DELIVERING A SUPERIOR CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE FOR 5G

1. Introduction1.1. A new dynamic, open and modular network1.2. Web-based APIs not legacy protocols

2. Challenges 2.1. Transitioning to a 5G core 2.2. Deploying a cloud-based RAN 2.3. Navigating the right migration path 2.4. NSA option 3, 3a and 3x 2.5. Long-term migration 2.6. Increased network complexity

3. Redefining the customer experience 3.1. Enabling complete 5G network and service visibility3.2. Efficientcorrelationofmultipledatafeeds

4. Ensuring 5G services with RADCOM Network Intelligence 4.1. Intelligent 4.2. Container-based 4.3. On-demand 4.4. Network Analysis 4.5. RADCOM’s NWDAF solution 4.6. From next-generation packet analysis and call tracing to end-to-end SOC

5. Initial 5G services 5.1. Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) 5.2. Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) 5.3. Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC)

6. Summary 7. Abbreviations 8. References

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1. IntroductionWiththerecentintroductionof5Gintoabroadrangeofmarketsworldwide,theFourthIndustrialRevolutionhasbegun.5Gpromisesafutureinwhichpeoplearealwaysconnected,andtechnologyisdeeplyembeddedinsociety;providinghighspeedandinstantconnectivityforanydeviceandanypersonanywhereonearth,withoutrestrictions.

Previousgenerationsofmobilenetworkswerepurpose-builtfordeliveringcommunicationsservicessuchasvoice(2G),mobiledataserviceslikemessaging(3G),andthentruemobilebroadband(4G)formultimediaonthemovewithservicessuchasvideochatandvideostreaming.5Gismuchmorethanjustthenextiterationofmobilenetworks.Intheinitialstages,5Gwilldeliverenhancedmobilebroadbandwithhigherdataspeeds(uptotwentytimesthatof4G),andbettercoverageforusecasessuchasFixedWirelessAccess(FWA).However,overtime,5Gwilltransformtherolethat telecommunications play in society. True 5G will enable new use cases such as autonomous cars, remote control ofcriticalinfrastructure/machinery,smart-gridcontrol,industrialautomation,robotics,dronecontrol,andremotetelehealthserviceswhichwillbeempoweredbyanultra-reliable,lowlatencynetwork(uptotentimesthatof4G)thatwill revolutionize our lives.

Withthenew5Gnetworkbeingcloud-native,networkfunctionswillrunasstateless,container-based,virtualnetworkfunctions(VNFs).Beingcloud-nativewillmakeoperatorsmoreagile,andfastertoinnovate,deliveringnew,excitingservices like cloud service providers such as Amazon and Google. Containerization means individual services are updated withminimalimpactonotherservices.Thiscloud-nativedesignbuiltonwhiteboxesorCommercial-Off-The-Shelf(COTS)hardwareenablesoperatorstoreducecosts,acceleratetheintroductionofnewservices,anddeliverfasteriterationstotheirnetworkandservices.Uponthiscloud-nativeinfrastructure,operatorsareredesigningtheirnetworkarchitectures,andcorenetworkusingweb-basedstandardstocreateadynamic,open,scalable,andmodularplatformtodeliveruponthepromiseof5G.

1.1 A new dynamic, open and modular network5Gprovidesamodular,Lego-likeframeworkinwhichservices/applicationscanbedeployedusingcomponentsfrommultiple sources and vendors. The 5G network allows control plane Network Functions (NFs) to expose Service-based Interfaces(SBIs)thatactasserviceconsumersorproducers.TheNFsregistertheirservicesinthenetworkrepositoryfunction,andservicescanthenbediscoveredbyotherNFs.Thisnewarchitectureenablesmodulardeployments,whereeveryNFallowstheotherauthorizedNFstoaccesstheservices,whichprovidesincredibleflexibilitytoconsumeandexposeservicesandcapabilitiesforbothinternalandexternalparties.Networkfunctionsareself-contained(withoutaffectingeachother.e.g.,healingandscaling)andinterchangeablewhilealsobeingabletotaketheroleofeitheraserviceproducerorconsumer.Thisnewnetworkdesignprovidesthefollowingbenefits:

•Modularity-Thenetworkiscomposedofmodularizedservices-alsoknownasMicroservices-thatcanbereusedamongdifferentnetworkfunctions.

•Extensibility-Thenetworkcanbeeasilyextendedwithoutintroducingnewreferencepoints.So,trafficcanbeeasilybalancedoroffloadedbythedeploymentofnewNFserviceinstances.

• Interoperability - Networkfunctionscanbeeasilyexposedtoexternalusers-suchas3rd-partyapplicationdevelopers,thusmakingtheplatforminteroperable,andopenwhileextendingthecloudplatformbeyond the operator.

1.2 Web-based APIs not legacy protocolsThe5Gcoremovesawayfromtraditionaltelecom-styleprotocolinterfacestoallowfunctionstocommunicatewithoneanotherandsharedatausingadistributedwebservicesmodelandnotspecificnetworkprotocols.EachfunctionexposesitsfunctionalityandcommunicatesthroughanSBIusingRESTfulbasedAPIsviaHTTP/2.WithJavaScriptObjectNotation(JSON)beingtheapplicationlayerserializationprotocol,andforsecurityatthetransportlayer,all3GPPNFswillsupportTransport Layer Security (TLS).

AnAPIenablestheexposureofanorganization’sdigitalservicesandassetsinacontrolledwayandisauniversalconceptusedbymodernsoftwaredesign,especiallyforweb-servicesandencompassesawiderangeofusecaseswhichiswhy3GPPdecidedthat5GserviceexposureshouldbebasedonRESTfulAPIs.Usingamodern,open,web-baseddesignlikeAmazon,Google,andFacebooktoexposetheircloudplatforminacontrolledway,usingalreadywidelyadoptedRESTfulparadigms will enable operators to break down traditional network silos and empowering vertical markets to build upon the operators’infrastructurewithmodularservicesthatwillseamlesslyslotintoplace,turningthetelcocloudintoaserviceplatformforothervendors.Thisapproachwillalsomakeitsimplerforanoperatortoadd,remove,ormodifynetworkfunctionsfromanetworkprocessingpath(functionalagility)andcreatenewservice-specificservicepathson-demand(serviceagility).Thismajorre-architectureofthenetworkwillprovideoperatorswiththenecessaryplatformagilityneededtodeliverthenewgenerationofexcitingmobileservicesandprovideahubinwhichothercompaniescanalsobepartoftheFourth Industrial Revolution.

In total, about 45 operators in 30 countries1 have already activated 5G within their live network. Currently, 5G handsets arelimited,however,over3M5Gsubscriptionsareprojectedworldwidebytheendof2019.Overall,theforecastisthatbytheendof2025,therewillbe1.9billion2.6subscriptionsandthat45%ofmobiledatatrafficwillbecarriedby5Gnetworks2.

2. Challenges5G will be delivered using a new core network (5GC) that is cloud-native, as well as a new radio access technology called 5GNewRadio(NR).Unlikeearliermobilenetworksthatrequiredbothaccessandcoreofthesamegenerationtobedeployed,with5G,itispossibletomixelementsofdifferentgenerationsindifferentconfigurations.Initially,5Gnetworkswill be deployed in non-standalone mode (NSA) that combines multiple radio access technologies. So, a host LTE network using an enhanced 4G core will deliver 5G services via a 5G NR.

Over time operators will migrate to a cloud-native 5G core and deliver 5G services in a standalone (SA) mode that no longer depends upon the 4G core, which will enable operators to execute network slicing, dynamically control the network, deliver intelligenceattheedge,andoffermultipleradionetworksandconnections.

However,thecloudificationofthenetworkisachallengingtaskandaddsalotofcomplexitythatwilltakenumerousyearstoimplementfully.Operatorswillneedtosupport5Gandlegacynetworkswhilealsomanagingtrafficgrowth.So, optimizing and assuring the network services that run across both legacy and cloud-native environments will be critical ifoperatorsaretotransitionsuccessfullyandensurethatthetechnologymigrationisseamlesstotheirsubscribers.

