5G Technology

55G Architecture

Antti Toskala and Miikka Poikselkä

Nokia Bell Labs, Finland

CHAPTER MENU

1. Introduction
2. 5G Architecture Options
3. 5G Core Network Architecture
4. 5G RAN Architecture
5. Network Slicing
6. Summary
7. References

5.1 Introduction

The 5G network architecture was influenced by different factors. There was the preparation for cloud‐based implementations, readiness to deal with larger data rates and lower latencies than previous generations, enabling new services, as well as the need to interwork with Long‐Term Evolution (LTE), especially in the first phase. All these factors have impacted the 5G architecture. Besides the radio technology development, a new 5G core network has also been defined which allows new service elements in terms of local and global services as well as the new concept of flow‐based quality of service and support for network slicing and many other features enabling a more efficient cloud‐based implementation when compared to the LTE core (EPC, Evolved Packet Core). This chapter presents an overview of the different 5G architectures and then covers in more details the radio access network (RAN) architecture and interfaces as well as the 5G Core (5GC) network with key elements and functionalities. This chapter concludes with the introduction of network slicing support in Release 15.

5.2 5G Architecture Options

Originally there were eight architecture options on the table in 3GPP discussions [1] when all possible aggregation and core network combinations ...