkeyapplicationswithdisruptivecharacteristicsfollow[METISproject
https://www.metis2020.com/].
Firstly,massivemachinecommunications(MMC)isenvisioned,whosemainchallengesare
[Fal13,Oss13]:i)tosupport10100timesmoredevicesthantodayii)toallowverylongbattery
lifetimes(ontheorderof5+years)ofthewirelessdeviceiii)toincurminimumsignalling
overheadiv)toenablelowcostwirelessdevicesv)tosupportefficienttransmissionofsmall
payloadswithfastsetupandlowlatency.Atthesame,itisdesirabletohave99.999%coverage,
whileenergyconsumptionandcostfortheinfrastructureshouldnotincrease.Despitesome
initialworksdone,e.g.,in3GPP[3gpp22.368],theservicerequirementsforthesemachinetype
communicationstorealisetheInternetofThings(IoT)arestillnotfullyunderstood.Thisismostly
duetothemultidisciplinarynatureofIoTapplicationsandthecurrentlackoftrulymassiveand
largescaledeploymentsofsmartobjectsinaneconomicallysustainablemanner.
Secondly,safetycriticaldomains,whichtraditionallyhadtheirprivateinfrastructure,will
increasinglyusemobilebroadbandnetworks.Exampleapplicationsare:Assisteddrivingvia
vehicletovehicle(V2V)andvehicletoinfrastructure(V2I)communications,withautomated
breakingincaseofaccidentoradversetrafficconditionsaheadpublicprotectionanddisaster
relief(PPDR)systemspublictransportationautomationandcontrol,e.g.,theInternationalUnion
ofRailwaysisconsideringLTEasadualusetechnologytocomplementandextendthe
railwaysflavourofGSM,calledGSMR,currentlystandardisedinEuropeforsignallingin
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highspeed/highavailabilitytrainsautomaticcontrolofsmartgridelements,e.g.,substations
andelectricvehiclechargingstations,tobalancenetworkloadandmitigateinstabilitycausedby,
e.g.,theintroductionofrenewablesourcesofenergy.Suchsafetycriticalapplicationstypically
requireextremelyshortsetuptimesandlowdelays.Also,itisimportanttoachievewidearea
coverage,whichcanbedoneonlythroughasmoothandefficientintegrationwithalternative
technologies,suchassatellitecommunicationsandaerialbasestations[ABSOLUTEproject
http://www.absoluteproject.eu/].
Finally,wecanexpectafurthergrowthofmobilecloudbasedapplications,whichhaveunique
characteristicsintermsoflatencyandbandwidth.Infact,themostcomplexapplications(e.g.,
speechrecognition,navigation)areoften,itnotalways,offloadedtoacloudserver,soasto
reducetheprocessingandenergyburdenofmobiledevices.Whilethiseffectivelymakesthe
smartphoneortabletleaner,itstressestheimportanceofareliable,lowlatency,highbandwidth
connectiontotheInternet.
Afinalnoteismadeonvideostreaming,whichisalreadythebiggestcontributortoworldwide
traffictoday,atleastinthefixedpartoftheInternet,andisexpectedtoshifttomobilebroadband
connectionassoonasthecurrenttechnologiesandbillingplanswillallowthis.Moreover,the
futurevideoencodingandplaybackadvances,including3D,veryhighqualityencoding,4K
resolution,andmultiangle,willfurtherincreasethecapacityrequirements.
Someexamplesofverydiverserequirementsforsomeusecasesofbusinessandsocial
interestarereportedinthetablebelow.
Requirement Verystrict Intermediate Relaxed
Highbitrate Videoequipments
(3DTV,realtime
streamingdevices,
remoteconference)
Typicalapplicationson
smartphonesand
tablets,V2I
IoT,V2V
Fastmobility Applicationsrunningon
smartphonesand
tabletsontheroad,
V2V/I
Everythingelse Homeandoffice
appliances,IoT(most)
Highreliability PPDR,IoT(some),
V2V/I
Everythingelse
Lowlatency Gameconsoles,IoT
(some),V2V/I,PPDR
(some)
Web&mobileapps,
cloudcomputing
IoT(some)
Lowenergy
consumption
IoTdevices(most) Smartphonesand
tablets
Cableddevices
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2.2 Energy efficiency
Classicaldesignsforwirelesscommunications,whichtendtomaximiserate,capacityand
coverage,potentiallyleadtosolutionswhereenergyefficiencydrops.Energyefficiencyis
understoodfromtwoviewpoints.Ontheonehand,theenergyspentbytheinfrastructuremay
increase,implyinghighoperationalcostsfortheoperatorthatwillindirectlyaffectalsotheinvoice
ofthefinalsusers.Ontheotherhand,somecommunicationstrategiesrequirehigh
computationalburdenattheterminalsidehavingnegativeimpactonbatterylifetime.Hence,the
intelligentuseofenergybecomesamajornewtargetinadditiontotheclassicaldesigncriteria.
Currentlytwoapproachestoreduceenergyconsumptionontheradiolinkexist.First,small
cellsreducethedistancetotheterminal.Themainchallengesofthisapproacharerelatedto
providinganeconomicbackhaulsolutionandtominimisetheadditionaldeploymentcost.The
secondapproachismassiveMIMO,whereenergyismorefocusedtowardstheuserbymeans
ofmoredirectivebeams.Inthisway,lessenergyiswastedyieldinginterferenceforotherusers
attheend.ThechallengesofmassiveMIMOincludethediffusionofenergyduetoscatteringin
NLOSscenarios,limitingtheachievabledirectivity,andthecomplexityofspatialmultiplexingof
users.Bothintheterminalandatthebasestation,thegoalofminimisingtheenergy
consumptionperbitwillrequireaparadigmshiftinwirelesssystemdesigntodramatically
improveefficiencyintermsofpowerandspectrumusage.Furtherresearchonimplementation
technologiesisnecessary,focusedonlowpowerhardwarearchitecturesandenergyefficient
signalprocessing[COSTIC1004http://www.ic1004.org/].Someapproacheshavebeen
proposedonmultihopcooperativenetworking,andwirelessnetworkcoding[Car12].