Withcustomerexpectationsandtheeaseinwhichsubscriberscanchurn,itwillbeessentialforoperatorstodeployServiceOperations Center (SOC) and Customer Experience Management (CEM) solutions. SOC and CEM will enable operators to monitortheend-to-endservicequalitysmartly,prioritizecustomeraffectingservicedegradations,andunderstandtheoverall customer experience to optimize churn. Both SOC and CEM solutions correlate multiple data sources (such as OSS and BSS data) to provide operators complete end-to-end service visibility. When enhanced with probe-based service

assurance data, SOC and CEM provide root-cause analysis and troubleshooting at both a high level and granular level, with drill-down capabilities to the packet or subscriber level.

Furthermore,withsomuchoftheunderlyingnetworkchangingin5G,operatorswillalsoneedtoensuretheydeploynext-generation,low-leveltoolslikeprotocolandsessionanalyzerstotroubleshootthenetworkperformanceandoptimizetheirservices.Layingdownthefoundationstoassuringservicesinacloud-nativeplatformnowwillalsoenableoperatorstoembedthefundamentalsneededforfutureclosed-loopfunctionality.

2.1 Transitioning to a 5G coreTheintroductionofControlandUserPlaneSeparation(CUPS)inthe4GEPCwasthefirststeptowardsthe5Gcorearchitecture.TheServingGateway(SGW)residesintheuserplaneandforwardsandroutespacketstoandfromtheradiotothePacketDataNetworkGateway(PGW).CUPSsplittheSGWandPGWfunctionsintoacontrolanddataplanecomponent.So, the SGW becomes the SGW-C and SGW-U, and the PGW becomes the PGW-C and PGW-U. First introduced in Release 14anddevelopedin3GPPRelease15Control&UserPlaneSeparation(CUPS)wasaddedtosupportamoreflexible,distributedarchitecture,withbothcentralizedandedgedeploymentsthatwillbeessentialfor5G.

The control plane and all the associated complex interactions are centralized, while the user plane is distributed at the edge closertotheuserandasvirtualfunctionsratherthanhardwarefunctions,placedattheoptimallocationon-demand.Thisseparationofcontrolanduserplanewillbecriticalasnew5Gusecasesarerolledoutlikeautonomouscars,sotheuserplane can be run in a data center in a city closer to the end-user, thus reducing latency. Furthermore, this will also enhance high-bandwidthservicesthatareofferedtodaylikevideostreaming,wherethedatawillbeclosertotheend-user,atthenetworkedge,improvingserviceperformanceandsavingonvaluablenetworkresourcesinthecore.

CUPSrepresentsanotablechangetothemobilenetworkarchitecture.IthassignificantimplicationsforserviceassurancevendorswhoneedtocorrelatethecontrolplaneanduserplaneaswellasperformnewCUPSprotocoldecodingtoprovideoperators with complete network visibility.

UDM AFPCFNRFNEFNSSF

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Figure1–Thenew5Gcorearchitecturewith4Gfunctionsmappedtotheir5Gequivalent

The second step towards the 5G core architecture is the move to Service-Based Architecture (SBA). In the 2G, 3G, 4G network core, a point-to-point (P2P) architecture was deployed. The challenge with a P2P architecture is that it contains manyuniqueinterfacesbetweenfunctionalelements,eachconnectedtomultipleadjacentelements.This“tangle”ofconnectionscreatesdependenciesbetweenfunctionsandmakesitdifficulttoiteratefastanddeliveragileservices.SBAintroducesanewsoftwarearchitecturebasedonITprinciplesthatenablefasterservicecreationandprovidesacriticalfoundationfortheevolutionofallfuturemobileinnovations.

Movingawayfromthepoint-to-pointapproachandprovidingamoreflexible,plug,andplaytypeframeworkinwhichservicescanbeeasilyswitchedinandoutwilladdressthediverseservicetypesandhighlydemandingperformancerequirementsinahighlyefficientway.Thenewarchitecturealsosupportsadditionalservicesnotavailableinthe4Gcore–notablyrelatedtonetworkslicingandmulti-access.Someofthekeyfeaturesareaformalseparationofcontrolanduserplane,splitofsessionandmobilitymanagementintothesessionmanagementfunction(SMF),andtheaccessandmobilitymanagementfunction(AMF).

Secure and encrypted 5Gisaboutenablingadiversenewsetofservicesandusecasesaffectingnearlyeveryaspectofourlivesandwillopenthe network up to allow 3rd parties access to add their services. So, 5G must be delivered securely even while exposing functionalitytootheroperatorsand3rdparties.Also,inthelong-term,5GwillenableMassiveInternetofThings(MIoT)applicationssuchastrafficsensorsandVehicle-to-Infrastructure(V2I)servicesthatarethefoundationforsmartcities.Therefore,it’scriticaltopreventhackersfromaccessingthatdata,hijackIoTdevices,ordisruptservices.

Securityhasbeenatoppriorityfor5G,withmultipleorganizationsworkingtogethertocreateamoresecurenetwork.3GPP,ETSI,andIETFhaveeachfocusedonspecificparts.The5GcorenetworkfunctionssupportsecurityprotocolssuchasTLS1.3(definedbytheIEFTinRFC844643) to protect the network communication at the transport layer. 3GPP’s Release15makesTLS1.3mandatoryfornetworksintheservice-basedinterfaces,andRelease16(5Gphase2)extendsthistomakeitmandatoryformobiledevicesaswell.Although,adoptionofTLS1.3forthenetworkcoredependsontheoperator–itisexpectedthatsomeoperatorswilladoptthisprotocol–oneofthechallengesthatTLS1.3willintroduceishowtogainnetworkvisibilityforsecurityandmonitoringpurposesaspassivemodedecryptionwillnolongerbepossible(seePacket-basedmonitoringformoredetails).AlsodefinedbytheIETFistheOAuth2.0framework(definedinRFC67494)attheapplicationlayertoensurethatonlyauthorizednetworkfunctionsaregrantedaccesstoaserviceofferedbyanotherfunction.

NRFAUSFAMFNF

SEPPSEPP

UDMNRFSMFN3IWF

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Figure2-SEPPfunctionprovidesend-to-endsecurityprotectionforinter-operatorcontrolplanetraffic

TofurtherenhancesecurityintheSBA,3GPPhasdefinedanewfunctioncalledtheSecurityEdgeProtectionProxy(SEPP)toimplementend-to-endsecurityprotectionforinter-operatorcontrolplanetraffic.TheSEPPfunctionsecurelytransportssignalingbetweentheHomeandVisitedPublicLandMobileNetwork(PLMN).SEPPwillsignificantlyimprovesecurityininterconnect situations and make it impossible to read or manipulate message content without prior agreement with the operatorasittraversestoothernetworks.However,SEPPterminatesTLSconnectionsbetweenthe5Gcoreandanothernetwork’sSEPP.So,theSEPPfunctioncouldconceivablyprovideserviceassurancevendorsanunencryptedcopyofthenetworktrafficfortheN12,N16,N8,N24,N31,N32interfaces.

Inadditiontothenewfunctionality,authenticationbetweenSEPPsisrequired,andanewapplication-layersecuritysolutionontheN32interface(betweentheSEPPs)hasbeencreatedtoprotectsensitivedatawhilestillallowingmediationservices.So,themaincomponentsofSBAsecurityareauthentication,andtransportprotectionbetweennetworkfunctionsusingTLS,theauthorizationframeworkusingOAuth2,andimprovedinterconnectsecurityusingthenewSEPPprotocoldesignedby3GPP.Withthenewcorebeingdesignedtoallowplugandplayfunctionsandservicesfromothervendors,theseaddedlayersofsecurityareessentialtoprovidingasecurecloudfordeliveringthenextstageofmobileinnovation.

2.2 Deploying a cloud-based RANAcriticalelementinanymobilenetwork(aswellasoneofthecostliestandmostrestrictive)istheRANthatprovideswirelessconnectivitybetweentheend-userdevicessuchasasmartphone,laptop,orIoTdeviceandthecoreofawirelessnetwork.Inatypical4Gnetwork,theradioheadunit(RRH)andbasebandunit(BBU)isconnectedthroughfiberacrossashortdistanceandsittogetherattheedgeofthenetworkandaresuppliedbythesamevendor.Thisvendorlock-inisrequiredbecauseoftheCommonPublicRadioInterface(CPRI)thattransmitsdigitizedRFdataoveropticalfiberbetweentheRRHatthetopofthecelltowerandthebasestationbelowisproprietary,whichbasicallymeansthatanoperatorneedstobuythebasebandequipmentandradiosthatworkonthesamesystemfromthesamevendor.

