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

Sensors

Carlos Colman-Meixner¹  Reza Nejabati¹  Dimitra Simeonidou¹  Gino Carrozzo²  Muhammad Shuaib Siddiqui³  Leonardo Ochoa-Aday³  August Betzler³  Sergi Figuerola³  Adriana Fernández-Fernández³  Hamzeh Khalili³ 

[1] High Performance Networks Group, Smart Internet Laboratory, Faculty of Engineering, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1QU, UK;Nextworks s.r.l., 56122 Pisa, Italy;i2CAT Foundation, 08034 Barcelona, Spain;

关键词: 5G;    NFV;    neutral host;    network slicing;    city-wide deployments;    testbed design;   

DOI  :  10.3390/s21238103

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

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.

【 授权许可】

Unknown