The Potential Short- and Long-Term Disruptions and Transformative Impacts of 5G and Beyond Wireless Networks: Lessons Learnt from the Development of a 5G Testbed Environment

The capacity and coverage requirements for 5 th generation (5G) and beyond wireless connectivity will be significantly different from the predecessor networks. To meet these requirements, the anticipated deployment cost in the United Kingdom (UK) is predicted to be between £30bn and £50bn, whereas the current annual capital expenditure (CapEX) of the mobile network operators (MNOs) is £2.5bn. This prospect has vastly impacted and has become one of the major delaying factors for building the 5G physical infrastructure, whereas other areas of 5G are progressing at their speed. Due to the expensive and complicated nature of the network infrastructure and spectrum, the second-tier operators, widely known as mobile virtual network operators (MVNO), are entirely dependent on the MNOs. In this paper, an extensive study is conducted to explore the possibilities of reducing the 5G deployment cost and developing viable business models. In this regard, the potential of infrastructure, data, and spectrum sharing is thoroughly investigated. It is established that the use of existing public infrastructure (e.g., streetlights, telephone poles, etc.) has a potential to reduce the anticipated cost by about 40% to 60%. This paper also reviews the recent Ofcom initiatives to release location-based licenses of the 5G-compatible radio spectrum. Our study suggests that simplification of infrastructure and spectrum will encourage the exponential growth of scenario-specific cellular networks (e.g., private networks, community networks, micro-operators) and will potentially disrupt the current business models of telecommunication business stakeholders - specifically MNOs and TowerCos. Furthermore, the anticipated dense device connectivity in 5G will increase the resolution of traditional and non-traditional data availability significantly. This will encourage extensive data harvesting as a business opportunity and function within small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as well as large social networks. Consequently, the rise of new infrastructures and spectrum stakeholders is anticipated. This will fuel the development of a 5G data exchange ecosystem where data transactions are deemed to be high-value business commodities. The privacy and security of such data, as well as definitions of the associated revenue models and ownership, are challenging areas - and these have yet to emerge and mature fully. In this direction, this paper proposes the development of a unified data hub with layered structured privacy and security along with blockchain and encrypted off-chain based ownership/royalty tracking. Also, a data economy-oriented business model is proposed. The study found that with the potential commodification of data and data transactions along with the low-cost physical infrastructure and spectrum, the 5G network will introduce significant disruption in the Telco business ecosystem