AlthoughtheCPRIcontinuestoevolve,itisnotastandardbutcomplements3GPPframeworksandisdesignedbyfourcompanies;Ericsson,Huawei,NEC,andNokia.WiththelatestiterationreleasedinMay2019,itenhancesthesupportforthe5Gfront-haul.However,indesigningtheirnew5GRANs,operatorswanttobreakoutfromthisvendordependencyandmove to a multi-vendor RAN. Also, when it comes to 5G, CPRI could become a bottleneck and not scale to deliver on 5G demands.Operatorswanttomakethiscriticalpartofthenetworkmorecost-effective,morestraightforwardtoupgrade,anddynamic to manage.

Thenext-generationRANarchitectureisdefinedwithafunctionalsplitbetweenthebasebandandtheradio.Virtualizationwillhelpoperatorsmakethistransitionmorecost-effectiveandallowthemtomanagetheirservicesmoredynamically.ThesechangesintheRANwillcomeinseveralforms:

Cloud-RAN or Centralized-RAN (cRAN)cRANmovesthebasebandunit(thatisthebrainsoftheRAN)toacentrallocationratherthansittingatthebaseofatower,whichdecouplestheradioelementsfromtheprocessingservers.ThesecRANbasebandunitsarevirtualizedunitsrunningonstandardserversandcentrallylocated,reducingthenumberofsitesneeded,cuttingcosts,andeasilymanagedasapoolofbasebandunitsthatoperatemultipleradios.cRANmeansthattheradioheadunitsgenerallyhaveasmallerfootprintasthebasestationwithon-siteprocessingisdecoupledfromtheradiounit.However,thecRANarchitectureitselfcontributeslatencybetweentheRRHandtheBBUduetothedistancesbetweenthecentralizedBBUandRRHthatcanbeupto25km.

Virtualized RAN (vRAN)vRAN replaces the proprietary baseband unit hardware that would sit below the antenna and the radio in traditional network architectureandreplacesitwithvirtualfunctionsrunningongenericserversatacentrallocation.BydecouplingtheRANfunctionsfromproprietaryhardware,operatorscanmanagetheirnetworkmoreefficientlyandscaletheirnetworkresourcesdynamicallythatwillbeessentialfordeployinghighbandwidth,on-demand,5Gservices.AvirtualizedbasestationwillalsoimprovespectralefficiencybyutilizingapoolofBBUsthatsharesignalingamongdifferentcells.

Although virtualizing the RAN has many advantages, a high-speed connection is required between the radio (RRU) and computeelements(BBU)asthecentralizationofRANfunctionsdemandshigh-bandwidthandlow-latencybetweenthebasestationanddatacenter,sothesedeploymentsfavorfiber-richregions.

However,inthelong-term,virtualizationiscriticalforoperatorsontheroadto5G.AsoperatorsbegintoimplementdynamicnetworkslicesforsuchusecasesasIoTandmission-criticalservices,itwillbenecessarytosmartlycontrolnetworkresourcesonaservice-by-servicebasisusingmultipleaccesstechnologies.OnlybydecouplingfunctionsandvirtualizingtheRANwilloperatorsgainthisdynamic,smartcontroloftheirend-to-endresources.

BothcRANandvRANdeploymentshave/arebeingimplemented.InNorthAmerica,bothAT&TandVerizonhaveadoptedcRAN.Verizon,forexample,hasutilizedcRAN5toimplementSelfOptimizingNetwork(SON)technologythatcanadjustthepowerofindividualcellsitesdependingonreal-timedemand.InAsia,ChinaUnicomandNokia6 have partnered on cRAN inthenewlycreated“megacity”ofXiongan,China.Withthenetwork,beingdubbedthe“world’slargestfieldtrial,”tomorerapidly deploy 5G.

AsforvRAN,inJune2019,RakutenMobileannounced7thattheywouldbebuildinga5GopenvRANarchitectureinJapan.AswellaspartneringwithNEC,RakutenisinvestinginAltiostarthatprovidesa5G-readyvRANsoftwaresolution.Whereas,in North America, Nokia publicized a blog post8thattheyhaddeployedacloud-basedvRANwithVerizon.AsmoreandmoreoperatorsstartadoptingbothcRANandvRAN,multiplevendorsareexpectedtoenterthefrayastheRANmarketopensupto new startups as well as the established vendors transitioning to cloud-native solutions.

2.3 Navigating the right migration path 3GPPreleasedthe5GNRspecificationsfornon-standalone(NSA)operationinDecember20179 (known as option 3) thatwasphaseoneofthe5Gstandard.ThatwasfollowedinJune2018withphasetwowhentheStandalone5GNRradiospecifications(knownasoption2)werefinalized.NSAoptionsconsistoftwogenerationsofradioaccesstechnologies(both4G and 5G) using dual-connectivity, and the core network being either EPC (Evolved Packet Core) or 5GC. NSA means that the5GNRnetworkcannotstandaloneandreliesonthe4GEPCforcontrol-relatedfunctions.TheSAoptionsincludeonlyonegenerationofradioaccesstechnology,andthecorenetworksoperateseparately.SAmeansthatthe5GRANcanberunindependentlyofa4Gnetwork.

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Figure3–Deploymentscenariosfor5G

2.4 NSA option 3, 3a and 3xMostoperatorsthathavestartedrollingout5GhaveadoptedsomeformofNSAoption3(seethediagrambelow)asitleveragesexisting4Gdeployments,andcanbebroughttomarketswiftlywithonlyminoralterationstotheoperators’4Gnetwork.ThedualconnectivityusedforaMastereNodeBtoconnecttoSecondaryeNodeBhasbeenstandardizedinthe4Gnetwork,andNSAOption3/3a/3xhasadoptedthisstandard.Theend-userdeviceisconnectedtoboth4Gand5Gradiosatthesametime;4Gforsignalingand5GNRforthedeliveryofdata(streamingvideo,audio,etc.).TosupportNSA,theoperatorsneedtodoaminorsoftwareupgrade,andthereisnoneedtomakeanymodificationstothehardware.Theoverallprocess,includinghandover,isnodifferentfromthatofa4Gnetwork.Thisdeploymentoptionalsosupportslegacy4Gdevices, and voice services will remain unchanged. That means 5G devices will only need to support the new radio protocols so new devices can be developed quickly.

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In Option 3, there is no connection between the gNB and the 4G network. All 5G user plane traffic is routed through the 4G eNB to the 4G network. Operators will need to increase the bandwidth of the S1-U interface to meet 5G requirements and upgrade their eNB hardware.

In this scenario the X2 interface traffic between the eNB and gNB has 5G user plane traffic which means the amount of traffic could be significant.

Option 3a provides for dynamic switching of the 5G user plane traffic between the 4G and 5G network. The gNB has an S1-U interface to the 4G network, but no X2 interface.

So, the 4G eNB and the 5G gNB directly talk to the 4G core but do not directly talk with each other over the X2 interface. This means that there can be no load sharing of data over a single bearer over 4G and 5G.

In this scenario, only control plane traffic transverses the X2 interface.So X2 traffic is significantly lower than in Option 3.

Option 3x is a combination of option 3 and 3a with both the S1-U and X2 interfaces being available from the gNB.

In this scenario, all the 5G user plane traffic travels via the gNB, and the control plane travels via the eNB.

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Figure 4 - NSA option 3, 3a and 3x

One approach that can be adopted by operators is to deploy new core network elements that can support both the EPC user plane (SGW and PGW) along with next-generation 5GC User Plane Function (UPF) and Session Management Function (SMF).RANwillusetheexisting4GbasestationswithupgradestosupporttheNSAfeaturesaswellasthedeploymentofnew5GNRcellstoprovidedual-connectivity,withinterconnectivityusing3GPPdefinedextensionsoftheX2interface.Oneofthevariantstooption3(knownas3X),providesforhighbandwidthflowstobefirstroutedtothe5GNRtoavoidextremeuser plane overload on the existing 4G radio.

