5G Infrastructure Research Articles

5G/SDR-Assisted Cognitive Communication in UAV Swarms: Architecture and Applications

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are in general faster to deploy and easier to operate due to many off-the-shelf guidance, navigation, and control solutions. Such solutions usually support short-range line-of-sight operations. However, operating a swarm of UAVs for surveillance purposes in diverse terrains requires cost-effective wireless connectivity, infrastructure-less operation, adaptive mobility models, multiclass routing solutions, and a tailored ground control station . In this article, we address the challenge of UAV swarm communications by presenting a framework that offers an open-interface communication and networking solution for surveillance operations in urban/outreach areas. It is based on a hybrid connectivity module that can enable the coexistence of 5G infrastructures, adaptive multiband SDR waveforms empowered with cooperative communication capacities, and satellite communications for continuous swarm operation in any demographic area. In addition, we also discuss some of the current and futuristic applications and scenarios that can benefit from the provided solution.

Glucose-to-Resistor Transduction Integrated into a Radio-Frequency Antenna for Chip-less and Battery-less Wireless Sensing.

To maximize the potential of 5G infrastructure in healthcare, simple integration of biosensors with wireless tag antennas would be beneficial. This work introduces novel glucose-to-resistor transduction, which enables simple, wireless biosensor design. The biosensor was realized on a near-field communication tag antenna, where a sensing bioanode generated electrical current and electroreduced a nonconducting antenna material into an excellent conductor. For this, a part of the antenna was replaced by a Ag nanoparticle layer oxidized to high-resistance AgCl. The bioanode was based on Au nanoparticle-wired glucose dehydrogenase (GDH). The exposure of the cathode-bioanode to glucose solution resulted in GDH-catalyzed oxidation of glucose at the bioanode with a concomitant reduction of AgCl to highly conducting Ag on the cathode. The AgCl-to-Ag conversion strongly affected the impedance of the antenna circuit, allowing wireless detection of glucose. Mimicking the final application, the proposed wireless biosensor was ultimately evaluated through the measurement of glucose in whole blood, showing good agreement with the values obtained with a commercially available glucometer. This work, for the first time, demonstrates that making a part of the antenna from the AgCl layer allows achieving simple, chip-less, and battery-less wireless sensing of enzyme-catalyzed reduction reaction.

SABIC launches new LNP™ compound, offering easy plating with LDS, for 5G dipole antennas

On April 20, 2022, SABIC introduced LNP™ THERMOCOMP™ OFC08V compound, a material claimed to be well suited for 5G base station dipole antennas and other electrical/electronic applications. This new compound should be able to help the industry develop lightweight, cost-effective, all-plastic antenna designs that facilitate deployment of 5G infrastructure. In an era of increasing urbanization and smart cities, broad availability of 5G networking is needed to provide fast, reliable connectivity for millions of residents.

Kubeedge Wireless for Integrated Communication and Computing Services Everywhere

The fifth generation (5G) communication network has been developed rapidly in the past few years, which provides substantial bandwidth capacities and higher quality of service (QoS). 5G technology commercialization includes mobile edge computing and communication technologies. The increasing deployment of mobile edge computing empowered 5G infrastructures facilitates further intelligent data processing in smart city scenarios. The future innovative city applications require the seamless integration of mobile edge computing and communication. This article gives a comprehensive vision of the next generation communication networks integrated with distributed computing in both academia and industry. We propose the network for AI (NET4AI) and edge-mesh computing architectures, enabling cloud-native capabilities to be expanded to the communication network to realize integrated communication and computing services. Notably, a flexible KubeEdge Wireless (KEW) platform is inspired and discussed for dynamic services, such as service migration, shedding light for academia and industry.

A Novel Variable Pseudonym Scheme for Preserving Privacy User Location in 5G Networks

Due to the development in 5G mobile communications, user privacy becomes the main challenge, especially with the multiplicity of services and applications that can be accessed. Location privacy is related to the user privacy in terms of the possibility of tracking and unwanted advertisements, as well as the possibility of exposure to suspicious activities and terrorist attacks based on the user location. Accordingly, previous mobile systems use pseudonyms instead of a permanent identity to preserving the user’s location privacy in mobile networks, by what is known as the Cellular Radio Network Temporary Identifiers (C-RNTIs). The C-RNTI protects the user privacy relatively, but it faces some problems due to the clear text of the user in CRNI exchange, which will make the user easily trackable by man-in-the-middle attack. This article aims at proposing a new algorithm that improves the user’s location privacy and enhances the capabilities of the 5G infrastructure in terms of confidentiality and privacy. The idea is based on the use of a novel variable pseudonym (V-RNTI) algorithm that acts as a radio channel identifier for the user, which improves the allocation of pseudonyms to identify users. The proposed algorithm uses different V-RNTI values by the UE and can be changed frequently to improve the pseudonym allocation procedure. This approach can be implemented in 3GPP standard architecture by upgrading UEs and eNB by minor modifications. During this study, the proposed 5G V-RNTI authentication protocol model was built. And then, the automated analysis of the protocol model is performed by using ProVerif Model Checker. The results showed that the model works well without any noticeable problems.

