Enrico Buracchini

Impact of network slicing on 5G Radio Access Networks

Network slicing addresses the deployment of multiple logical networks as independent business operations on a common physical infrastructure. The concept has initially been proposed for the 5th Generation (5G) core network (CN) however, it has not been investigated yet what network slicing would represent to the design of the 5G radio access network (RAN). The paper explains how network slicing may impact several aspects of the 5G RAN design such as the protocol architecture, the design of network functions (NFs) and the management framework that needs to support both the management of the infrastructure to be shared among the slices and the slice operation.

Software radio" the challenges for reconfigurable terminals

The Software Defined Radio (Sdr) has always been considered as a promising solution for the future of wireless communications because of its ability to provide flexible architecture, enabling multimode and multistandard devices. On the network side, this technology seems to be achievable in a short-term visibility (we even are currently knowing the very beginnings ofSdr solutions in the field of network equipments), but applied to terminals, this technology is likely to reach later its maturity because the embedded issue is synonymous with high constrained architecture. The implementation of software radio terminals requires, for instance, the use of high calculation capability Digital Signal Processors (Dsp) or deeply integrated multiband rf transceiver, whose power consumption quality acts as a brake for the current development of such solutions. Nevertheless, the microelectronic industry will still provide more and more powerful components and, within a few years, theSdr dream will come true for terminal manufacturers. Furthermore, software radio is also a good opportunity to merge computer science and telecommunications technologies, in order to develop smart terminals, which may integrate software components like an operating system or Java virtual machine, etc. Hence, the software radio concept within mobile terminal is still an R&D issue, which requires effort combination in different fields but which also represents a great opportunity for the future of terminals.RésuméLa Radio logicielle (Software Defined Radio,Sdr) a toujours été considérée, depuis son apparition dans la littérature, comme une solution prometteuse à cause de sa capacité à proposer des des architectures flexibles qui autoriseraient des terminaux multimodes et multistandards. Du côté du réseau, la radio logicielle semble être envisageable à court terme (nous en connaissons d’ailleurs les prémisses actuellement) mais du côté des terminaux, la problématique « embarqué » tend à repousser la maturité de ces terminaux car elle nécessite, par exemple, l’utilisation de processeurs très performants ou encore de têtes rf multibandes dont la consommation est un frein au développement de ce genre de solutions. Néanmoins, la microélectronique va être à même de fournir des composants de plus en plus performants, ce qui rendra possible l’application de la radio logicielle aux terminaux dans quelques années. Enfin, leSdr est une opportunité de combiner les domaines de l’informatique et des télécoms pour développer des terminaux intelligents qui sont censés intégrer des composants logiciels comme un système d’exploitation ou une machine Java virtuelle, etc. Ainsi, le concept de radio logicielle reste un axe de travail de recherche qui nécessite la participation de différents domaines de compétence mais qui est un formidable enjeu pour l’avenir des terminaux.The Software Defined Radio (Sdr) has always been considered as a promising solution for the future of wireless communications because of its ability to provide flexible architecture, enabling multimode and multistandard devices. On the network side, this technology seems to be achievable in a short-term visibility (we even are currently knowing the very beginnings ofSdr solutions in the field of network equipments), but applied to terminals, this technology is likely to reach later its maturity because the embedded issue is synonymous with high constrained architecture. The implementation of software radio terminals requires, for instance, the use of high calculation capability Digital Signal Processors (Dsp) or deeply integrated multiband rf transceiver, whose power consumption quality acts as a brake for the current development of such solutions. Nevertheless, the microelectronic industry will still provide more and more powerful components and, within a few years, theSdr dream will come true for terminal manufacturers. Furthermore, software radio is also a good opportunity to merge computer science and telecommunications technologies, in order to develop smart terminals, which may integrate software components like an operating system or Java virtual machine, etc. Hence, the software radio concept within mobile terminal is still an R&D issue, which requires effort combination in different fields but which also represents a great opportunity for the future of terminals.

Software Radio—a key technology for adaptive access

The paper provides a vision of an adaptive wireless access for next-generation services. Depending on the requirements of the applications and the user situation, an optimum access method has to be selected. Software (SW) radio is the key enabling technology in this field. The functionality of a SW radio is described, and the challenges for future developments are identified. A major advantage of SW radio is the on-the-fly upgrade capabilities, both of terminals and of base stations. The paper concludes with a presentation of future trends, hybrid fibre distribution of radio signals and mechanisms for control of the various access networks. Copyright

Performance evaluation of the software download procedure in an IEEE 802.11 WLAN

In the last years many different technologies and air interfaces have been standardized. B3G systems will allow the integration and coexistence of these diverse technologies in a common environment. It is a priority objective of this scenario of have a flexible terminal that can dynamically select the most appropriate RAT and reconfigure itself from the physical to the application layer. This reconfiguration can be carried out by downloading the various software modules that form the new RAT through the air interface on which it is currently operating. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the performance of the software download procedure when the terminal is operating in an IEEE 802.11 WLAN.