Therearefurtherpotentialsavingsbyoperatingthenetworkwithenergyefficiencyinmind.
Nowadaysbasestationsconsumeaconstantpower,regardlessofthetrafficload.During
offpeaktraffichours,smallcellsareswitchedoffwhilecoverageismaintainedbymacrocells.
Foractivebasestationsservingasingleuser,followingShannonstheorem,themost
energyefficientsituationwouldbetousethefullbandwidthandtoreducepowersothatthe
throughputtargetismet.However,aninterferencelimitedmultiuserscenarioismoretypicalin
mobilenetworks.ServingmultipleusershavingdifferentsignaltointerferenceratiosinaTDMA
fashionsuchasroundrobin,changingthepowerdynamicallywouldresultinunpredictable
interferenceinadjacentcells.ThesameholdsforOFDMA,implyinginhomogeneous
interferenceondifferentfrequencysubbands.Hence,currentPHYandMAClayersdesign
needstechnologyadvances,includingdynamicpowercontrolthatisoptimallycoordinated
amongtheusersandwithsurroundingcellssothatthereisproportionalitybetweenthetraffic
andtheenergyconsumption[5GNOWprojecthttp://www.5gnow.eu/].Thereisaneedfor
networkarchitectureadvancesrequiredtoi)includesmallcellsandlargerantennaarrays
efficientlyintothenetworkdesign,ii)switchon/offbasestationsdependingonthetrafficloadiii)
achievetrafficproportionalityatPHYlayer.
Mobiledeviceswithadvancedcapabilitiessuchassmartphonesortabletsmaypresent
importantrequirementsintermsofenergy,notonlyasfarastransmissionisconcerned(which
dependsforexampleonthedataflows,thetypeofapplicationorthewirelessnetworktopology)
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butalsoregardingothercomponentssuchasCPU,screenoraudiodevicesattheuser
equipment.Theoffloadingofapplicationstodayhostedbythemobileterminalstowardsthe
servingbasestationsora(micro)datacentremayalsocontributetoenergyefficiency[TROPIC
projecthttp://www.icttropic.eu/].Thisway,theexecutionofresourcehungryapplicationsis
shiftedtoprocessingelementsthathavemoreefficientcomputationalandcachingcapabilities.
Thereisalsoaneedtoreduceenergyconsumptioninthebackhaulnetwork,bothinRANand
core,inordertoreducenetworkoperationalcosts.Energyefficiencyinthebackhaulbecomes
increasinglycriticalastheaccesssegmentofthenetworkconsumesupto90%ofthetotal
telecomnetworkenergycost.Historically,thishugenumberisrelatedtotheuseofcopperwith
theincreasinguseofopticalfibre,theenergyrequirementisreduced.Theaccessnetworkhasa
distributed(tree)topologytoaggregatethetraffic.Theenormousheterogeneityoffixedand
wirelessfinaldroptechnologies(i.e.e.g.FTTH,PON,AON,WiFi,WiMAX,UWBetc.)makes
economiesofscaleratherproblematic.Moreunifiedandstandardisedfixedaccesssolutions
wouldallowmuchhighervolumes,andtherebyhigherintegrationdensities,muchlowercostand
reducedenergyconsumption.Forinstance,theuseofanactiveremotenode,originallyput
forwardinEthernetPONs[Chan10],wasrecentlyproposedasacommonplatformfor
fixedwirelessconvergence[HARPprojecthttp://www.fp7harp.eu/].Thisnodelocatesthe
networkintelligenceclosertotheendusersandperformsstatisticalmultiplexingoftrafficfrom
fewerusers,whichallowstohandlelocallysometrafficflows(suchasthesignallingbetween
cooperativebasestations),thereforereducingthebackhaulloadandenablingamore
energyefficientoperation.Moreover,suchlowerlevelaggregationrequireslesspowerhungry
circuitrywhich,inturn,alsomakesitpossibletouserenewableenergysourcesonly.
2.3 Network infrastructure
Smallaccessnodes,withlowtransmitpowerandnopreciseplanningrequirements,are
conceivedtobedenselydeployed,resultinginanUltraDenseNetwork(UDN).Thisapproach
willimprovespectralefficiencybyreducingthedistancebetweentransmittersandreceivers,and
toimprovemacrocellservicebyoffloadingwirelesstraffic,thusfreeingradioresourcesinthe
access.Networkdensificationisawaytoincreasethecapacityanddataratetowards2020.
UDNsareastepfurthertowardslowcost,plugandplay,selfconfiguringandselfoptimising
networks.5Gwillneedtodealwithmanymorebasestations,deployeddynamicallyandina
heterogeneousmanner,combiningdifferentradiotechnologiesthatneedtobeflexiblyintegrated.
Moreover,amassivedeploymentofsmallaccessnodesinducesseveralchallengessuchasan
adverseinterferencescenariooradditionalbackhaulandmobilitymanagementrequirements,
which5Gneedstoaddress[CROWDprojecthttp://www.ictcrowd.eu/].3GPPiscurrently
workingonsmallcellssolutionstoreducetheintersitedistance[3gpp36.932]but,atthetime
being,pilotcontaminationandinterferencestilllimitthepossibledensification.Differentlevelsof
coordination/cooperationamongsmallcellsarekeytoenhancethenetworkcapacityandkeep
interferenceatanadequatelevel,tomanagemobilityandspectrum,toensureserviceavailability
andresponsetononuniformtrafficdistributionbetweenneighbouringaccesspoints.
