Orchestration of Ultra-Dense 5G Networks

Abstract

The six articles in this special section address ultra-dense 5G mobile communications networks. The articles present the research and industrial communities with the opportunity to explore new research findings on ultra-dense networks employing network function virtualization (NFV)/software defined networks (SDN) in their cloud-based architecture. The focus is on the use of virtual management and orchestration features to drive the various network resources in response to the load changes at the RAN and distributing traffi c between various cloud entities. The NFV transformation is gaining incredible momentum within mobile operators as one of the prominent solutions to improve the resource allocation and system scalability in future fi fth generation (5G) networks. The process of migrating proprietary hardware solutions to the NFV domain creates a complete new cycle of dynamic service management that can adapt in response to users’ behavior and resource availability. Virtual appliances, denoted as virtual machines (VMs), are normally dependent on the underlying cloud hardware through a thin software layer that abstracts virtual resources to NFV applications. 5G networks will adopt a distributed cloud architecture that supports local processing of user requests within mobile edge computing (MEC) data centers. In addition, the 5G core network (5GC) will be deployed as a virtual composition that can instantiate interfaces to various radio access network (RAN) technologies over the cloud.