'Flat' Cloud-Based 5G Network Architecture Could Improve Mobile Connectivity, User Experience, 5GIC Says
A cloud-centric 5G network architecture that enables user experiences "perceived as always sufficient for their current context" could be a "disruptive change" for next-generation wireless networks, the University of Surrey's 5G Innovation Centre said in a white paper released Tuesday.…
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The proposed network would provide a "more connected experience over a dynamic and distributed cloud based architecture" that is "flatter" than LTE, and designed to "always make best use of the resources available at the time of each new communications request." Recent global connectivity statistics show wired broadband coverage is "largely driven by direct or indirect government influence" on the local telecom industry, so fixed broadband rates are "disparate across the globe, but do not correlate with mobile penetration," 5GIC said. Mobile penetration is "likely" to be higher than 100 percent in nearly all markets by 2020, with multiple devices per person, it said, while rates on mobile broadband are "potentially likely" to be higher than home broadband, and mobile broadband should "dominate" the market by 2020 "unless there are major changes in fixed broadband." More people now "prefer a nomadic and/or mobile approach where devices are concerned," 5GIC said, and "a network that enables true device mobility and supports the user of the device to be able to declare the context they are operating the device with, is what is required." The Flat Distributed Cloud 5G network proposed by 5GIC can add user profiles to the network architecture that can be operated by the users and the network to trade information selectively enabled by the users to inform the network of parts of their context that improve their experiences, the white paper said. 5GIC identified three "key tenets" that should be offered by a 5G network architecture -- the perception of infinite bandwidth, an always-connected capability and tailored context awareness -- and established a set of architecture requirements to support a "much flatter" distributed network.