The downside to deploying the option 3 scenario is that it does not introduce the new 5G core so, beyond enhanced mobile broadband, the network will not serve advanced 5G use cases that utilize new capabilities such as network slicing, advanced QoS,etc.thatrunonthenewservice-basedcloudnetwork.Adifferentapproachsomeoperatorsaretakingistorollout5Gusingoption2SA.Deploymentofoption2meansoperatorsareintroducingthenew5GCorenetworkfunctionsand5GNRbase stations and will circumvent the need to rebuild EPC core networks and minimize changes to 4G radio stations. This scenario is only expected to be adopted by operators that don’t have an existing 4G network.

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Transitioning to option 3x allows for high bandwidth flows to be first routed to the 5G radio to avoid extreme user plane overload on the existing 4G radio.

By adopting option 2 SA operators introduce the new 5G core network and 5G radio without the need to rebuild their EPC core and minimize changes to their 4G radio.

2.5 Long-term migrationAfteroperatorsrollouttheirfirst5Gservices,theywillneedtoselectlonger-termmigrationpathswithoptions2,4,5,and7.Options7,4,and5allrequireanupgradetothe4Gradiotosupport5GCinterfaces(N2/N3to5GCandXntogNBandng-eNB). Options 5 and 7 would maintain the 4G radio as the master node. In simple terms, option 7 means that the 5GC completelyreplacesthe4GEPCsothatithandlesalltrafficfromboththe4Gand5Gradios.Option4,however,wouldactasanextensionofoption2SAandwouldresultinthe4Gradiotakingasecondarynoderolewiththe5GNRasthemasternode.Asineverytechnologytransition,operatorswillbemaintainingthebalancebetweenmovingforwardtothenextgenerationnetworkwhilealsoutilizationtheirsignificantinvestmentsintheirpreviousnetworkinfrastructures.Onlytimewilltellwhichspecificpatheachoperatorwilltake.

2.6 Increased network complexityTheshifttoa5Gnetworkisaseismictransformationofthenetworkarchitectureanditsmanagement,bringingmanybenefitstotheoperatorintermsofoperationalflexibilityandscalabilitywhilealsolayingdownthefoundationsforthenextgenerationofexciting,dynamiccustomerandbusinessservices.However,thistechnologychangealsopresentsmanymorecomplexitiesandchallengesthattheoperatorwillneedtoovercometomakethistransformationasuccess.

OperatorsarevirtualizinghundredsofnetworkfunctionsfromtheRANtothenetworkcore.Upuntilrecently,thesefunctionswere proprietary hardware solutions supported by Network Equipment Providers (NEPs) and known and deployed by network engineersforyears.Noweachfunctionisvirtual,dynamic,andcanbelaunchedon-demandwithcertainfunctionsrunningalongsideotherfunctionsonthesamecommodityhardwaresoeast-westandnorth-southtrafficneedtobemonitored.

Operators are also integrating new management layers to streamline and automate their service deployments and to manage servicesusingaunifiedservicelevelpolicythatdowntheroadwillleadtoaclosed-loopnetwork.Ofcourse,althoughtheindustry is moving to virtualization, there remains a legacy network, and so operators will need to understand the end-to-end servicequalityrunningacrossbothnetworkdomains.Addtothisthesignificantincreaseindatatrafficandmillionsofmoredevicesconnectingtothecloudoperatorshavesignificantchallengesinunderstandingtheend-to-endcustomerexperienceandtroubleshootingthenetworkperformance.

3. Redefining the customer experience5Goffersinnumerableopportunitiesforoperatorstoredefinetheservicesthattheydelivertotheircustomersandchangewhat it means to be a telecom operator.

Astheytransitionfromprovidingonlycommunicationservicestodeliveringcontentandofferingacloudplatformforothercompaniestoprovideadditionalservices,operatorsareshiftingfrombeingCommunicationServiceProviders(CSPs)tobecomingDigitalServiceProviders(DSPs).Thistransitionhasthepotentialofgivingoperatorsnewrevenuestreams,andincreasingtheirbrandloyalty,butonlyiftheycancompetewithotherdigitalcontentprovidersanddeliverasuperioruserexperience.

Justlikeinpreviousmobilegenerations,thefoundationforsuccessisfocusingonthecustomerexperience.ServiceassuranceneedstobethecornerstoneandattheheartofCSPs’customerexperiencestrategyamidtheincreasingnetworkcomplexityasoperatorsrebuildtheirnetworkfunctionsonacloudplatform.Onlythenwilloperatorshavefullnetworkandservicevisibility.Onlywithfull,end-to-endvisibilitywilloperatorsunderstandthecustomerexperienceandhavethetoolsandsmartinsightstotroubleshootthenetworkperformanceeffectivelyandensurethenetworktransformationto5Gisseamlesstocustomers.

Asinpastmobiletechnologyiterationsoperatorsthatfailtounderstandtherealcustomerexperienceanddon’tsmartlymonitorandrectifycustomer-affectingserviceissueswillsufferchurn.Continuallyensuringahighqualityofexperience(QoE)andqualityofservice(QoS)hasneverbeeneasy,and5Gwillmakethisevenmoreofachallenge.

Withacloud-nativearchitecturebeingessentialfor5G,operatorswillneedtomasternetworkvirtualizationwithitsnewarchitectureanddynamicnaturetolaydownthefoundationsfortheirnext-generationofservices.Imagineanetworkfullofvirtualfunctionsthatcanchangeonthefly.Multiplythisbyhundredsofinstancesandthenconsiderthateachhardwareelementcanhavemultipleinstancesofavirtualfunctionandeachofthosefunctionscommunicatewitheachother(east-westtraffic)withinthesameserverandcanalsochangeonthefly.Allofthiscomplexityneedstobemonitoredforoperators to understand the QoE and QoS.

Addthefactthatphysicalnetworksarenotgoingaway.Therefore,fortheforeseeablefuture,serviceswilltransversebothvirtualandphysicaldomains,whichfurtherincreasesthechallengeforoperatorstounderstandthecustomerexperienceandservicequalityandknowwhatcustomer-affectingissuesarecritical.Despitethis,alltheseunderlayingchangeswill need to be transparent to the operators’ customers, and so the operator needs to ensure the QoE and QoS, however, intricate the situation. Furthermore, as the 5G rollout continues, operators will need to support the new use cases around ultra-lowlatency,edgeclouds,andnetworkslicingallwhilethenumberofdevicesandamountoftrafficthatneedsmonitoring continues to rise dramatically.

IfoperatorsaretotransitiontobecomingDSPssuccessfully,theyunderstandtheneedtochangecustomerperceptionsandreachthesamelevelofcustomerexperienceandbrandloyaltythatweb-firstcompanieslikeAmazon,Netflix,andGoogleoffertheircustomers.Ina2018consumersurvey10 , it showed that operators in Europe and North America had NetPromoterScores(NPS)between–5and40comparedtocompanieslikeAmazonandNetflix,typicallyscoring50orabove.

Anil Rao, Principal Analyst, Analysys Mason

Insuchahighlycompetitivemarket,operatorsmustincreasetheirfocusondeliveringsuperiorcustomerexperiencestodifferentiatethemselves,boostbrandloyalty,andgainnewcustomers.Excellentcustomerexperiencewillbeessentialforthesuccessof5Gandcouldopenawindowofopportunityinwhichoperatorscanredefinetheirrelationshipwiththeircustomers.

3.1 Enabling complete 5G network and service visibilityInrecentyearsJSONhasbecometheprimaryformatfordataexchangeonthecloudandeventhoughitgenerateshuman-readablestatementsandisbeingadoptedfortelconetworks,notallthedataneededbyoperatorsfornetworktroubleshootingwillbeexposed,andthedatathatwillberevealedonlycoverspartialinterfaces,forsomeusers,forselectedperiods.Incompleteinformationandstatisticswillleavegapsintheoperators’understandingofthecustomerexperienceandwillnotprovidethesmart,network,andserviceinsightsneededforcomprehensiveend-to-endtroubleshooting.Thesecapabilities are only enabled by an assurance solution that provides end-to-end tracing so that the operator can see the whole dataflow.