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Withtheincreasingdensityofnetworks,alsothebackhaulwillbecomemoreheterogeneousand
possiblyalsoscenariodependent(i.e.,fibre,wirelessbackhaulorothernonidealtypesof
backhaulmightbeuseddependingontheiravailability).Inaddition,theconnectivityamongthe
networknodesmaychangeinordertoallowforfastdirectexchangeofdatabetweenthem
(whichwillbechallenginginultradensedeployments).Theheterogeneousbackhaulstructure
willalsoinfluencetheoperationoftheradioaccessnetworks,e.g.latencydifferenceson
backhaullinkswillimpactintercellcoordinationandcooperationalgorithms.Therefore,both
radioaccessnetworkandbackhaulnetworkneedtobeawareoflimitationsandcapabilitiesof
eachother[TUCAN3Gprojecthttp://www.icttucan3g.eu/].Thismayforinstanceimplyan
extendedSONappliedtoradioaccessnetworkswhichalsousesinformationprovidedaboutthe
backhaulnetwork.
Therequiredflexibilityofthenetworkitselfwillrequirenewconceptsonnetworkmanagementin
thebackhaulsuchastheapplicationofSoftwareDefinedNetworking(SDN)principlesinorderto
achievefastreroutingandcongestioncontrol,mainlyintheaccesspart[Kre10,Ahm13].SDN
conceptsenableustoadapttheoperationofthebackhaulnetworktotheneedsoftheradio
accessnetwork.Forexample,theselectionofIPbreakoutanchorpointsmaydependonthe
currentbackhaultrafficsituationandQoSrequirementsintheradioaccessnetworks.
Furthermore,thesmallerthecellsintheradioaccessnetwork,thehigherthetemporaland
spatialtrafficfluctuations.Thisimpliesthatalsothebackhaulnetworkmayexperienceahigher
varianceoftraffic.Besides,currenttrendssuggestthatInfrastructureasaService(IaaS)canbe
supportedbysmallcellsinordertoofferinnovativeproximityservicesandtoenableaseriesof
advantagesforendcustomers.Withthisapproach,energyscarce,capacitylimitedmobile
devicescanoffloadhighlydemandingcomputationaltasksintoproximalfixedunitsorusethem
forstorage.Thisentailsthatnovelmechanismsareneededtoefficientlyallocateresources,
understoodinawidesense(radio/computation/storage/energy),includingcontextualinformation
metricsandclusteringtechniquesforsmallcells.
Anotherimportantaspectinthenetworkinfrastructureisrelatedtotheexposureofendusersto
electromagneticfield(EMF).ThereistodayapublicconcernconcerningEMFinducedby
wirelessnetworks.Byreducingthedistancebetweenreceiversandtransmitters,smallcells
enabletheminimisationofthepoweremittedbythemobilesphonesandthetotalEMFexposure
because,currently,themostimportantcontributionislinkedtotheuserequipment.5G
architecturecombiningsmallcells,heterogeneousnetworksandoffloadingshouldinherently
enableminimisingthehumanEMFexposure[LEXNETprojecthttp://www.lexnetproject.eu/].
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3. New enabling technologies
Inthissectionweintroducethemostpromisingenablingtechnologiesthatareexpectedtobe
usedextensivelyin5Gradionetworkstotacklethechallengesidentifiedabove.
3.1 Network Functions Virtualisation (NFV)
NetworkFunctionsVirtualisation(NFV)[Nfv12]referstotheimplementationofnetworkfunctions
insoftwarerunningongeneralpurposecomputing/storageplatforms.Thisapproachallowsthe
deploymentofnetworkfunctionsindatacentresandtoleveragefromvirtualisationtechniques.
Bycontrast,thestateoftheartistoimplementnetworkfunctionsondedicatedand
applicationspecifichardware.Hence,themainmotivationforNFVistoleveragefromthe
economyofscaleofhighvolumehardwareplatforms,toreducetimetomarketandinnovation
cycleswithintelecommunicationnetworksthroughsoftwareupdatesratherthanhardware
updates,andtoexploitnoveldatacentretechnology.NFVhasrecentlyattractedsignificant
interestfromtheindustry,whichhasledtothecreationofadedicateindustrystudygroupat
ETSI.
ImplementingnetworkfunctionsinsoftwareonstandardITplatformswillallowfornewflexibilities
inoperatingandmanagingmobilenetworks.Inmobilenetworks,NFViscurrentlydiscussedin
thecontextofvirtualisingthecorenetwork[You13]aswellaslogicallycentralisingthebaseband
processingwithintheRAN,socalledCloudRAN(CRAN)[Gua10].CRANstillrequires
specialisedhardwareindatacentresinordertosatisfythehardrealtimerequirementsinmobile
networks.Furthermore,CRANdoesnotallowforafunctionaldecompositionwhichimpliesthat
theRANfunctionsaredecomposedinindividualmoduleswhichmaythenbemanagedand
operatedondifferent(virtual)machinesandprovidedbydifferentsoftwarevendors.While
CRANenablesbothfullcentralisationanddistributionof(digital)RANfunctions,thisneedsnot
tobethecasewithageneralNFVimplementationwhereonlyasubsetofallmodulesmaybe
implementedcentrallyortheradioaccesspointsimplementallfunctionsbasedongeneral
purposehardware[iJOINProjecthttp://www.ictijoin.eu].
Anotherimportanttopicinmobilenetworkswhichmaybeimprovedbyimplementingnetwork
functionsinadatacentreisresilience.Thisallowsforreassigningfunctionsbetweeneither
virtualorrealmachines.Forexample,ratherthanrunningfunctionsinadatacentre,theymaybe
runinaRadioAccessPoint(RAP)atlowercomputationalcomplexity[TROPICproject
http://www.icttropic.eu/].Furthermore,NFVandimplementingmobilenetworkfunctionsindata
centresallowsmoreflexibilityintermsofresourcemanagement,assignment,andscaling.This
hasalsoanimpactontheenergyefficiencyofnetworksasonlytherequiredamountof
resourcesmaybeusedandoverprovisioningofresourcescanbeavoided.Thisresource
orchestrationcouldreusemanagementalgorithmsalreadydevelopedintheITworldinorderto
exploitresourcesasefficientlyaspossible.