V2X Spectrum Allocation for Emergency Communication Using Cognitive Radio Transmission

Cognitive radio and complex spectrum connectivity are two other phenomena that influence the world of wireless networking. We have developed an experimental cognitive radio simulation system to research the role of information representation and reasoning technologies. A traditional radio often follows the same protocol when working in a certain contact mode and is effective or failing at a specified task. GPS has become a popular vehicular technology with an adaptation of 4G & 5G infrastructure. The GPS includes details on the current location and positioning of every vehicle. Some plans require the use of local wireless networks close to computer networking. Other recommendations include taking advantage of existing wireless networks to exchange this info. The reasons for the transmitted system rely on the frequency spectrum to be used. The paper aims to construct and first available allocation spectrum for transmission of emergency messages between vehicles and vehicles to infrastructure environments.

Leveraging 5G technology for robotic surgery and cancer care.

BackgroundThe field of robotic surgery has seen significant advancements in the past few years and it has been adopted in many large hospitals in the United States and worldwide as a standard for various procedures in recent years. However, the location of many hospitals in urban areas and a lack of surgical expertise in the rural areas could lead to increased travel time and treatment delays for patients in need of robotic surgical management, including cancer patients. The fifth generation (5G) networks have been deployed by various telecom companies in multiple countries worldwide. Our aim is to update the readers about the novel technology and the current scenario of surgical procedures performed using 5G technology. In this article, we also discuss how the technology could aid cancer patients requiring surgical management, the future perspectives, the potential challenges, and the limitations, which would need to overcome prior to widespread real‐life use of the technology for cancer care.Recent findingsThe expansion of 5G technology has enabled some countries to conduct remote surgical procedures, tele‐mentored and real‐time interactive procedures on animal models, cadavers, and humans, demonstrating that 5G networks could offer a potential solution to previously experienced latency and reliability hurdles during the remote surgeries performed in the 2000s.ConclusionNew technological advancements could serve as a ground for emerging novel therapeutic applications. While limitations and challenges related to the 5G infrastructure, cost, compatibility, and security exist; researching to overcome the limitations and comprehend the potential benefits of integrating the technology into practice would be imminent before widespread clinical use. Remote and tele‐mentored 5G‐powered procedures could offer a new tool in improving the care of patients requiring robotic surgical management such as prostate cancer patients.

Policy choices can help keep 4G and 5G universal broadband affordable

• The UN broadband commission is targeting universal broadband of 10 Mbps by 2030. • This paper evaluates if this is actually feasible, considering viability and affordability. • Deployment of 5G non-standalone costs USD 2 trillion (0.67% of annual GDP for the developing world). • A favorable regulatory environment can reduce this cost by almost half, avoiding public subsidy. • Governments must adopt fiscal and regulatory regimes conducive to lowering broadband costs. • If so, universal broadband may be within reach of most developing countries over the next decade. The UN Broadband Commission has committed to universal broadband by 2030. But can this objective really be affordably delivered? The aim of this paper is to assess universal broadband viability in the developing world, quantifying the relationship between demand-side revenue and supply-side cost. A comprehensive scenario-based simulation model is developed open-source, capable of evaluating the global cost-effectiveness of different 4G and 5G infrastructure strategies. Utilizing remote sensing and demand forecasting, least-cost network designs are developed for eight representative Low and Middle-Income Countries (Malawi, Uganda, Kenya, Senegal, Pakistan, Albania, Peru and Mexico), the results from which form the basis for global aggregation via a new assessment framework. The cost of meeting a minimum ∼10 Mbps per user is estimated at USD 2 trillion using 5G Non-Standalone, approximately 0.67% of annual GDP for the developing world over the next decade. However, by creating a favorable regulatory environment, governments can bring down these costs by almost half – to USD 1.2 trillion (approximately 0.41% of annual GDP) – and avoid the need for public subsidy. Providing governments make judicious choices, adopting fiscal and regulatory regimes conducive to lowering costs, universal broadband may be within reach of most developing countries over the next decade.