Traditionally,operatorshavedeployedprobe-basedserviceassurancesolutionsasanindependentauditoroftheirnetworks.Thesesolutionsprovideend-to-endtracingandfullend-to-endvisibilityofthenetworkserviceswhileempoweringtheoperatorwithcomprehensiverootcauseanalysisandtroubleshootingtoolsatbothahighlevelandgranularlevel;withdrill-downcapabilitiestothepacketorsubscriberlevel.Withsomanynewtechnologies,functions,andnetworkarchitecturalchanges,bothhigh-levelandlow-leveltoolsinacontainer-basedsolutionwillbecriticalforoperatorstransitioningtothecloudforNFVand5G.

Packet-based monitoringTLS1.3bringsmanychangestothecryptographicprotocoltoimproveperformanceandsecurity,whilealsoeliminatingcomplexitiesandsimplifyingthestack.ThemainsecuritychangethataffectspassiveprobingisthattheuseofstaticRSA(Rivest–Shamir–Adleman)andDiffie-Hellmankeyexchangehasbeenremoved,andsopassivemodedecryptionwillnolongerbepossible—replacedwithephemeralmodeDiffie-Hellmanwhichprovidesforwardsecrecy.Forwardsecrecyensuresthataccesstoakeyinthefuturecannotcompromisetheconfidentialityofallpastsessions.Todothat,ephemeralmodeDiffie-Hellmancreatesauniqueone-timekeyforeachseparateconversationbetweenaclientandaserver.

TheadoptionofTLS1.3dependsentirelyontheoperator.SomemaydecidetodeploytheTLS1.2protocolontheirSBIordeployanunencryptedSBI,whichwouldmeanthatpacket-basedmonitoringstillhasvisibilityintothecore.However,iftheoperator decides to implement TLS 1.3 encryption, it would mean packet-based monitoring could not be used, as passive probeswouldbeblindtothetrafficthatrunsthroughtheSBI.(Non-SBIinterfacessuchastheN1,N2,N3,N4,N6,N9willnotuseTLS1.3).IfvisibilityintotheSBIislimited,assurancevendorscanacquiredatafromothersources.Somesourcesarenewto5Gandothersnot.Whatiscriticalistheneedforanindependentauditorofthenetworktotakeallthedifferentdatafeeds,correlatethemintosmartinsightstoprovideoperatorswithanunderstandingofthecustomerexperienceandenableend-to-endnetworktroubleshooting.Someoftheadditionaldatasourcesin5Gare:

CSPs must recalibrate their customer experience strategies to tackle the increasing network complexity

as they embark on various network transformation initiatives such as network function virtualization (NFV),

software-defined networking (SDN) and 5G.”

Network Data Analytics Function (NWDAF)Partofthe5GCstandardistheNetworkDataAnalyticsFunction(NWDAF),asdefinedinTS23.50311 . It’s a network analyticscapabilitybuiltintothegeneralframeworkofthenetworkarchitectureandisanevolutionoftheRANCongestionAwarenessFunction(RCAF)fromprevious3GPPreleases.Itspurposeisforcentralizeddatacollection/analytics,andalthoughthisfunctionisstillinthe“earlystages”ofstandardization,itcouldbecomeamorecriticalfunctionforanalyticsinfutureiterationsofthe5GC.

Currently,3GPPhasstandardizednorthboundinterfaces.Inthefuture,3GPPmaystandardizetheNWDAFformatandthetypesofrawinformationthatthefunctionwillexamine.Intheory,theNWDAFshouldbeabletomakeuseofanydatainthecorenetwork,anduponrequestfromothernetworkfunctions,provideanalyticsinformation.

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AsdefinedinRelease15,theNWDAFdescriptionandcapabilitiesareveryelementaryandprovideloadlevelinformationforanetworkslice.Release15definestheNWDAFasprovidingthe5GCwiththeabilitytocollectandanalyzeaggregateddatapersliceandtoaidnetworkoptimization.Currently,someinterfacesaredefinedbetweentheNWDAFandtheNSFF,(mainlythenorthboundones),butthesouthboundinterfacesandthewayKPIsarecalculatedisnotdefinedatall.So,timewilltellifNWDAFexpandstobecomemoreofanall-encompassinganalyticsfunctionfor5GCthanjustformonitoringnetworkslices.

OpenTracingOpenTracingisanopen-sourceprojectgovernedbytheCloudNativeComputingFoundation(CNCF)thathasdefinedastandardizedAPIfordistributedtracing.AsOpenTracingisanAPI,abackendtracingsystemisrequired(forexample,Jaeger)tocollectthedataandprovideafeed(forexample,usingKafka).Asthisisaframework,theactualtracecontentisnotdefinedandwillvarybetweennetworkvendors.TheNEPsprimaryconcernistoprovidethehardwarefunctionalityandnottoburdentheirhardwarebysendingouttracedata.So,NEPsthatimplementOpenTracingwilllimitthetracetrafficcoveragetoabout10%oftheoveralltrafficthatflowsthroughtheirhardware.Furthermore,OpenTracingdoesnothaveanycorrelationfunctionality,soitisjustshowingonesideofthecommunication,whichisusefulfordebugging,butnotfornetwork troubleshooting and understanding the customer experience.

So,assurancevendorswillneedtocollectandcorrelateadditionaldatatoprovideoperatorswithanend-to-endviewofthenetworkfordetailednetworktroubleshooting.ForoperatorswhowanttouseOpenTracing,eachnetworkfunctionin5GCwould need to send OpenTracing events to an assurance solution, and each network event will need to be detailed and provide thefollowing:

•Theend-to-endflowoftransactionsrelatedtoeachsubscriberacrossall5GCNFs,logicalandphysicalinterfaces

•Afull,completetraceofeverytransactioninthe5GC,includingallmessagesandattributesincludedinthetransaction

•Aclearindicationoffailedtransactions,includingtheNFthatsignaledthefailureandfailurecause

OperatorsinterestedinutilizingOpenTracingcancontactRADCOM’sproductteamviaourwebsitefordetailedspecificationrequirementsandrecommendations.

Network event subscriptionsNetwork event subscriptions are a standard 3GPP service that allows an application to subscribe to network events and receivenotifications.Mostnetworkservicefunctionshavethisability.TheseeventsubscriptionsprovidemanydifferentAPIsthattheassurancevendorcansubscribeto,thatgiveverydetailedinformationonwhat’shappeninginthenetwork.However,thisdoesdependonthenetworkequipmentvendor,andsofar,thisservicehasn’tbeenimplemented.Inthefuture,thismaybesomethingthatchanges,andthisservicecouldbeagoodsourceofinformationthatoperatorscanusetounderstandwhat’s happening in the network and could compliment the data received via OpenTracing.

3.2 Efficient correlation of multiple data feedsSo,consideringthenewnetworkarchitectureandaddednetworkfunctions(whichdependsoneachoperator’simplementation),serviceassurancevendorswillneedtocollectdifferenttypesofdatafrommanyvarioussourcesefficiently.Themainchallengeisthecorrelationandvisualizationofthisdataintotheformofsmartinsightssothatoperatorscanunderstand the customer experience as well as troubleshoot and optimize the service quality. All this without burdening the operatorwiththeneedtostoresignificantamountsofnetworkdatathatisbothunnecessaryandawasteofvaluableCAPEXandOPEX.

This streamlined assurance solution also needs to come with automated, on-demand capabilities that are tightly integrated withoperators’NFVorchestrationsothatafullyautomatedassurancesolutioncanbedeployedontheflytoinvestigateanyservice degradations, provide root-cause analysis and then scale down and release cloud resources.

Furthermore,asdataencryptionbecomesanintegralpartofthetelconetwork,assurancevendorswillneedtoutilizeMachineLearning(ML)andArtificialIntelligence(AI)tosmartlyprovideinsightsthatautomaticallydetectanomalies(forIoT)andunderstandthecustomerexperienceforencryptedtraffic(suchasforvideostreamingandgaming).

By reducing data collection to the minimal, enabling on-demand capabilities and utilizing AI, service assurance vendors can provideoperatorsanefficientandcost-effectiveassurancesolution.Deliveringatremendouscustomerexperiencethatmatchessubscriberexpectationsintheageofacontinuallychangingnetworkandpersonalizedservices.