Asmentioned,NFVisalreadyappliedoncorenetworksandfirsttrialsareperformed
demonstratingthatcriticalmobilenetworkfunctionssuchasMME,HGW/PGW,orHSScanbe
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implementedonstandardITplatforms.Acriticalenablerofthisdevelopmentis,besides
virtualisationtechnologies,theavailabilityofhighspeedIPnetworksandthepossibilityto
managethemmoreflexiblythroughSDN.Interestonthelatterisconfirmedbytherecent
foundationofaworkinggrouponwirelessandmobilewithintheOpenNetworkingFoundation,
whichistheorganisationthathasstandardisedOpenFlow.IncaseofRANs,NFVmaybemore
difficulttoapplyasitiseitherapplieddirectlywithinnetworknodessuchasRAPsoratmore
centralisedlocationswhichrequireshighperformanceconnectionsbetweenRAPsanddata
centres.Thoseconnectionsmaynotbeavailableatalllocationswhichimposesnewchallenges
onimplementationsofNFVinRANandmanagingnetworkscomposedofheterogeneous
networknodes(macro,metro,andpicocells),heterogeneousbackhaulconnectivity(optical
fibre,DSL,wireless),aswellasheterogeneouslocationofRANfunctions[Sab13,Ber13,
Ros14].
3.2 Cooperative communications
Recently,multihoprelaycommunicationhasbeengainingglobalacceptanceasoneofthe
mostpromisingtechnologiesinnextgenerationwirelesscellularnetworks[She09,Wij09,
Loa10].Presentdaycellularsystemshaveasingledirectlinkbetweenthebasestationandthe
terminal.Inamultihopwirelessnetwork,thecommunicationtakesplaceoveroneormorelinks
(hops)toformamultihoppathbetweenthetransmitterandthereceiver.Multihopcooperative
networkshavethecapabilitytoincreasethecapacitydensityandtoreduceenergyconsumption
bybringingtheRANclosertotheenduser[ABSOLUTEprojecthttp://www.absoluteproject.eu/].
Comparedtotheexistinglayeredprotocols,whichincludemechanismssuchas
retransmissionsormultipleacknowledgements,multihopnetworksovercomesuch
inefficienciesandpreventthesemechanismsfromscalingasrequiredforhighcapacitydensity
accessnetworks.However,multihopnetworksoftensufferathroughputpenaltysincethe
nodesoperateinahalfduplexmodeandthereforenecessarilyintroduceinefficiencyinspectrum
usage,asmultipletimeslotsarerequiredtoreceiveandthenrelaytheinformation.Another
problemisthelatencyduetomultiplehops.Ontheotherhand,wirelessnetworkcodinghas
thepotentialofnaturallyadaptingtoproblemsrelatedtodense,cloudlike,massivelyinteracting
networksofnodes,sinceitisanexampleofthegeneralconceptofnetworkawarephysical
layer:functionslikerouting,conventionallyperformedathighlayersoftheprotocolstack,are
moreefficientlycarriedoutatthephysicallayer,whichhasthecapabilityofprocessingsignals
directlyandwithoutlossofinformation.Bylookingatmultiplecommunicationflowsjointly,
insteadofasingleflowatthetime,wirelessnetworkcodingcanovercometheefficiencyand
latencyissuesmentionedbeforeforgeneralmultihopnetworks.
Furthermore,storingthedataattheedgeofthenetwork,i.e.,caching,willbeapromisingwayof
reachinghighcapacityin5Gsystems[MOTOprojecthttp://www.fp7moto.eu/].Infact,inspiteof
increasingthewirelessnetworkcapacitybyemployingadvancedPHYtechniques,highdata
ratesmightstillnotbeachievableduetothelimitedbackhaul.Sincebasestationshavetoserve
usersbybringingtheirrequestedcontentfromtheInternetthroughthebackhaul,thecapacityof
thisbackhaulshouldalsobeinthesameorderofthewirelessnetworkcapacity,inordertoavoid
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ratebottlenecks,whichareespeciallyevidentindenselydeployedsmallcellscenarioswhere
lowratebackhaullinksarepreferredinsteadoffibreopticconnectionsduetodeploymentand
operationalcosts.Equipping(smallcell)basestationsinsuchdeploymentswithstorageunits
andproactivelycachingthecontentdefinitelyhelpstomitigatethisbottleneck[Bas13]and
benefitscanbebroughtfurtherbyenablingdirectaccessofUEcachesandleveragingsocial
networksviadevicetodevice(D2D)communications.Moreover,whenusingnonideal
backhaul,e.g.xDSL,thethroughputisveryasymmetrical,stronglylimitingtheusertrafficand
affectingthelatencyoftheinterbasestationcommunicationneededformostoftheapplicable
coordinatedmultipoint(CoMP)techniques.Theoretically,thislimitationcanbeovercomeby
consideringovertheairmeshcommunicationforsignallingbetweenbasestations[COST
IC1004http://www.ic1004.org/].However,thistypeofcommunicationinherentlyrequires
researchonmanytomanynetworkarchitecturesandprotocols,whicharefundamentally
differentfromtheexistingonetomanyapproach.
