A C-RAN Based 5G Platform with a Fully Virtualized, SDN Controlled Optical/Wireless Fronthaul

Abstract

This paper describes in detail the design of a 5G platform based on the C-RAN architecture, with a fully virtualized Radio Access Network (RAN) and an optical/wireless Fronthaul. The wireless and optical domains are controlled by a hierarchy of Software Defined Networking (SDN) controllers, which are responsible for endto-end optimization of the platform, including the Fronthaul and 5G air interfaces. The proposed architecture adopts a modular eNodeB (eNB) design, where virtualized BBU and RRH entities are implemented with Commercial Off-Τhe-Shelf (COTS) components. Moreover, a mmWave RAU is connected to the BBU via a feeder optical fiber, interconnecting one or more RRH units with the BBU over mmWave interfaces. COTS components and Ethernet interfaces are employed for C-RAN prototyping of our platform, facilitating flexibility, cost reduction and increased scalability.

Testbed for 5G Connected Artificial Intelligence on Virtualized Networks

“…Several 5G testbed implementations have been developed [14]- [17] to demonstrate functionalities and operation of a 5G system. Given the variety of technologies in 5G, to make the following discussion more concrete, special emphasis is placed on slicing and VNF placement, which are the two use cases described in Section IV.…”

“…The authors in [15], [16] discuss a testbed implementation with an SDN/NFV packet/optical transport network and edge/core cloud platform for end-to-end 5G and Internet of Things (IoT) services deployed with open-source software and Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) hardware. The work in [17] implements a similar testbed using an SDN controller managing an optical/wireless fronthaul. These works focus on the VNFs allocations and SDN architectures for mobile networks mixing open-source and commercial software.…”

EXPLOR – A Novel Holistic Numerical Platform for Converged Optical-Wireless B5G Networks

“…Moreover, as diversity of broadband services grows, so does the necessity to address the network scalability beyond typical peakprovisioning approach. While a flexible OFH may assist cost effective on-demand resource management in a highly heterogeneous network scenario [10], optimized C-RAN functional split design may bring additional levels of system flexibility towards dynamic balancing of service requirements with system constrains [11].…”

Network Slice Mobility in Next Generation Mobile Systems: Challenges and Potential Solutions

“…To achieve such ambitious goals, 5G has been re-architected from the ground up in comparison to the previous mobile network generations. Decoupling logical network functions from the physical infrastructure forms the basis of deployment of self-contained, programmable and customizable networks [2].…”