4. Ensuring 5G services with RADCOM Network Intelligence RADCOMNetworkIntelligencedeliversnext-generationcustomerandserviceinsightsfor5G.RADCOMNetworkIntelligenceisanautomated,dynamic,andmulti-functionalsolution,withsmartminimaldatacollectionandon-demandtroubleshooting.Breakingawayfromthelimitationsofavirtualizedprobe-basedserviceassurancesolution,RADCOMNetworkIntelligencedeliversafullycloud-native,container-basedapproachthatacquiresdataclosetothesourceandusesastatelessarchitecturethatseamlesslyintegrateswithinanoperators’cloudenvironment.Kubernetes(K8s)controlthecontainerizedcomponentslifecyclestartingfromtheinitialday-0instantiationandthroughouttheoverallplatformlifecycle.Beingdynamicandfullyintegratedenablesoperatorstotakeanon-demand,closed-loopapproachtoassurethecustomerexperienceforfirst5Gusecases(suchasenhancedmobilebroadband,fixedwirelessaccess,andedgedeployments)andmoreadvancedusecasesalongtheir 5G journey.

RADCOMNetworkIntelligencealreadysupportsNSAoption3/3a/3xandprovidesoperatorswithend-to-endservicevisibilityintothenetworkperformanceandcustomerexperienceforthehybrid4G/5Gworld.Option3routes5GuserplanetrafficthroughtheeNodeB.Option3aisdynamicandallows5Guserplanetraffictoswitchbetweenthe4Gand5Gradios.Inoption3x,all5Guserplanetravelsviathe5Gradio,whereas5GcontrolplanetrafficgoesviatheeNodeB.

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By monitoring all the essential interfaces such as S1 and S11, RADCOM correlates all the 5G user sessions entering the 4G network for end-to-end coverage of option 3/3a/3x. Optionally, RADCOM can monitor the X2 interface between the eNB and the gNB.

RADCOM monitoring points Control planeUser plane

RADCOM’ssolutionensuresthatthecurrent2G,3G,and4Gnetworksareperforming,servicesdeliveredoverthenew5Gradioarefunctioning,andwithsupportforthenewSBA,thatthe5Gnetworkitselfisworkingcorrectlyandfullyoptimizedasoperatorsrollouttheir5Gservices.RADCOMNetworkIntelligencehastheoperatorcoveredfromtheRANtothenetworkcore.

Operators that deploy NSA dual connectivity to deliver enhanced mobile broadband have to support both radios as well as theinteractionsbetweenthem.InNSA,schedulingandhandoversaresteeredusingthe4Gcontrolchannel,soforhandoffsbetweenRATs,operatorsmustmonitorthecontrolplane.4Gdevicesalreadyhavereliablehandoffmechanisms,butswitchingasessionfromoneRATtoanothercanstillhavesignificantlatencythatmightcausesessionstodropduringhandoff.So,itiscriticaloperatorsmonitorthesehandoffstoensuretheydonotimpactthecustomerexperience.RADCOM’ssolutionfor5Gcoversnetworkandserviceperformance,RANoptimizations,aswellasmarketingandbusinessintelligence(forexample,ifusers own a 5G handset and are not utilizing 5G services).

RADCOM’ssolutionbenefitsforoperators:

•OffersSBAreadiness(supportingcomplexCUPScorrelation)

•Enablesend-to-endserviceandnetworkvisibilityfromtheRANtoCore

•IntegratesintoNFVorchestrationwithacontainer-basedarchitecturethathasalowfootprint,consumesminimalresources,iseasytodeployon-demand,scalableandoffershighperformance

•Deliversaunified,multi-functional,cloud-nativeportfolioofnetworkvisibility,serviceassurance,andnetworkinsights

•Combinesvirtualprobefunctionalityandcomplexback-endprocessingintoonecontainerizednodeforimprovedcloudefficiency,easycapture,andcorrelationofmultipledatafeeds,aswellasefficientindexingandminimumdatastorage

• Provides the Network Data Analytics Function (NWDAF) capabilities

•Automatessolutiondeploymentforon-demandinstantiation,scaling,healing,andupdatingforaclosed-loopapproachtoassurancewithKubernetescontrollingthecontainerizedcomponentslifecycle

•Samplesandfilterstraffictosmartlyandefficientlymanageandloadbalancemassivetrafficvolumesacrossmultipleclouds

•Correlatesdatafromnumeroussources.Including,networkpackets,genericnetworkevents,JSON,Protobufs,Counters,PM/FM/Infrastructure/Alarms/VNFInputs/Events,CDRsfromlegacyprobes(normallypacket-based),andOpenTracing

RADCOMNetworkIntelligence’smulti-functionalsolutionincludesRADCOMNetworkVisibility,avirtualnetworkpacketbrokerthatcollects,processes,distributes,andload-balancestrafficacrossmultiplecloudsanddomains(virtualandphysical).RADCOMNetworkVisibilityhelpsoperatorssmartlysampleandfiltertraffictomanagevasttrafficvolumesin4Gand 5G.

RADCOMServiceAssuranceextractsandintelligentlycorrelatestherawdatafrommultiplesourcesacrossthenetworkandconverts into rich, actionable network intelligence presented as RADCOM Network Insights. RADCOM Service Assurance also utilizes advanced cutting-edge technology such as AI and Machine Learning to provide operators with smart, proactive monitoringforautomaticanomalydetectioninIoTandinsightsintoencryptedtraffic.

RADCOM’s next-generation solutionDelivering a next-generation customer experience that optimizes customer interactions to provide a best in class, personalizedexperiencemeansunderstandingthecustomerinreal-timeandgatheringabroadrangeofstreamingdatato make decisions in real-time. To do this, an operator needs the ability to analyze streaming data at a massive scale while utilizing built-in machine learning to detect anomalies automatically. Enhancing the customer experience and optimizing networkperformanceinreal-timeforhigh-quality5Gservices.

RADCOM’snext-generationserviceassurancesolutionisdesignedtoprovideoperatorswithreal-timeinsightsforthetransitionto5G.Evolvingfromavirtualprobe-basedserviceassurancesolutionwherealltheVirtualNetworkFunctionComponents(VNFCs)arehostedinVirtualMachines(VMs),RADCOM’snext-generationsolutionunifiesallitsVMhostedfunctions(backendandfrontend)intoasinglenode,hostedinacontaineranddeployedascloseaspossibletothesourceofthemonitoredtraffic.

RADCOMServiceAssuranceisbuilttoprocesslargevolumesofstreamingdataatlightningspeedwithverylow-latencyandperformbatchanalytics,allusingRADCOM’sdynamic,modular,stream-basedmicroservicesarchitecture.RADCOM’ssolutioncananalyzebillionsofnetworkeventsperdayfrommultipletypesofdatafeedshighlyefficientlyandconvertsthedata into smart, actionable network intelligence presented in RADCOM Network Insights.

RADCOM Service Assurance is empowered by patented technology – I.C.O.N – to deliver Intelligent, Container-based, On-demand, NetworkAnalysisfromtheRANtotheCore.

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Figure6-RADCOMI.C.O.Ncorrelatesmultipledatasourcesforend-to-end5GassurancefromtheRANtothecore

4.1 IntelligentDesignedtoprovidecompletenetworkandservicevisibilityfor5GcoveringtheRANtothecore,RADCOM’sI.C.O.Ntechnologyintelligentlyconsolidatesthecapture,processing,indexing,correlation,andstorageofmultipledatafeedssuchasOpenTracing,genericEvents,Protobuf,PerformanceManagement,FaultManagement,RadioEvents,Alarms,CSV,JSON,PCAP,Counters,andlegacyprobes(typicallypacket-based)allonthesamecontainerizednode.Significantlydecreasingtheamountofnetworkdatathatoperatorsneedtocollect,processandstoreRADCOM’sI.C.O.Ntechnologyenablesoperatorstounderstandthe360°customerexperienceandtroubleshootnetworkperformancefromahightogranularlevel(individualsubscriber or packet) while reducing storage costs and cloud resource utilization to the minimum.

