Data Handling Mechanisms and Collection Framework for 5G vRAN in Edge Networks

Abstract

Current trends of mobile data traffic explosion and expected rise in Internet of Things (IoT) devices from the upcoming 6G communication era are pushing network operators and vendors to deploy edge infrastructure for processing faster computational capabilities. The mobility based applications and use cases for closely located user equipment’s (UE), call for usage of wireless mobile communication systems, e.g. multi-access edge computing (MEC). Big data processing and artificial intelligence (AI) at the network edge is envisioned to support an edge micro data center (EMDC) infrastructure to boost the deployment of 5G networks. The data handling mechanisms for the EMDC (i.e., optimum deployment strategies of the virtualized network functions) is still challenging for 5G networks. In addition, data collection frameworks for such deployment have not been thoroughly investigated so far. In this paper, we provide an overview of data handling mechanisms and deployment options for 5G networks in three aspects; firstly, we propose extended approaches for data handling mechanisms with virtualized radio access networks (vRAN) in EMDC and highlight the insights; secondly, we present the consideration of vRAN design and implementation for the EMDC architecture; finally we present the data collection framework for such deployment in local test bed, e.g., data usage for workload scheduling. The indications of proposed data handling mechanisms and data collection framework will create new opportunities towards 6G in the context of intelligent data management.