Differential Charging on Non-Standalone 5G Networks

In non-standalone architecture (NSA), a migration path to 5G, there is no easy way for a billing module to differentiate 5G data from LTE data, since most messages and attributes are by design kept identical to LTE. This disclosure describes techniques to enable a serving/PDN-gateway (SPGW) node to simulate a change in radio access technology (RAT) based on the IP ranges of the radio nodes. Online, RAT-based charging for data subscribers in the 5G NSA network can thereby be supported by the SPGW. The techniques have minimal impact on the overall ecosystem. In particular, other core or radio nodes need no modifications. There is minimal performance impact on the SPGW. Online charging is supported with the same features as available to communication service providers (CSPs) today

Security for network services delivery of 5G enabled device-to-device communications mobile network

The increase in mobile traffic led to the development of Fifth Generation (5G) mobile network. 5G will provide Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC), Massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC), enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB). Device-to-Device (D2D) communications will be used as the underlaying technology to offload traffic from 5G Core Network (5GC) and push content closer to User Equipment (UE). It will be supported by a variety of Network Service (NS) such as Content-Centric Networking (CCN) that will provide access to other services and deliver content-based services. However, this raises new security and delivery challenges. Therefore, research was conducted to address the security issues in delivering NS in 5G enabled D2D communications network. To support D2D communications in 5G, this thesis introduces a Network Services Delivery (NSD) framework defining an integrated system model. It incorporates Cloud Radio Access Network (C-RAN) architecture, D2D communications, and CCN to support 5G’s objectives in Home Network (HN), roaming, and proximity scenarios. The research explores the security of 5G enabled D2D communications by conducting a comprehensive investigation on security threats. It analyses threats using Dolev Yao (DY) threat model and evaluates security requirements using a systematic approach based on X.805 security framework. Which aligns security requirements with network connectivity, service delivery, and sharing between entities. This analysis highlights the need for security mechanisms to provide security to NSD in an integrated system, to specify these security mechanisms, a security framework to address the security challenges at different levels of the system model is introduced. To align suitable security mechanisms, the research defines underlying security protocols to provide security at the network, service, and D2D levels. This research also explores 5G authentication protocols specified by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) for securing communication between UE and HN, checks the security guarantees of two 3GPP specified protocols, 5G-Authentication and Key Agreement (AKA) and 5G Extensive Authentication Protocol (EAP)-AKA’ that provide primary authentication at Network Access Security (NAC). The research addresses Service Level Security (SLS) by proposing Federated Identity Management (FIdM) model to integrate federated security in 5G, it also proposes three security protocols to provide secondary authentication and authorization of UE to Service Provider (SP). It also addresses D2D Service Security (DDS) by proposing two security protocols that secure the caching and sharing of services between two UEs in different D2D communications scenarios. All protocols in this research are verified for functional correctness and security guarantees using a formal method approach and semi-automated protocol verifier. The research conducts security properties and performance evaluation of the protocols for their effectiveness. It also presents how each proposed protocol provides an interface for an integrated, comprehensive security solution to secure communications for NSD in a 5G enabled D2D communications network. The main contributions of this research are the design and formal verification of security protocols. Performance evaluation is supplementary

Micro-Operator driven local 5G network architecture for industrial internet applications

Abstract. High degree of flexibility, customization and the rapid deployment methods are needed in future communication systems required by different vertical sectors. These requirements will be beyond the traditional mobile network operators’ offerings. The novel concept called micro-operator enables a versatile set of stakeholders to operate local 5G networks within spatially confined environment with a guaranteed quality and reliability to complement mobile network operators’ offerings. To enable the case specific requirements of different stakeholders, micro-operator architecture should be tailored to cater such requirements, so that the service is optimized. The novel micro-operator architecture proposed in this thesis using 5G access and core network functions, serves the communication needs of an Industry 4.0 environment having three use cases namely augmented reality, massive wireless sensor networks and mobile robots. Conceptual design of the proposed architecture is realized using simulation results for latency measurements, relating it with the results of a mobile network operator-based deployment. Latency analysis is carried out with respect to the core network distance and the processing delay of core network functions. Results demonstrate the advantages of the micro-operator deployment compared with mobile network operator deployment to cater specialized user requirements, thereby concluding that the micro-operator deployment is more beneficial

Improved flat mobile core network architecture for 5G mobile communication systems

