Reader Forum: 5 keys to getting to 5G

5G is coming, but not everyone is ready. Here are 5 keys CSPs should have in place when preparing to migrate their networks

Over the next five to 10 years, we’ll see a quantum leap in technology. Delivery trucks will be replaced by flying drones. Physicians will examine patients using high-definition video from halfway around the world. Household appliances will call in their own repairs. And all of this will be enabled by a “5G” network: the most powerful, efficient and intelligent network the world has ever known.
For the communications service providers that are intending to deliver this experience, however, the future might not look so rosy. Many are still struggling with the demands of “4G” LTE build outs that are pitting the demands for more capacity against a backdrop of shrinking customer revenue and increased competition from “free” applications, such as Skype, WhatsApp and FaceTime. 5G sounds exponentially more expensive as it is expected to support 1,000-times more devices than 4G with 100-times faster speeds and 10-times lower latency.
While this may sound daunting, in reality many of the requirements for 5G are already addressed in current-day network initiatives, such as network functions virtualization, software-defined networking, service orchestration and virtual probes. So, in fact, many CSPs may be further along the 5G migration path than they realize.
The creation of a 5G network requires the transformation of key areas in the network: the radio access network, the core network and the service creation layer. While radio access standards and available spectrum are still a work-in-progress, today we have a good understanding of the core network and service creation requirements for 5G, based on the types of use cases being considered and believe that there are 5 key considerations when undertaking this transformation:

Create a common ‘composable’ core

The 5G core requires a significantly more flexible core network than the 4G/LTE core; one that can deliver a controlled and secure experience across heterogeneous access technologies and manage connectivity/mobility for a dizzying array of mobile devices. It must also be able to scale dynamically to account for highly variable application and traffic types, preserve identity and security end to end and support legacy interworking, while reducing cost and complexity. 5G will rely upon NFV and SDN to create a “composable” core that decouples the user and control planes, moving services and applications closer to the network edge, while enabling CSPs to affordably achieve high bandwidth, low latency requirements with unlimited scale and flexibility.

Enable network ‘slicing’ to support different service types

The concept of network slicing has captured a lot of attention in the industry because 5G mobile networks will need to be many things to many different types of endpoints and sessions. For instance, HD videoconferencing in a telemedicine application will have very different session requirements than a wireless machine-to-machine device communicating its hourly status.In a 5G network, CSPs will need to slice their network resources into many different types of services, each with unique requirements around quality of service, security, latency, etc. With a NFV/SDN architecture, CSPs can support network slicing on-demand on a per-customer or per-application/use case basis.

Optimize the network for the ‘internet of everything’

One of the most compelling use cases for 5G technology is the “internet of everything,” which will bring with it billions of connected wireless sensors that will share space on the same communications network as more profitable consumer and enterprise data traffic. This creates a conundrum: how to prevent millions of M2M devices, which are expected to run the gamut from low-revenue services like connected homes to high-revenue services like connected cars, from negatively impacting subscriber services, such as high-definition voice communications and streaming video? The answer lies in creating a network architecture that can efficiently handle different categories of traffic, specifically high-bandwidth downloads.

Ensure support for new mobile services

5G will improve the revenue flow to service providers – provided they can identify and create those services that will drive business decisions and improve the overall subscriber experience. In order to do this, service providers will need to increase their network intelligence and implement analytics that can provide insights from session control, subscriber events and subscriber data in real-time to drive smarter network planning and provisioning.

Simplify network operations and management for better cost control

5G networks will have to do a lot more, but they shouldn’t cost a lot more. One of the biggest challenges that CSPs will face in the future is how to build more intelligent networks that handle more traffic volume (and more different types of traffic) without escalating their capital expense/operating expense costs. On the wireless access side, the ability to leverage existing Wi-Fi networks and deploy short-range, high-bandwidth access points instead of radio access network towers will go a long way toward mitigating the cost of ubiquitous mobile broadband. Within the network, CSPs will look to virtualization and the cloud as central to reducing capex costs, while service orchestration, virtual probes and network analytics will help to drive opex costs down.
Although 5G won’t officially arrive for a few years yet, we know it’s coming. We also know that 5G networks will have different requirements than 4G networks. They’ll need to be more flexible, more scalable, more intelligent and less expensive to operate. Those same benefits can also help mobile service providers reduce costs and accelerate revenue opportunities today. To achieve this, operators should be looking to deploy virtualized solutions today that are already “5G compatible,” ensuring that when they move to 5G they can experience the benefits of this future network while controlling costs, complexity and service disruption.
Editor’s Note: In an attempt to broaden our interaction with our readers we have created this Reader Forum for those with something meaningful to say to the wireless industry. We want to keep this as open as possible, but we maintain some editorial control to keep it free of commercials or attacks. Please send along submissions for this section to our editors at: [email protected].