Thelargeuserdatatrafficdemandinconventionalwirelesscommunicationsystemstendsto
increasethenumberofrequiredaccesspointsorbasestationsperareainanetwork,inducing
anadversescenariowherecommunicationsareseverelyaffectedbyinterference.Onewayof
improvingthespectralefficiencyofthesystemistheuseofadvancedcoordination/
cooperativeschemesamongtransmittersinordertocombatthegeneratedinterference.In
LTEAdvancedanditsevolutionstheseschemesareknownasCoMP.Coordinationof
transmittersbyexchangingcontrolplanemessagesandinterferencealignmentbased
transmissionsolutionsareunderinvestigation[5GNOWprojecthttp://www.5gnow.eu/].Another
wayofimprovingthespectralefficiencyistoenhancethespatialreuseofradioresourceswhen
D2Dcommunicationisallowedforterminalsinthesameradiorange.Thissolutiongenerates
additionalinterference,buttheinvolvedterminalsemploymuchlesspowerthanthebase
stations,whichmeansthatalowerlevelofinterferencecanbeexpected.
Alsoconcerningthelimitationsrelatedtotheenhancedintercellinterferencecoordination
(eICIC)mechanismsinthecaseofsmallcelldeployments,currentresearchsuggestsamore
flexibleinterferencecoordinationapproachintimefrequencyandpowerdomainswhich,when
usedinconjunctionwithasimpleICICbasedRadioResourceManagement(RRM),hasthe
meritofsignificantlyincreaseduserthroughput.Forinstance,eachbasestationcancreateits
owncollaboratingmicrocluster,composedbythe(mutually)interferingbasestationsin
downlink:theinformationonresourceandpowerallocationisdistributedbyeachcelltoits
microclusterpeerstooptimiseaccesstocommonresources.Thiscouldbefurtherextended
bysharingwithineachmicrocluster,e.g.,theuserlocationorotherrelevantinformation.
Weconcludebynotingthatthemobilenetworkinfrastructuresarecurrentlyevolvingtoreduce
therange,hencethesizeandcomplexity,ofbasestations,whileincreasingthenumberand
bandwidthofthephysicalconnectionsbetweensmallercellsites.Thewidedeploymentof
opticalcommunicationsnetworks,withfibreconnectionsclosertotheendusers,makesense
alsoforwidebandconnectionsbetweensmallcells,changingthecurrentbasicconceptof
trafficscaledcellulardeploymenttoamodernviewofopportunisticspectrumaccessbased
cooperativenetworking[Car12].Inconjunctiontothiscooperativesmallcellsscenario,the
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terminalwillbeactingasalocalaccessenabler,managingradiocommunicationsnotonlyfrom
theuserbutalsofromsurroundingsmartobjects.Radionetworkarchitecturescanthen
considertheroaminguserdevice(onthebus,inthestreet,insidethecar,athome,etc.)asan
IoTrelaynodeabletoprovidecoverageextensionandtoactasagatewaytotheInternetforthe
IPenabledsmartobjects.
3.3 Automated Network Organisation
Current trends in the definition of 5G wireless systems rely on evolving heterogeneous networks
where macrocells are overlaid with small cells to deliver improved spectral efficiency and
coverage within an area. Such coexistence imposes difficulties to the traditional network
planning, where new site locations are set based on expensive and limited tests often based on
propagation models that may be inaccurate. Furthermore, achieving and maintaining optimal
performance in future cellular systems will become virtually impossible with manual
configuration, optimisation, and maintenance due to their incremental densification, which
involves a rise of the number of parameters involved, as well as latency and accuracy
limitations. In the past, automated network organisation has been addressed via, e.g., SON
proposals, which have emerged as a possible solution for the issues mentioned above. SON
has shown itself as a paradigm that can reduce OPEX and CAPEX while yielding optimal
performanceinLTE[Ham12].
Selfconfiguration,automaticneighbourrelation,selforganisedcarrierselection,andselfhealing
mechanismsareexamplesofautomatednetworkorganisationtechniques.Selfconfiguration,
forinstance,(i.e.,automaticconfigurationofemissionpower,antennatilt,etc.)allowsnewly
addedbasestationstobeselfconfiguredinlinewitha"plugandplay"paradigm,whichis
particularlyimportantinthecaseofsmallcells.Inaddition,asfarascostsfornetworkplanning
anddeploymentareconcerned,suchtechniquescanalsoalleviatetheburdenofoperators
comingfrommanuallymanagingneighbourrelations.Indeed,automaticneighbourrelation
(ANR)wasthefirstSONtechniquetobeincludedintheLTEspecifications.Incontrasttolegacy
networks,whereasignificantamountoftimeandresourcesisneededtoidentifyfailingbase
stationsandfixsuchasituation,5Gsystemsshouldhaveselfhealingfunctionsbuiltin.Thiswill
allowthemtodetectfailingbasestationsimmediatelyandtotakefurthermeasureswhile
ensuringnosignificantdegradationofservicefortheusers.Finally,selforganisingcarrier
selectionandinterferencemanagementwillhelptoreducecostandimproveservicereliability.
Automationseemstheonlysensibleapproachtocosteffectivemanagementoffuture
operationallycomplexheterogeneousmobileaccessnetworks.Thekeyenablingelementisa
unifiedselfmanagementsystem,whichcontrolsthecomplexnetworkenvironmentasasingle
entity.Thisselfmanagementsystemshallenablethenetworkoperatortospecify
networkorientedobjectivesregarding,e.g.,desiredservicecoverage,resourceefficiencyand
qualityofexperience,andshalleffectuatetheseobjectivesintheunifiedandautomated
optimisationoftheunderlyingintegratedaccessnetworks.Theselfmanagementshallthen
performresourcemanagementandtunetheradioparametersofmobileaccessnetworksinline
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withnetworkoperatordefinedtargets.