Research on Automatic Driving Simulation Test System Based on Digital Twin

With the rapid development of 5G infrastructure, cloud computing and other technologies to enhance the rapid development of autonomous vehicles. How to quickly, safely and efficiently test and evaluate the autonomous vehicles is the only way for that to have the ability to drive on real public road. This paper build a set of automatic driving simulation test system based on digital twin technology, describing the necessary steps taken for the system design, system implementation, and testing of a autonomous vehicle. In the system the real traffic scene in the digital space re-emerged, to achieve the real vehicle running in the real environment, while mapping to the virtual environment to achieve the vehicle in the loop, making it possible to define driving test scenarios for different types of tractor and trailer combinations and providing the free test site for autonomous vehicles. At the same time, the system provides an open interface, to verify and test various autonomous algorithms. The sensor device of the tested autonomous system is flexibly configured, and the test cost is low and the efficiency is high.

Terrigenous export and ocean currents' diffusion of organophosphorus flame retardants along China's adjacent seas

High demands for but strict regulatory measures on Organophosphorus Flame Retardants (OPFRs) have resulted in mainland China transitioning from the region that imports OPRFs to one that exports these substances. Simultaneously, large quantities of terrigenous OPFRs have been exported to adjacent seas by the major river systems, particularly the Yangtze River. This study examined the presence of ten OPFRs in China's adjacent seas. High levels of OPFRs were observed in seas south of mainland China, with Tris (2-chloroethyl) phosphate (TCEP) and Tris (1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate (TDCPP) dominant. The terrigenous OPFRs were redistributed by the ocean surface currents, with OPFRs tending to accumulate in regions with lower current speed. The producers of OPFRs are mainly distributed along the Haihe, Yellow, and Yangtze river systems. The application of OPFRs to electric vehicle charging stations, charging connectors, and 5G infrastructure in the Chinese mainland will likely drive rapid growth in OPFR related industry in the future. The diffusion trend map of OPFR indicated that the Bohai Sea and the central northern Yellow Sea are at high risk of ecological damage in the spring. The offshore region of the north of the South China Sea tended to aggregate more OPFRs in summer. Regions of the OPFR aggregation effect were at a higher risk of ecological damage.

China’s 5G networks: A tool for advancing digital authoritarianism abroad?

This article examines the claim that the People’s Republic of China (PRC) promotes its commercial interests in building 5G network infrastructure abroad to advance digital authoritarianism. Critics view China’s actions as part of a well-coordinated, strategic effort to promote authoritarian values, spread its version of authoritarianism, and shape global governance norms around information and communication technologies. However, concerns over China’s 5G infrastructure in supporting digital authoritarianism may be overstated. This essay finds that geopolitical dynamics and local economic considerations challenge China’s capacity to influence governance practices and questions the notion that China’s promotion of its 5G network infrastructure has a clear political, strategic intent. The findings suggest that the United States needs to refocus its messaging around the geopolitical and security risks associated with greater dependence on Chinese digital infrastructure as well as create new industrial policies to better compete economically in 5G.

С. М. Петько ТЕХНОЛОГІЯ 5G В СИСТЕМІ ЦИФРОВОЇ ЕКОНОМІКИ РЕСПУБЛІКИ КОРЕЯ

The purpose of the article is to investigate 5G technology and its impact on the further development of the digital economy of the Republic of Korea in the combination with the existing digital infrastructure in the country. Methodology of research. The achievement of the purpose was done by using the following research methods: comparative analysis, scientific abstraction and analytical method. Results. It was determined that the Republic of Korea passed a long distance of the technological and digital infrastructure development, while constantly improving its existing innovative and technological resource. It has been proven that the growing trend of the 5G market will have a decisive economic effect from the introduction of the specified technology in the services and manufacturing industries due to the transition from the existing 4G network (LTE / LTE Advanced) to 5G. Modernization of the existing 4G network and its further transition to 5G will require the significant Government investments, and it is the one of the imperatives of the development of the digital economy for the country in the future. According to the results of the investigation, it was found that the 5G technology is in the process of its formation, during which additional R&D should take place for its effective functioning; corporations-manufacturers should work on making cheaper of 5G network to the customers; the technological improvement of the 5G infrastructure should take place to determine all of the strengths and weaknesses of the new technology; the Government of the Republic of Korea should conduct financing in the 5G projects and related patents within the country. Practical value. Unfortunately, the practical experience of the 5G network using in the Republic of Korea will not be necessary for Ukraine in the nearest years due to the technological discrepancy of the existing Ukrainian 4G digital infrastructure (LTE / LTE Advanced) in the further transition to 5G; the war with russian federation; energy crisis, which occurred after russian bombing of the Ukrainian critical infrastructure and Internet servers.