Once data is captured, RADCOM’s I.C.O.N technology streams the data through various interchangeable modules that process(convertthedatatoadifferentstructureorconvertunformatteddatatoaformattedoutput),filter,runcalculations(suchascorrelationormachinelearning)andoutputthedata.Storeddataisinasearchableformat,usingpatentedindexingthat creates primary indexes with pointers to the raw packets. Data can also be sent out to data streaming solutions (likeKafka)inmid-stream,andthentheenricheddatasentbacktoRADCOM’ssolutionandsubsequentlyprocessedandtransmittedtoRADCOMNetworkInsights.RADCOM’ssolutioncorrelatesusersessionsbymaintaininguseridentifiers(such as IMSI, MSISDN, IMEI, and more) in a stateless database.

With indexes including pointers to the raw network packets, RADCOM’s I.C.O.N technology enables operators to run on-demandqueriesatblisteringspeedandworkonstreameddatawhilemakingcalculationsontheflyorruninbatchmodetoproducehistoricalreports.Operatorscanexecutesessionandprotocolanalysis,andifthequeryextendsbeyondthedataincludedintheprimaryindexes,RADCOM’sI.C.O.NtechnologyintelligentlycombinesindexeddatawithinformationextractedfromtherawpacketdatatoprovidePCAPtracesonthefly.Operatorscanalsorunadvancedanalyticsbydefining

severaltypesof"correlation"or"session"typesfordifferentusersanddifferentusecases.Forexample,anetworkelementcanhaveasessioncompiledfromdifferentprotocolsdescribingaspecificnetworkactivity.

4.2 Container-based Beingfullycontainerized,RADCOM’ssolutionisstateless,hasalowfootprintandconsumesminimalresources,iseasytodeployon-demand,scalable,andoffershighperformance.PlacingthedataacquisitionandprocessingrightnexttotheVNFanddesignedtoworkside-by-sideandspunupwiththeVNF.RADCOM’sI.C.O.NtechnologycomeswithaninputAPI(tocapture the data), streaming, storage, querying capabilities – all in one containerized solution. Deployed on the same host asthemonitorednetworkelement,RADCOM’ssolutionreceivestherawdata(packets)andmetadatadirectlyfromtheVNF.Asidecardeploymentprovidesoptimalloadbalancing,andthedataintegrityisagnostictoanynetworkchanges,asRADCOM’ssolutionisan“organic”partoftheoperator’snetwork.

Benefitingfromstorestatefunctionality,RADCOM’ssolutiondelivershighavailabilityandreliability,recoveringstatein midstream so that data analysis is constant and network issues detected in real-time. RADCOM’s solution also uses adistributedarchitecturesoanoperatorcanset-upaRADCOMServiceAssuranceclusterthathandlestrafficfiltering,anotherthatcontrolstrafficaggregation.Eachclusterbeingsmall,highlycloudefficient,andprovidingend-to-endcoverage.RADCOM’ssolutionoffershighreliability,highavailability,andeaseofuseforstreamingandbatchdataanalysis,allcriticalfor5G.

4.3 On-demandDuetoitsstatelessnature,self-containedoperation,aswellasintegrationintotheoperators’NFVorchestration,RADCOM’sI.C.O.Ntechnologyenablesthesolutiontobelaunchedon-demandtoinvestigatenetworkissuesonthefly.Ifservicedegradationisdetected,theoperatorcanspinuptoperformin-depth,on-demandanalysis,root-causeproblemsthataffectthecustomerexperience,andenabletheoperatortooptimizenetworkperformance.Onceservicequalityisrestored,theoperatorcanspindownthesolutiontofreeupvaluablecloudresourcesandcontinueperformingsmartsamplingonapercentageofthetraffic.

JamesCrawshaw,SeniorAnalyst,HeavyReading

4.4 Network AnalysisFromtheRANtothenetworkcore,RADCOM’sI.C.O.Ntechnologysmartlycorrelatesmultipledatafeedstoprovideoperatorsnetworkanalysistoimprovethecustomerexperienceandoptimizethenetworkperformance.Forblindspotsintheoperator’snetwork visibility, RADCOM leverages AI and Machine Learning to enable automatic anomaly detection and insights into encryptedtraffic.Thecombinationofintelligentcorrelationofmultipledatafeeds,andAIprovidessmartinsightsforcomprehensive network intelligence and closed-loop service assurance.

Processeddatacanbeusedforoperatorstounderstandthecustomerexperience,troubleshootnetworkperformance,andstreamprocessingcanbeusedtotransformandenrichthisdata.Theenrichedstreamdataisthenpushedbacktothe

Operators should take an on-demand approach to service assurance and network visibility, using smart sampling and filtering on specific datasets. They can then decide, on the fly, on which areas

of the network they want to perform in-depth analysis, zooming in on high priority issues or selected customer groups.

messagetransportsystemtomakethedataavailableforanalyticsbymultipleconsumerswithintheoperators'organization,suchasnetworkengineersanddatascientists.Streamdatacanalsobepartofareal-timedashboardusedforSOCandCEM.RADCOM’sI.C.O.Ntechnologyiscomprisedofinterchangeablemicroservicesthatcanbeeasilyupdatedorswappedout.Thisarchitectureismachinelearning-friendlyandenablesnewandupdatedMLmodelstobeaddedtothesolutionseamlessly.So,forexample,RADCOM’ssolutioncancreateaself-learningmechanismthatoptimizessmarttrafficsamplingsothatdatacaptureandstoragearereducedtotheminimumwhileensuringthesampledtrafficrepresentsthecompletecustomer experience, including subscriber trends and behavior. RADCOM’s solution provides operators with a more intelligent,moreefficient,andmuchmoreflexiblewayofprocessingandanalyzingallthedatafeedsneededtounderstandservice quality and assure the customer experience in 5G.

4.5 RADCOM’s NWDAF solutionAttheheartofRADCOM’sNWDAFsolutionisRADCOM’snext-generationtechnologyfor5Gassurance-RADCOMI.C.O.N-whichcapturesthedataandeventsfromthe5GcorenetworkfunctionsandcreatestheloadKPI’sthatareprovidedtothePCF and NSSF. Enhancing the 5G core with the ability to collect and analyze aggregated data per slice and to aid network optimizationviainteractionwiththePCFandNSSF.ThePCFcantaketheinputfromRADCOM’sNWDAFsolutiontoassignmoreresourcesorsteertrafficpolicies,whichwillhelpoperatorsruntheirnetworkslicesmoredynamically.WhiletheNSSFcantaketheloadlevelinformationprovidedbyRADCOM’sNWDAFforsliceselection.

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RADCOMNWDAFsupportedservices:•N23interface:areferencepointbetweenPCF(PolicyControlFunction)andtheNWDAF•N24interface:areferencepointbetweenNSSF(NetworkSliceSelectionFunction)andtheNWDAF•Nnwdaf_EventsSubscriptionwhichenablestheNFserviceconsumerstosubscribe/unsubscribefornetworkslicespecificcongestioneventsnotificationfromtheNWDAF

•Nnwdaf_AnalyticsInfowhichallowstheNFtoserviceconsumerstorequestandacquireanalyticsfromtheNWDAFAstheNWDAFcontinuestobedefinedbythe3GPPandevolves,itisexpectedthatadditionalinformationwillbeprovidedfromtheNWDAFtonetworkcontrolfunctionsresponsibleforhandlingthemobilityofactiveandidleUEs.Moreover,itisexpectedthattheoutputofNWDAFwillalsofeednewnetworkfunctionsrelatedtoAccessTrafficSteering,Switching,andSplittingschemes(ATSSS).Thisframeworkiscurrentlyunderinvestigationbythe3GPPastrafficsteeringofusersessionsthroughmultipleRATsisofparamountimportancefor5Gnetworks.

ThethreeprimaryoperationssupportedbytheATSSSare:•AccessTrafficSteering:Theprocedurethatselectsanaccessnetworkfornewdataflowandtransfersthetrafficofthisdataflowovertheselectedaccessnetwork.Forexample,trafficsteeringofusersessionsthroughmultipleRadioAccessTechnologies(RATs)fordynamicRATselectiontobettersatisfytheserviceandsubscriberneeds.Thisfunctioncanbeprovided based on location analytics, congestion analytics, etc.

•AccessTrafficSwitching:Theprocedurethatmovesalltrafficofongoingdataflowsfromoneaccessnetworktoanotherinawaythatmaintainsthecontinuityofthedataflow.