Suchaunifiedmanagementsystemwillprovideconsiderablegainstotheoperatorsintermsof
(i)enhancedresourceefficiency,implyingincreasedcapacityandhencedelayedinvestmentsin
networkexpansionsand/orequipmentupgrades(ii)improvedmanageabilityandhencelower
operationalcosts(iii)enhancedperformanceintermsofserviceavailability,seamlesssession
continuityanduserlevelqualityofexperienceand(iv)enhancedconfigurationflexibility,therefore
supportingdifferentresourceutilisationstrategiesandfasttransitionsincaseofredefinitionof
networktargets.Interestingly,automatisednetworkcontrollersandSDNtechniquesoffera
promisingpracticalparadigmtoimplementaunifiedmanagementsystem.Furthermore,an
SDNbasedapproachgoesbeyondamereunifiedmanagementsystem,andindeedprovides
toolsforjointlyorchestratingradioandbackhaulresourcesondemand,workingatthetimescale
ofIPflows[CROWDprojecthttp://www.ictcrowd.eu/].However,theapplicabilityandsuitability
ofSDNforfuturedensewirelessnetworksiscurrentlyunderinvestigation,andindustrygrade
softwareandinterfacesforSDNoperationarestilltobestudiedanddesigned,asmentionedin
Section3.1.
Thefollowingisadescriptionofthetwokeyelementsforfutureunifiedselfmanagementsystem
[SEMAFOURprojecthttp://www.fp7semafour.eu/].
ThefirstelementistheintegratedSONManagement,aspresentedinthefigurebelow.The
toppartdepictsaserviceprovider,whichmaintainsaServiceLevelAgreement(SLA)witha
networkoperator,contractuallyformalisingtheiragreementregardingperformanceandtariffs.
Integratingsuchperformance
obligationswithitsownbusiness
strategy,theoperatorformulatesits
networkorientedobjectivesand
providestheseasaninputtothe
integratedSONmanagementlayer,
whichservesasitsinterfacetothe
selfmanagementsystem.Thekey
purposesofthislayerare(i)to
transformtheseobjectivesinto
dedicatedexecutionpoliciesfor
specificSONfunctions(ii)to
superviseandcoordinatethese
SONfunctionsand(iii)tomonitor
andanalysetheirperformance
accordingtotheobjectives,
providinginputtoperiodicoperator
reports,SONmanagement,SON
functionsanddecisionsupport
systems.
11/18
ThesecondelementisSingle/multiRAT/layerSONfunctions.Thesewillresideatthe
functionallayerbelowtheintegratedSONmanagement(seefigureabove).TheseSON
functionscontrolthephysicalnetworkresourcesindifferentRATsandlayersandcanbe
implementedinadistributedfashioninthenetworkelements,orinacentralisedfashioninthe
networkmanagementsystem.NumerousSONfunctionshavebeendevelopedsofar,including
mobilityrobustnessoptimisation(MRO)andmobilityloadbalancing(MLB)SONfunctions.They
mostlyfocusonsingleRAT/layerscenarios.FutureSONfunctionswillbeneededtotarget
multiRAT/layerSONfunctions,addressingamongstothersadvancedtrafficsteeringbetween
WiFiand3G/LTEcellularlayers,dynamicallocationofspectrumoverRATsandlayers,andthe
automated(de)activationandtuningofsitesectorisation.
3.4 Flexible backhauling
3Gand4Gusedifferentbackhaulingtechnologies(e.g.opticalfibre,microwavelinksorevena
satellitelink)butineverycasethebackhaulisseenasprovidingenoughQoS(qualityof
service)andasmuchcapacityastheRANmayrequire.5GRANbecomesmore
heterogeneous,thusrequiringflexibletopologyandperformancefromthebackhaul[e.g.iJOIN
Projecthttp://www.ictijoin.eu].Thebackhaulfor5Gneedshigherflexibilityalsotounlockthe
potentialofincreased,moreefficientandmoreflexiblespectrumusageandtosupportnew
applications.
Carrieraggregationandtheuseofmorefrequencybandswillleadtoanincreasedmobile
spectrumusagein5G.Newradiotechnologieswillenablesignificantlyhigherspectrum
efficiencybyusingintersitecoordinatedmultipoint,smallcellsandmassiveMIMO.Sharingof
both,thespectrumandthemobileinfrastructurewillenablestatisticalmultiplexinggainsforthe
spectrumusageaswellasincreaseddensityofbasestationsperoperatorwithouttheneedfor
newsites.Bothapproachesneedasharedbackhaulnetworkusedbymobileoperators.Sharing
willfurtherincreasethecurrentheterogeneityofthenetworkandwillbringnewspecific
requirements.Lastbutnotleast,newapplicationssuchasthetactilemobileInternet[Fet13]for
thesupportofIoTwillalsohaveabigimpactonthemobilebackhaulevolution.
Themobilebackhaulevolutionfor5Gisexpectedtofollowfivemajortrends:Opennetwork
architecture,endtoendsupportforQoSandsecurity,significantlyhigherdatarates,reduced
latencyandnetworkassistedsynchronisation.Opennetworksenableasharedinfrastructurein
whichmultipleoperatorscontributetoasharedoverallnetwork.Inafirststep,operators
integratetheirproprietaryinfrastructureintotheoverallnetwork.Virtualisationtoolsarethen
installedenablingtheformationofcoexistingvirtualsubnetworks.Inathirdstep,theoverall
networkresourcesaredynamicallydistributedamongtheoperators.Distributioncanbe
managedusinganeutralbrokertradingthepriceofmutualresourceutilisationbythe
subnetworksaccordingtoofferanddemand.
The5GRANneedstoverifyactivelyanddynamicallythesupportedQoSandtheavailable
capacityinthebackhaul.Signallingbetweenthebackhauland/orrealtimeQoSmeasurements
performedbytheRANwillbeessentialtoguaranteeQoStoendusers.Thenativesupportfor
12/18
MMCwillrequirelowerlatency.Guaranteedbandwidth,latencyandendtoendsecurity
unaffectedbyotherusersdemandswillbeneeded.Forlowerlatency,forexample,
instantaneoushandoverisneeded.ButthedatatransferoverX2orsimilarevolvedinterfacesto
thenewservingbaseincludesprivateuserdata.Thisisalsotrueforcoordinatedmultipoint
[Fri12].Obviously,thecurrentsecurityarchitectureneedstoberevised.