Securely Operating Through 5G Infrastructure (NSF)

Securely Operating Through 5G Infrastructure (NSF)

5G Infrastructure Network Slicing: E2E Mean Delay Model and Effectiveness Assessment to Reduce Downtimes in Industry 4.0

Fifth Generation (5G) is expected to meet stringent performance network requisites of the Industry 4.0. Moreover, its built-in network slicing capabilities allow for the support of the traffic heterogeneity in Industry 4.0 over the same physical network infrastructure. However, 5G network slicing capabilities might not be enough in terms of degree of isolation for many private 5G networks use cases, such as multi-tenancy in Industry 4.0. In this vein, infrastructure network slicing, which refers to the use of dedicated and well isolated resources for each network slice at every network domain, fits the necessities of those use cases. In this article, we evaluate the effectiveness of infrastructure slicing to provide isolation among production lines (PLs) in an industrial private 5G network. To that end, we develop a queuing theory-based model to estimate the end-to-end (E2E) mean packet delay of the infrastructure slices. Then, we use this model to compare the E2E mean delay for two configurations, i.e., dedicated infrastructure slices with segregated resources for each PL against the use of a single shared infrastructure slice to serve the performance-sensitive traffic from PLs. Also we evaluate the use of Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) against bare Ethernet to provide layer 2 connectivity among the 5G system components. We use a complete and realistic setup based on experimental and simulation data of the scenario considered. Our results support the effectiveness of infrastructure slicing to provide isolation in performance among the different slices. Then, using dedicated slices with segregated resources for each PL might reduce the number of the production downtimes and associated costs as the malfunctioning of a PL will not affect the network performance perceived by the performance-sensitive traffic from other PLs. Last, our results show that, besides the improvement in performance, TSN technology truly provides full isolation in the transport network compared to standard Ethernet thanks to traffic prioritization, traffic regulation, and bandwidth reservation capabilities.

Validating a 5G-Enabled Neutral Host Framework in City-Wide Deployments.

Along with the adoption of 5G, the development of neutral host solutions provides a unique opportunity for mobile networks operators to accommodate the needs of emerging use-cases and in the consolidation of new business models. By exploiting the concept of network slicing, as one key enabler in the transition to 5G, infrastructure and service providers can logically split a shared physical network into multiple isolated and customized networks to flexibly address the specific demands of those tenant slices. Motivated by this reality, the H2020 5GCity project proposed a novel 5G-enabled neutral host framework for three European cities: Barcelona (ESP), Bristol (UK), and Lucca (IT). This article revises the main achievements and contributions of the 5GCity project, focusing on the deployment and validation of the proposed framework. The developed neutral host framework encompasses two main parts: the infrastructure and the software platform. A detailed description of the framework implementation, in terms of functional capabilities and practical implications of city-wide deployments, is provided in this article. This work also presents the performance evaluation of the proposed solution during the implementation of real vertical use cases. Obtained results validate the feasibility of the neutral host model and the proposed framework to be deployed in city-wide 5G infrastructures.

A Low-Latency and Energy-Efficient Multimetric Routing Protocol Based on Network Connectivity in VANET Communication

Intelligent transportation systems (ITSs) are important applications of 5G mobile communication technology. Vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs) are key part of intelligent transportation systems. Although 5G technology and infrastructure can significantly promote the development of VANETs, in some scenarios, for example, if 5G service is not available or the vehicle speed is too fast, device to device (D2D) will be an important means of communication. Therefore, combining 5G and D2D VANET communication is crucial to provide better connectivity. However, due to high-speed mobility, uneven distribution, and unpredictable vehicle behavior, the VANET network topology changes rapidly, and network connectivity is unstable. This phenomenon represent a considerable challenge to the routing protocol; at the same time, the continuous establishment of new routes needs to send a large number of routing requests (RREQ) and routing reply (RREP) packets, and it therefore consumes considerable energy. How to choose a more stable route is the key to implementing the routing protocol. In this paper, we take the most representative features of vehicles and roadways into consideration and based on the hypothesis of uneven vehicle distribution, we use a nonhomogeneous Poisson process to analyze the network connectivity and take the network connectivity as one of the routing decision metrics. Therefore, using fuzzy logic to make routing decisions under multiple selection criteria, we developed a new routing protocol named LENC (low-latency and energy-efficient routing based on network connectivity). Simulations have been performed comparing classical AODV and LENC. The results indicate that LENC represents a great improvement in routing stability and is superior to AODV in several aspects.