The current mobile network core is built based on a centralized architecture, including the S-GW and P-GW entities to serve as mobility anchors. Nevertheless, this architecture causes non-optimal routing and latency for control messages. In contrast, the fifth generation (5G) network will redesign the network service architecture to improve changeover management and deliver clients a better Quality-of-Experience (QoE). To enhance the design of the existing network, a distributed 5G core architecture is introduced in this study. The control and data planes are distinct, and the core network also combines IP functionality anchored in a multi-session gateway design. We also suggest a control node that will fully implement the control plane and result in a flat network design. Its architecture, therefore, improves data delivery, mobility, and attachment speed. The performance of the proposed architecture is validated by improved NS3 simulation to run several simulations, including attachment and inter- and intra-handover. According to experimental data, the suggested network is superior in terms of initial attachment, network delay, and changeover management

A flexible network architecture for 5G systems

In this paper, we define a flexible, adaptable, and programmable architecture for 5G mobile networks, taking into consideration the requirements, KPIs, and the current gaps in the literature, based on three design fundamentals: (i) split of user and control plane, (ii) service-based architecture within the core network (in line with recent industry and standard consensus), and (iii) fully flexible support of E2E slicing via per-domain and cross-domain optimisation, devising inter-slice control and management functions, and refining the behavioural models via experiment-driven optimisation. The proposed architecture model further facilitates the realisation of slices providing specific functionality, such as network resilience, security functions, and network elasticity. The proposed architecture consists of four different layers identified as network layer, controller layer, management and orchestration layer, and service layer. A key contribution of this paper is the definition of the role of each layer, the relationship between layers, and the identification of the required internal modules within each of the layers. In particular, the proposed architecture extends the reference architectures proposed in the Standards Developing Organisations like 3GPP and ETSI, by building on these while addressing several gaps identified within the corresponding baseline models. We additionally present findings, the design guidelines, and evaluation studies on a selected set of key concepts identified to enable flexible cloudification of the protocol stack, adaptive network slicing, and inter-slice control and management.This work has been performed in the framework of the H2020 project 5G-MoNArch co-funded by the E

End-to-End Data Analytics Framework for 5G Architecture

Data analytics can be seen as a powerful tool for the fifth-generation (5G) communication system to enable the transformation of the envisioned challenging 5G features into a reality. In the current 5G architecture, some first features toward this direction have been adopted by introducing new functions in core and management domains that can either run analytics on collected communication-related data or can enhance the already supported network functions with statistics collection and prediction capabilities. However, possible further enhancements on 5G architecture may be required, which strongly depend on the requirements as set by vertical customers and the network capabilities as offered by the operator. In addition, the architecture needs to be flexible in order to deal with network changes and service adaptations as requested by verticals. This paper explicitly describes the requirements for deploying data analytics in a 5G system and subsequently presents the current status of standardization activities. The main contribution of this paper is the investigation and design of an integrated data analytics framework as a key enabling technology for the service-based architectures (SBAs). This framework introduces new functional entities for application-level, data network, and access-related analytics to be integrated into the already existing analytics functionalities and examines their interactions in a service-oriented manner. Finally, to demonstrate predictive radio resource management, we showcase a particular implementation for application and radio access network analytics, based on a novel database for collecting and analyzing radio measurements

An open source multi-slice cell capacity framework

Número especial con los mejores papers de 2021.5G is the new 3GPP technology designed to solve a wide range of requirements. On the one hand, it must be able to support high bit rates and ultra-low latency services, and on the other hand, it should be able to connect a massive amount of devices with loose bandwidth and delay requirements. Network Slicing is a key paradigm in 5G, and future 6G networks will inherit it for the concurrent provisioning of diverse quality of service. As scheduling is always a delicate vendor topic and there are few free and complete simulation tools to support all 5G features, in this paper, we present Py5cheSim. This is a flexible and open-source simulator based on Python and specially oriented to simulate cell capacity in 3GPP 5G networks and beyond. To the best of our knowledge, Py5cheSim is the first simulator that supports Network Slicing at the Radio Access Network level. It offers an environment that allows the development of new scheduling algorithms in a researcher-friendly way without the need of detailed knowledge of the core of the tool. The present work describes its design and implementation choices, the validation process, the results and different use cases.Proyecto: FVF-2021-128– DICYT. Fondo Carlos Vaz Ferreira, Convocatoria 2021, Dirección Nacional de Innovación, Ciencia y Tecnología, Ministerio de Educación y Cultura, UruguayProyecto: FMV_1_2019_1_155700 "Inteligencia Artificial aplicada a redes 5G", Agencia Nacional de Investigación e Innovación, Urugua