Dataratesofthe5Gairinterfacewillbeincreasedbyafactor1000,comparedtoLTE.The
backhaulwillfollowthistrend,obviously.Evenmore,intersitecoordinatedmultipointenablesa
gainoffactor3byexchanginguserdataintheclustersbetween3cellsatdistantsites,on
average.Accordingly,thefactorbecomes3000inthe5Gbackhaul.Several100Gb/spersite
willbeneeded[Jun13].Althoughtechnologiesexistorarealreadydeveloped,costisanissue.
Lowcostandhighperformancebackhaulsolutionswillalsobeneededforsmallcells,bothfor
LOSandNLOSdeploymentscenarios[SODALESprojecthttp://www.fp7sodales.eu/].
Minimiseddelayisadriverforthebackhaulevolution.ConsideringLTE,handoverlatencyis
duetoframingdelaysandtheX2interface[Dim09],duetothecentralisedsecurityarchitecture
[Fri12].Adistributedsecuritywillbeneededtoprotectprivateuserdatawhilereducingthe
latency.Further,thehoplengthsbetweennodescanbeminimisedbydistributingtheintelligence
inthenetwork.Activeswitcheswillbeplacedinallaggregationnodessothatsignalscanbe
routedthroughtheshortestpathtootherports.Flexibledistributedvirtualisationforcoordinated
multipointisdescribedin[Kre10].Extendedwithendtoendencryptionandguaranteed
bandwidth,itisagoodexamplewhatisneededalsofortheIoT.
Synchronisationisneededforhigherspectralefficiencyusingcoordinatedmultipointandto
minimisedelays[SODALESprojecthttp://www.fp7sodales.eu/].GPSsynchronisationisan
exampleofadistributedapproach,see[Irm11].Howevernetworkoperatorscurrentlypreferthe
IEEE1588precisiontimeprotocol(PTP)overthebackhaulbecauseitisapplicablealsoto
indoordeployments.Notethatthereferenceclockispassedoverseveralaggregationnodes
fromagrandmastertoeachbasestation.Nativesupportfornetworkwidesynchronisationis
thereforeneededineachaggregationnode[Jun13].
3.5 Advanced traffic management & offloading
Tohandletheexplosionofmobilewirelessdataoffloadingtechniqueshavebeenproposedto
improvetheuserexperienceforcellularservicesinoverloadedareas.Offloadingtechniques
towardstheendusereitherthroughWiFi(outdoor)infrastructuresandfemtocellsarecurrently
beingapplied.NewstandardssuchasSelectiveIPTrafficOffloading(SIPTO),LocalIPAccess
(LIPA)andIPflowmobility(IFO)arebeingproposedtooptimisethedatatransferfromtothe
mobiledevicestotheInternet.
However,thenetworkdensificationenvisagedin5Gisactuallyintroducingaparadigmshiftthat
thenextgenerationtrafficoffloadingtechniqueswillhavetotakeintoaccount.Networkuplinkand
downlinkasymmetrywillincreasein5G,hencetheywillneedtobeconsideredastwo
independentconnections.Infact,manymobilesmayfindmoreefficientenergyand
13/18
throughputwisetoassociatetotwodifferentPointsofAccess(PoAs)foruplinkanddownlink
communications,respectively.Moreworkisrequiredtobetterunderstandhowtoassigntrafficto
eachRANunderrealisticnetworkloadingmodelsanddealingwithdiversetypesoftraffic(e.g.,
balancingQoSfordata,voiceoverIPandvideostreamingforinstance).Today,dataoffloading
modifiestheservicerate,whichmakesthenetrateoptimisationproblemforallusersunder
dynamictrafficoffloadingverycomplex.Furtheroffloadingisonlypossibleifoneusestheuser
equipmentasarelaywithinacell,oracrossseveralcells,buildingupontherecent
developmentsinD2DcommunicationsinanLTEAinfrastructure.StrategiesforD2Dpath
establishment,orformanagingopportunisticD2Dcommunicationsneedtobefurther
investigated[MOTOprojecthttp://www.fp7moto.eu/].
Furthermore,5Gnetworkswiththedrasticincreaseintrafficloadandnumberofdevices
connectedwillstarttoexperiencealsoabackhaulbottleneckbeyondthecurrentdatacapacity
shortageexperiencedbycustomersinthewirelessaccesssegment.Offloadingtechniqueswill
alsoneedtoincreasinglycombineandcoordinatemassiveantennaconfigurationswith
strategiesfordecreasingtheloadonthebackhaul,e.g.,throughfemtocatching,outofband
contentloading,andincreasedD2Dopportunisticcommunications.Thedensificationofthe
infrastructureincludesanadditionalchallengeforeffectivemanagementofoffloadingmobility,in
termsofnetworkassociation.Tomakerealtimedecisionsregardingselectiveoffloading,
increasedapplication,deviceandsubscriberawarenessarerequiredtoeffectivelymanagethe
wholeprocess.Consistentuserexperienceandservicecontinuityindependentofthedata
offloadingsolutionsimplemented(femto,WiFi,opportunistic,IPflowmobility,IPlayer
management)demandstransparentsignonsolutionsacrossmanagedandheterogeneous
networkinfrastructures.Hence,roamingagreementmanagementacrossWiFinetworksisan
importantissue.Seamlesssessionhandoveradditionallydemandsnetworkreadinesspriorto
devicereadiness.
