The integration of both fronthaul and backhaul into a single transport network (namely, 5G-Crosshaul) is envisioned for the future 5G transport networks. This requires a fully integrated and unified management of the fronthaul and backhaul resources in a cost-efficient, scalable and flexible way through the deployment of an SDN/NFV control framework. This paper presents the designed 5G-Crosshaul architecture, two selected SDN/NFV applications targeting for cost-efficient resource and energy usage: the Resource Management Application (RMA) and the Energy Management and Monitoring Application (EMMA). The former manages 5G-Crosshaul resources (network, computing and storage resources). The latter is a special version of RMA with the focus on the objectives of optimizing the energy consumption and minimizing the energy footprint of the 5G-Crosshaul infrastructure. Besides, EMMA is applied to the mmWave mesh network and the high speed train scenarios. In particular, we present the key application design with their main components and the interactions with each other and with the control plane, and then we present the proposed application optimization algorithms along with initial results. The first results demonstrate that the proposed RMA is able to cost-efficiently utilize the Crosshaul resources of heterogeneous technologies, while EMMA can achieve significant energy savings through energy-efficient routing of traffic flows. For experiments in real system, we also set up Proof of Concepts (PoCs) for both applications in order to perform real trials in the field.

Energy efficiency is likely to be the litmus test for the sustainability of upcoming 5G networks. Before the new generation of cellular networks are ready to roll out, their architecture designers are motivated to leverage the SDN technology for the sake of its offered flexibility, scalability, and programmability to achieve the 5G KPI of 10 times lower energy consumption. In this paper, we present Proofs-of-Concept of Energy Management and Monitoring Applications (EMMAs) in the context of three challenging, realistic case studies, along with a SDN/NFV-based MANO architecture to manage converged fronthaul/backhaul 5G transport networks.

In this paper, we present an architecture for transparent service continuity for cloud-enabled WiFi networks called ARNAB: ARchitecture for traNsparent service continuity viA douBle-tier migration. The term arnab means rabbit in Arabic. It is dubbed for the proposed service architecture because a mobileuser service with ARNAB behaves like a rabbit hopping through the WiFi infrastructure. To deliver continuous services, deploying edge clouds is not sufficient. Users may travel far from the initial serving edge and also perform multiple WiFi handoffs during mobility. To solve this, ARNAB employs a double-tier migration scheme. One migration tier is for user connectivity, and the other one is for edge applications. Our experimental results show that ARNAB can not only enable continuous service delivery but also outperform the existing work in the area of container live migration across edge clouds.

Notably, developing an innovative architectural network paradigm is essential to address the technical challenging of 5G applications' requirements in a unified platform. Forthcoming applications will provide a wide range of networking, computing and storage capabilities closer to the endusers. In this context, the 5G-PPP Phase two project named "5G-CORAL: A 5G Convergent Virtualized Radio Access Network Living at the Edge" aims at identifying and experimentally validating which are the key technology innovations allowing for the development of a convergent 5G multi-RAT access based on a virtualized Edge and Fog architecture being scalable, flexible and interoperable with other domains including transport, core network and distant Clouds. In 5G-CORAL, an architecture is proposed based on ETSI MEC and ETSI NFV frameworks in a unified platform. Then, a set of exemplary use cases benefiting from Edge and Fog networks in near proximity of the end-user are proposed for demonstration on top of connected car, shopping mall and high-speed train platforms.

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