Optimized Joint Allocation of Radio, Optical, and MEC Resources for the 5G and Beyond Fronthaul

In 5G and beyond telecommunication infrastructures a crucial challenge in achieving the strict Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) regarding capacity, latency, and guaranteed quality of service, is the efficient handling of the fronthaul bottleneck. This part of the next generation networks is expected to comprise the New Radio (NR) access and the Next Generation Passive Optical Network (NGPON) domains. Latest developments load the fronthaul with computing tasks as well (e.g., for AI-based processes) in the context of Mobile Edge Computing (MEC). Towards efficient management of all resource types, this paper proposes a joint allocation scheme with three optimization phases for radio, optical, and MEC resources. This scheme, which has been developed in the context of the blueSPACE 5G Infrastructure Public Private Partnership (5G PPP) project, exploits cutting-edge technologies, such as radio beamforming, spatial-spectral granularity in optical networks, and Network Function Virtualization (NFV), to provide dynamic, adaptive, and energy efficient allocation of resources. The devised model is mathematically described and the overall solution is evaluated in a realistic simulation scenario, demonstrating its effectiveness.

Quantum Hypercomputing and Communications: Overview and Future Applications

Today, like never before, we are witnessing a pervasive diffusion of ultra-broadband fixed-mobile connectivity, the deployment of 5G infrastructures and its integration with Cloud-Edge Computing. Moreover, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is at the center of this Digital Transformation. Sustainability of future scenarios will have to face several techno-economic challenges: the transmission and processing of enormous quantity of data with ultra-low latencies, automation of management processes, strict requirements of resilience, security and privacy, optimization of resources and energy, new markets dynamics. This is requiring a rethinking of the ways of doing computation and communications. As a matter of fact, a second revolution is underway with a growing interest - and several investments from Industries worldwide – and expected potential exploitations for meeting said evolutionary requirements and the sustainability. This paper provides a description of an innovative approach based on evanescent, electromagnetic waves and tunneling photons, for developing quantum computing systems, so called Quantum Hypercomputing. Some examples of potential applications are also provided.

Subwavelength Metawaveguide Filters and Metaports

This paper proposes an alternative technique for the design of miniaturized waveguide filters based on locally resonant metamaterials (LRMs). We implement ultrasmall metamaterial filters (metafilters) by exploiting a subwavelength (sub-\ensuremath{\lambda}) guiding mechanism in evanescent hollow waveguides, which are loaded by small resonators. In particular, we use composite pin-pipe waveguides (CPPWs) built from a hollow metallic pipe loaded by a set of resonant pins, which are spaced by deep-subwavelength distances. We demonstrate that, in such structures, multiple resonant scattering nucleates a sub-\ensuremath{\lambda} mode with a customizable bandwidth below the induced hybridization band gap (HBG) of the LRM. The sub-\ensuremath{\lambda} guided mode and the HBG, respectively, induce pass and rejection bands in a finite-length CPPW, creating a filter, the main properties of which are largely decoupled from the specific arrangement of the resonant inclusions. To guarantee compatibility with existing technologies, we propose a subwavelength method to match the small CPPW filters to standard waveguide interfaces, which we call a metaport. Finally, we build and test a family of low- and high-order ultracompact aluminum CPPW filters in the X and $K_{u}$ bands (10--18 GHz). Our measurements demonstrate the customizability of the bandwidth and the robustness of the passband against geometrical scaling. The three-dimensional printed prototypes, which are 1 order of magnitude smaller and lighter than traditional filters and are also compatible with standard waveguide interfaces, may find applications in future satellite systems and 5G infrastructures.

Design of a Security and Trust Framework for 5G Multi-domain Scenarios

With the expansion of 5G networks, new business models are arising where multi-tenancy and active infrastructure sharing will be key enablers for them. With these new opportunities, new security risks are appearing in the form of a complex and evolving threat landscape for 5G networks, being one of the main challenges for the 5G mass rollout. In 5G-enabled scenarios, adversaries can exploit vulnerabilities associated with resource sharing to perform lateral movements targeting other tenant resources, as well as to disturb the 5G services offered or even the infrastructure resources. Moreover, existing security and trust models are not adequate to react to the dynamicity of the 5G infrastructure threats nor to the multi-tenancy security risks. Hence, we propose in this work a new security and trust framework for 5G multi-domain scenarios. To motivate its application, we detail a threat model covering multi-tenant scenarios in an underlying 5G network infrastructure. We also propose different ways to mitigate these threats by increasing the security and trust levels using network security monitoring, threat investigation, and end-to-end trust establishments. The framework is applied in a realistic use case of the H2020 5GZORRO project, which envisions a multi-tenant environment where domain owners share resources at will. The proposed framework forms a secure environment with zero-touch automation capabilities, minimizing human intervention.