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In the first part of this blog, we discussed the requirements for 5G and the specification process being undertaken by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). Here, we continue the discussion by investigating the potential technical solutions. Mobile telecommunication systems have traditionally operated in the UHF band, from 300 MHz to 3 GHz. This has given the best trade-off between the competing issues of coverage and capacity, which are greater at low and high frequencies respectively. Unfortunately the UHF band is now extremely fragmented and congested, so attention is being directed to the SHF...

SDN (Software Defined Networking) is an approach to data networking in which the control functions are decoupled from the physical infrastructure. This allows network administrators to support a dynamic, manageable and cost-effective network making it ideal for the high-bandwidth nature of today’s applications. SDN addresses the fact that the static architecture of conventional networks is not suited to the dynamic computing and storage needs of modern data centres, campuses, and network operator environments. A communications protocol known as OpenFlow is considered as an enabler of SDN. OpenFlow enables remote controllers to determine the path of packets through the network of...

Mobile networks are facing challenges on multiple fronts. Traditional sources of revenue, voice and text messaging, are losing ground to services being provided OTT on their data channels. At the same time, the network infrastructure needed to handle all that data traffic needs to grow to meet the expanding capacity requirements. As a result, infrastructure costs are growing faster than subscriber revenue growth. Network operators are realizing that their networks need to become more flexible and agile so they can introduce new services more quickly in order to increase revenue. NFV introduces virtualization technologies into the core network to create...

Mobile broadband traffic loads are increasing rapidly which is leading to the need for additional radio spectrum to satisfy the demand. LTE networks are mostly deployed in spectrum from 700 MHz to 2.6 GHz. While LTE mobile broadband in licensed spectrum is highly efficient due to its exclusive occupancy of the spectrum, the amount of available licensed spectrum can be limited and expensive. The amount of unlicensed spectrum (especially in the 5 GHz band) assigned or currently planned to be assigned is comparable to, or even more than, the amount of licensed spectrum available. Many operators have already deployed Wi-Fi...

The C-RAN (Centralised or Cloud Radio Access Network) is a cellular network architecture designed for efficiency and lower costs when deploying public access small cells. The C-RAN architecture separates the BBU (Base Band Unit) from the RRH (Remote Radio Head) using the CPRI (Common Public Radio Interface). The CPRI link between the BBU and the RRH is known as the ‘fronthaul’ whereas the backhaul network connects the BBU with the core network. The BBU is responsible for the signal processing functions and the RRH transmits the signal over the radio interface. Placing BBUs at central locations enables more precise control...