Energy and cost management in shared heterogeneous network deployments

Pla de Doctorat industrial de la Generalitat de CatalunyaDuring the recent years, a huge augmentation of the data traffic volume has been noticed, while a further steep increase is expected in the following years. As a result, questions have been raised over the years about the energy consumption needs of the wireless telecommunication networks, their carbon dioxide emissions and their operational expenses. Aiming at meeting the high traffic demands with flat energy consumption and flat incurred expenses, mobile network operators (MNOs) have opted to improve their position (i) by deploying heterogeneous networks (HetNets), which are consisted of macrocell base stations (MBSs) and small cell base stations (SBSs) and (ii) by sharing their infrastructure. However, questions could be raised about the extend to which HetNet densification is of aid. Given that network planning is executed according to high traffic load volumes, BS underutilisation during low-traffic hours cannot be neglected. Similarly, the aggregated energy needs of multiple SBSs equals the ones of an energy hungry MBS, having thus a respectable share of the net energy consumption. In this context, a set of research opportunities have been identified. This thesis provides contribution toward the achievement of a greener and more cost efficient operation of HetNet deployments, where multiple stakeholders develop their activity and where energy support can have the form of various alternate schemes, including renewable energy (RE) sources. Depending on the network energy support, i.e., whether RE sources are used in the network or not, the main body of this thesis is divided in two research directions. The first part of the thesis uses the technology of switching off strategies in order to explore their efficiency in terms of both energy and costs in a HetNet. The HetNet is assumed to be a roaming-based cooperative activity of multiple MNOs that is powered exclusively by grid energy. A switching off and a cost allocation scheme are proposed, using as criteria the BS type, the BS load and the roaming cost for traffic offloading. The performance of the proposed schemes is evaluated with respect to energy efficiency, cost savings and fairness, using computer-based simulations. The second part of the thesis explores energy and cost management issues in energy harvesting (EH) HetNet deployments where EH-BSs use an EH system (EHS), an energy storage system (ESS) and the smart grid (SG) as energy procurement sources. The EH-HetNet is assumed a two-tier network deployment of EH-MBSs that are passively shared among an MNO set and EH-SBSs that are provided to MNOs by an infrastructure provider. Taking into consideration the infrastructure location and the variety of stakeholders involved in the network deployment, approaches of RE exchange (REE) are proposed as a cooperative RE sharing for the shared EH-MBSs, based on bankruptcy theory, and a non-cooperative, aggregator-assisted RE trading, based on double auctions, for the EH-SBSs. The performance of the proposed schemes is evaluated in terms of the hours of independence of the studied system from the SG, the fairness regulated by the provided solution and the economical payoffs extracted for the stakeholdersDurante los últimos años, se ha notado un aumento enorme del volumen de tráfico de datos, mientras que se espera un nuevo aumento en los próximos años. Como resultado, se han planteado preguntas sobre las necesidades de consumo de energía de las redes inalámbricas de telecomunicaciones, sus emisiones de dióxido de carbono y sus gastos operativos. Con el objetivo de satisfacer las altas demandas de tráfico con consumo de energía constante y con gastos incurridos constantes, además de utilizar soluciones basadas en la nube, los operadores de redes móviles (MNOs) han optado por mejorar su posición (i) desplegando redes heterogéneas (HetNets), que consisten en estaciones base de macro-células (MBSs) y estaciones base de células pequeñas (SBSs), y (ii) compartiendo su infraestructura. Sin embargo, podrían plantearse preguntas sobre hasta qué punto la densificación de una HetNet es de ayuda. Dado que la planificación de la red se ejecuta de acuerdo con los volúmenes de carga de tráfico más elevados, no se puede descuidar la subutilización de las estaciones base (BS) durante las horas de poco tráfico. De manera similar, las necesidades de energía agregadas de múltiples SBSs son iguales a las de una MBS que consume mucha energía, teniendo así una parte respetable del consumo neto de energía. En este contexto, se ha identificado un conjunto de oportunidades de investigación. Esta tesis contribuye al logro de una operación más ecológica y rentable de las implementaciones de HetNet, donde múltiples partes interesadas desarrollan su actividad y donde el apoyo energético puede tener la forma de varios esquemas alternativos, incluidas las fuentes de energía renovables (RE). Dependiendo del soporte de energía de red, es decir, si las fuentes de RE se usan en la red o no, el cuerpo principal de esta tesis se divide en dos direcciones de investigación. La primera parte de la tesis utiliza la tecnología de las estrategias de apagado con el objetivo de explorar su eficiencia en términos de energía y gastos en una HetNet. Se asume que la HetNet es una actividad cooperativa basada en la itinerancia de múltiples MNO que se alimenta exclusivamente de energía de la red. Se propone un esquema de desconexión y de asignación de costes, que utiliza como criterios el tipo de BS, la carga de BS y el coste de la itinerancia para la descarga de tráfico. El rendimiento de los esquemas propuestos se evalúa con respecto a la eficiencia energética, el ahorro de costes y la equidad, usando simulaciones en computadora. La segunda parte de la tesis explora los problemas de gestión de energía y de costes en las implementaciones de HetNet donde las estaciones base recolectan energía usando un sistema EH (EHS), un sistema de almacenamiento de energía (ESS) y la red eléctrica inteligente (SG) como sistemas de adquisición de energía. Se asume que el EH-HetNet es una implementación de redes de dos niveles donde los EH-MBSs se comparten pasivamente entre un conjunto de MNOs y EH-SBSs se proporcionan a los MNOs de un proveedor de infraestructura. Teniendo en cuenta la ubicación de la infraestructura y la variedad de partes interesadas e involucradas en el despliegue de la red, se proponen enfoques de intercambio de RE (REE) como un intercambio cooperativo de RE para los EH-MBS compartidos, basado en la teoría de bancarrota, y un no cooperativo comercio de RE para los EH-SBSs, que es asistido por un agregador y basado en las subastas dobles. El rendimiento de los esquemas propuestos se evalúa en términos de las horas de independencia del sistema estudiado con respecto al SG, la imparcialidad regulada por la solución proporcionada y los beneficios económicos extraídos para las interesadas.Postprint (published version

5G innovation opportunities-- A discussion paper

On the shaping of 5G technologies and networks, scope for wider service and applications innovation and UK strengths and opportunities