Towards autonomous open radio access networks

In this paper we give an overview of an open disaggregated network architecture based on an Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN), including the current work from standards bodies and industry bodies in this area. Based on this architecture, a framework for the automation of xApp development and deployment is proposed. This is then aligned with the key concepts described in ITU-T in terms of the evolution, experimentation, and adaptation of controllers. The various steps in such an aligned workflow, including design, validation, and deployment of xApps, are discussed, and use case examples are provided to illustrate further our position regarding the mechanisms needed to achieve automation

5GNOW: Challenging the LTE Design Paradigms of Orthogonality and Synchronicity

LTE and LTE-Advanced have been optimized to deliver high bandwidth pipes to wireless users. The transport mechanisms have been tailored to maximize single cell performance by enforcing strict synchronism and orthogonality within a single cell and within a single contiguous frequency band. Various emerging trends reveal major shortcomings of those design criteria: 1) The fraction of machine-type-communications (MTC) is growing fast. Transmissions of this kind are suffering from the bulky procedures necessary to ensure strict synchronism. 2) Collaborative schemes have been introduced to boost capacity and coverage (CoMP), and wireless networks are becoming more and more heterogeneous following the non-uniform distribution of users. Tremendous efforts must be spent to collect the gains and to manage such systems under the premise of strict synchronism and orthogonality. 3) The advent of the Digital Agenda and the introduction of carrier aggregation are forcing the transmission systems to deal with fragmented spectrum. 5GNOW is an European research project supported by the European Commission within FP7 ICT Call 8. It will question the design targets of LTE and LTE-Advanced having these shortcomings in mind and the obedience to strict synchronism and orthogonality will be challenged. It will develop new PHY and MAC layer concepts being better suited to meet the upcoming needs with respect to service variety and heterogeneous transmission setups. Wireless transmission networks following the outcomes of 5GNOW will be better suited to meet the manifoldness of services, device classes and transmission setups present in envisioned future scenarios like smart cities. The integration of systems relying heavily on MTC into the communication network will be eased. The per-user experience will be more uniform and satisfying. To ensure this 5GNOW will contribute to upcoming 5G standardization.Comment: Submitted to Workshop on Mobile and Wireless Communication Systems for 2020 and beyond (at IEEE VTC 2013, Spring

5GNOW: Challenging the LTE Design Paradigms of Orthogonality and Synchronicity

Abstract-LTE and LTE-Advanced have been optimized to deliver high bandwidth pipes to wireless users. The transport mechanisms have been tailored to maximize single cell performance by enforcing strict synchronism and orthogonality within a single cell and within a single contiguous frequency band. Various emerging trends reveal major shortcomings of those design criteria: • The fraction of machine-type-communications (MTC) is growing fast. Transmissions of this kind are suffering from the bulky procedures necessary to ensure strict synchronism. • Collaborative schemes have been introduced to boost capacity and coverage (CoMP), and wireless networks are becoming more and more heterogeneous following the non-uniform distribution of users. Tremendous efforts must be spent to collect the gains and to manage such systems under the premise of strict synchronism and orthogonality. • The advent of the Digital Agenda and the introduction of carrier aggregation are forcing the transmission systems to deal with fragmented spectrum. 5GNOW will question the design targets of LTE and LTEAdvanced having these shortcomings in mind. The obedience of LTE and LTE-Advanced to strict synchronism and orthogonality will be challenged. It will develop new PHY and MAC layer concepts being better suited to meet the upcoming needs with respect to service variety and heterogeneous transmission setups. A demonstrator will be built as Proof-of-Concept relying upon continuously growing capabilities of silicon based processing. Wireless transmission networks following the outcomes of 5GNOW will be better suited to meet the manifoldness of services, device classes and transmission setups being present in envisioned future scenarios like smart cities. The integration of systems relying heavily on MTC, e.g. sensor networks, into the communication network will be eased. The per-user experience will be more uniform and satisfying. To ensure this 5GNOW will contribute to upcoming 5G standardization. First and foremost the need for un-tethered telephony and therefore wireless real-time communication has dominated the success of cordless phones, followed by first generation (1G) of cellular communications. Soon, incorporated in 2G, twoway paging implemented by SMS text messaging became the second killer application. With the success of wireless LAN technology (i.e. IEEE 802.11), http internet browsing, and the widespread market adoption of laptop computers internet data connectivity became interesting for anyone, opening up the opportunity for creating a market for the third killer application in 3G, wireless data connectivity. The logical next step has been the shrinkage of the laptop, merging it with the cellular telephone into todays' smartphones, and offering high bandwidth access to wireless users with the world's information at their fingertips everywhere and everytime. This is the scenario of the current 4G generation with the most prominent example LTE-A (Long Term EvolutionAdvanced). Hence, smartphones are, undoubtedly, in the focus of service architectures for future mobile access networks. Current market trends and future projections indicate that smartphone sales will keep growing and overtook conventional phones [TIA's 2009 to constitute now the lion's share of the global phone market: the smartphone has become a mass market device. Keywords-LTE- The next foreseen killer application is the massive wireless connectivity of machines with other machines, referred to as M2M or the Internet of Things (IoT). During the past years a multitude of wireless M2M applications has been explored, e.g. information dissemination in public transport systems or in manufacturing plants. However, fast deployment of M2M through a simple 'plug and play' connection via cellular networks is not a reality and the commercial success has been somewhat limited, yet. The availability of cellular coverage needs to be combined with simplicity of handling, in both software and hardware aspects, i.e. avoiding having to setup and connect as in a ZigBee or WLAN hot-spot but at the same time allowing longer battery life time and cheap devices. These principles can stimulate subscribers to buy M2M sensors and participate in the collection of monitoring data. M2M can be employed by communities (social network) to share monitoring information about cars, homes an

3GPP Spectrum Access Evolution Towards 5G

The ever-increasing needs for more spectrum resources, and the emerging new Radio Access Technologies under the 5G umbrella add to the complexity of the Spectrum Toolbox in mobile networks landscape. This article covers 3GPP LTE evolution from Release 8 up to the Release 14, which deals with the LTE-Advanced Pro enhancements. A collection of available frequency bands, spectrum aggregation mechanisms, licensing and duplexing schemes, as well as spectrum sharing and refarming techniques is described. With such a classification, Spectrum Toolbox is defined and its evolution directions are discussed, with the opportunities and challenges of the individual features summarized. Studies on the new non-backwards compatible Radio Access Technology, as well as the new channel models for higher frequency bands are also covered. The presented Spectrum Toolbox is considered as a baseline for the introduction of the new air interface framework towards 5G ecosystem in the context of future mobile networks enhancements