4. Final remarks
Asuddenchangeofthesystemrequirementsisexpectedinthenextyears,whichneedsan
equallyfastreactiontoadaptthenetworkarchitectureandprotocolssoastoefficientlysupport
eachusecase.Unfortunately,thetypicaldurationofthelifecyclefromtheanalysisof
requirementstothefullscaledeploymentofatechnologyisintheorderof710yearsinthe
telecommunicationsindustry,whichisincompatiblewiththedesiredtimehorizonofsomeuse
case.Forexample,manyIoTapplicationscouldbringsignificanteconomicandsocialimpact
alreadytodaysincetheyarebasedonmaturetechnology(exceptforcommunications).
5Gsolutionswillhavetoenableserviceawareoptimalcoverage,capacity,andreliabilitywith
lowestcostandenergyconsumption[METISprojecthttps://www.metis2020.com/].Different
scenariosmayrequiredifferentgroupingoffunctionstonetworkelements.Thetradeoff
betweencentralisingnetworkfunctions(whosemainbenefitsare:resourcepooling,easier
deploymentandmanagement,andglobaloptimisation)anddecentralisingthemtowardsthe
networkedges(achievingfasterreaction,incrementalcommissioning,andpotentiallylower
14/18
signallingoverhead)mustbeinvestigated,e.g.,whichfunctionsmaybecombinedincommon
RANelementstoachieveoptimalperformance.
Inaddition,itisnotonlyamatteroffurtheroptimisationoftheradioconnectionitself.Thenew
classofservicesandserviceprovidersrequiresamoreopenandserviceawarenetwork
structureinordertocustomisethenetworkresourcesandthemanagementofthenetwork(or
partsthereof).Itisalsoverylikelythatthereisnosinglenetworkarchitecturethatcansupportall
ofthe5Gscenariosinacostefficientmanner:onesizefitsallislikelynotviable!
Thefuturenetworkarchitecturewillalsobescenarioandtestcasespecific,i.e.,itmaybe
differentinareaswithlowcelldensitycomparedtoultradensedeployments,suchas
MegaCities.ThefutureRANarchitecturewillincludedenselydeployedheterogeneousradio
accessnodesprovidedbynetworkoperators,accessnodesprivatelyinstalled,andevenmoving
accessnodes.ManyofthenodeswillsupportmultipleheterogeneousRATsand
softwaredefinedinterfaces.Furthermore,datacommunicationsandmanagementofthe
networkwillbebasedonaunifiedallIPnetwork.
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16/18
Acronyms
3GPP ThirdGenerationPartnershipProject MMC MassiveMachineCommunications
ANR AutomaticNeighbourRelation MME MobilityManagementEntity
AON ActiveOpticalNetwork MRO MobilityRobustnessOptimisation
CAPEX CapitalExpenditures NFV NetworkFunctionVirtualisation
CoMP CoordinatedMultipoint NLOS NonLineofSight
CPU CentralProcessingUnit OFDMA
OrthogonalFrequencyDivision
MultipleAccess
CRAN CloudRadioAccessNetwork OPEX OperationalExpenditures
D2D DevicetoDevice PGW PacketdatanetworkGateway
DSL DigitalSubscriberLine PON PassiveOpticalNetwork
eICIC enhancedIntercellInterferenceCoordination PPDR PublicProtectionDisasterRelief
EMF ElectromagneticField PTP PrecisionTimeProtocol
FTTH FibreToTheHome QoS QualityofService
GPS GlobalPositioningSystem RAN RadioAccessNetwork
HGW HomeGateway RAP RadioAccessPoint
HSPA HighSpeedPacketAccess RRM RadioResourceManagement
HSS HomeSubscriberServer SDN SoftwareDefinedNetwork
IaaS InfrastructureasaService SIPTO SelectiveIPTrafficOffloading
IEEE InstituteofElectricalandElectronicsEngineers SON SelfOrganisingNetwork
IFO IPFlowmobility TDMA TimeDivisionMultipleAccess
IP InternetProtocol UDN UltraDenseNetwork
IT InformationTechnology UMTS
UniversalMobile
TelecommunicationsSystem
LIPA LocalIPAccess UWB UltraWideband
LOS LineofSight V2I VehicletoInfrastructure
LTE LongTermEvolution V2V VehicletoVehicle
MAC MediumAccessControl WiFi WirelessFidelity
MIMO MultipleInputMultipleOutput WiMAX
WorldwideInteroperabilityfor
MicrowaveAccess
MLB MobilityLoadBalancing
17/18
Acknowledgments
RASclusterchairedbyPauloMarques(CRSihttp://www.ictcrsi.eu/)
WhitepapereditedbyClaudioCicconetti(CROWD)withcontributionsfrom:
GerhardWunder(5GNOWhttp://www.5gnow.eu/)
IsabelleBucaille(ABSOLUTEhttp://www.absoluteproject.eu/)
NarcsCardona(COSTIC1004http://www.ic1004.org/)
VincenzoMancuso,MartinDrxlerandAntoniodelaOliva(CROWDhttp://www.ictcrowd.eu/)
TharmRatnarajahandLarsDittmann(HARPhttp://www.fp7harp.eu/)
PeterRostandAlbertBanchs(iJOINhttp://www.ictijoin.eu/)
JoeWiart(LEXNEThttp://www.lexnetproject.eu/)
AfifOsseiranandHugoTullberg(METIShttps://www.metis2020.com/)
OscarLazaroandDamienLavaux(MOTOhttp://www.fp7moto.eu/)
EjderBatuandMrouaneDebbah(NEWCOM#http://www.newcomproject.eu/)
ColinWillcock(SEMAFOURhttp://fp7semafour.eu/)
VolkerJungnickel(SODALEShttp://www.fp7sodales.eu/)
FeliciaLobillo,AntonioPascualIserte,AdrinAgustn,OlgaMuoz,andMarianaGoldhamer
(TROPIChttp://www.icttropic.eu/)
JosepVidal,DavidChavez,andFranciscoJavierSimReigadas(TUCAN3G
http://www.icttucan3g.eu/)
18/18