•AccessTrafficSplitting:Theprocedurethatsplitsthetrafficofdataflowacrossmultipleaccessnetworks.Whentrafficsplitting,toadataflow,sometrafficofthedataflowistransferredviaoneaccess,andsomeothertrafficofthesamedataflowistransferredviaanotheraccesssystem.

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RADCOM’ssolutionforNWDAFishighlyagileandcustomizable,fittingboththeoperators’needsastheir5GcorefunctionsareimplementedandastheNWDAFfunctionevolves.PoweredbyRADCOM’snext-generationtechnology-RADCOMI.C.O.N-RADCOM’sNWDAFtakesdatafrommultiplesourcesinthenetwork(suchasJSON,AVRO,Protobuf,rawpackets,PCAP)andoutputstheanalyticsinnumerousformats(suchasKafka,TCP,REST,file,email)andisflexibleinexposingitsservicestoothernetworkfunctionsandwhichfunctionsshouldbenefitfromthem.

RADCOM’sNWDAFprovidesoperatorswiththeabilitytocapturedatafrombothnon-SBIinterfaces(N1,N2,N3,N4,N6,N9)andSBIinterfaces(N5,N7,N8,N10,N11,N12,N13,N14,N15)sothatas5Gservicesrollout,RADCOM’sNWDAFensuresasmoothtransitiontothenewcorearchitecture;deliveringacentralpointfornetworkanalytics.

OtherusecasesfortheNWDAFthathavebeenstudiedby3GPPare:•5GedgecomputingwherebytheNWDAFcanbeusedtoinfluenceSMFroutingdecisions

•Determiningareaswithfluctuatingnetworkconditions

Bycorrelatingandanalyzinginformationcomingfromthenetworkfunctionswithdatafromtheapplicationfunctions(likeMOS),RADCOM’sNWDAFcanprovidestatisticalinformationthatenablesoperatorstochangenetworkdeploymentandconfigurationtoimproveE2EQoS.Examplesofimprovementsthatcanbetriggeredare:

•RADCOM’sNWDAFwillcorrelateservicedatawithdataprovidedbytheNFstofindoutwhytheserviceexperienceislow.

•TheAFcanbeinformedwhenaUEisapproachingapotentiallyoverloadedareasothattheAFcanknowthatthereisahigherchanceofservicefluctuationinthesenetworkconditions.

In5GserviceslikeURLLCandVehicletoEverything(V2X)willrequirenetwork-wideanalysistobothvalidateandimproveNFdeploymentandconfiguration.Operatorswillalsobeabletomonitornetworkslices(forexample,performancerequirementsforgroupsofUEsassociatedwithatypeofservice).TheNWDAFwillhelpoperatorsdetermineareasoffluctuationsinthenetworkconditionsandensureservicelevelsmatchexpectations.

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•Load(re-)balancingofNFs•ManagementofMassiveIoT(MIoT)infrastructurebyutilizingboththeNWDAFandNSSF.TheNWDAFcanprovidetheexpectedUEbehavioralinformationtotheUDMtohelpsuperviseMIoTterminals.

• Policy determination•Preventionofsecurityattacks/anti-fraud• QoS adjustment and provisioning QoS control in 4G only covers the RAN and core network, and the data related to QoS is compartmentalized inside eachnetworkdomain,whichlimitstheabilitytoanalyzethedatatogether.For5G,thegoalisforE2EQoS(e.g.,RAN,backhaul, core network, network to interconnect) to achieve the necessary 5G user experience. The NWDAF is used to collectandanalyzeinformationfromdifferentsources(UE,AN,CN,etc.)andprovidetheE2EQoShub.QoSparameterscanincludestandard5GQoSindicators(5QI)andon-standardized5QI,suchaspacketerrorrate,defaultprioritylevel,andpacketdelaybudget(definedinmilliseconds).

•SliceSLAassuranceorpredictablenetworkperformance

3GPPdefinesbasicnetworkslicetypessuchaseMBB,mMTC,andURLLC,whereeachnetworksliceisdesignedforagroupofservicessharingcomparableservicerequirements.However,someapplicationsandserviceswillrequiremultipleserviceflows.TheseserviceflowscanbeimplementedbyusingQoSflows(definedin3GPPTS23.50112), differentPDUsessions,orevendifferentnetworkslices.Forinstance,inremotedrivingusecases,HDvideorequireshighthroughput,whichissupportedviatheeMBBslice.However,thein-vehiclesensordataandvehiclecontrolsignalingrequire low latency and high reliability, which is supported by the URLLC slice. When a subscriber requests a service, the5Gnetworkautomaticallyassignsanidentifier:5QI(5GQoSIdentifier)foreachservicewiththerequiredQoS(QualityofService)andchangesthetechnicalparametersofthenetworktofulfilltherequirementsofeachassigned5QI.MonitoringtheseQoSflowswillbeanessentialpartofSLAassurancefornetworkslices.

Radio Bearer NG-U Tunnel

Radio Bearer NG-U Tunnel

NG-RAN 5GC

PDU Session eMBB Slice

PDU Session LL-eMBB Slice

UPF LL-eMBBUPF eMBBgNBUE

QoS Flow 1

QoS Flow 2QoS Flow 3

Figure9-QoSflowsindifferentnetworkslices

• UE driven analytics UE-drivenanalyticsisarelativelynewproposalforenhancingthedatacollectedbytheNWDAFandotherNFs.UEsareusefuldatacollectionpointstogathermorelocalizedanalyticswithinthenetwork.Forexample,positioninginformation(fromthevastarrayofdevicesensors)oruserprofilinginfo(forexample,whenasubscribermovesfromdifferentenvironmentssuchasoutdoorstoindoorsorfromacartowalking).SuchinformationcouldassisttheNWDAFinmakingmoreintelligentdecisionsonsliceselection(forexample,switchingfromaslicewithmoreflexibleresourcestoaresilient one, etc.).

Long-term,UEdrivenanalyticscouldincludethepredictionoftheUEcontext/behaviortoenablethenetworktobetterprovisionresources.Forexample,themobilityofagroupofuserscanbeusedforhandovermanagement,orthepredictionofinterferencethattheUEwillsufferfrom/causeinaparticulararea.

UtilizingRADCOM’sNWDAFsolutionrequiresRADCOMtounderstandfromtheoperatormoreabouttheir5Gcore,theircustom use cases, which NEPs are partnering with the operator, and requires integration between RADCOM’s NWDAF andtheoperators’network.AsRADCOM’sNWDAFreusessimilarserviceexposuremechanismsasother5GNFsfordatacollectionandanalyticsexposure(includingthesubscriptionmodelandrequest/responsemodel),thesedatastructureswillneedtobemaintainedastheoperatorrollsouttheir5Gcore.RADCOM’snext-generationsolutioninherentflexibilityenablesoperators to decide what data sources they want to incorporate into their NWDAF. RADCOM’s experts will provide guidance tooperators,butfromwhateversourcestheoperatorschoose,RADCOMwilltakethedata,useittocalculateKPIsandKQIs,and provide the analytics to ensure a smooth transition to 5G.

4.6 From next-generation packet analysis and call tracing to end-to-end SOC Evenmoresonowthaneverbefore,ensuringahigh-qualitycustomerexperiencewillrequireanindependentauditortocorrelateallthedata,extractsmartinsights,pinpointwheretherearecustomer-affectingservicedegradations,andtroubleshootthenetworkperformance.Operatorsneednext-generation,container-basedsolutionsthatprovidethemwithbothlow-leveltoolssuchascalltracingandpacketanalysistoperformnetworktroubleshootingforthenewunderlyingnetwork architectures. Also, operators need to understand the overall customer experience and end-to-end service performancewiththeabilitytodrilldowntothelowerleveltoperformrootcauseanalysis.

SOCandCEMsolutionsarecrucialtohelpingoperatorsdeliverahigh-qualitycustomerexperiencein5Gandmovefrombeingreactivetoproactivewhenhandlingservicedegradations.Bringingthecustomerexperienceintothecenteroffocusandenablingtheoperatortomakecustomer-leddecisionsontopofengineering-ledchoices.As5Gcontinuesrollingout,thiswillbeevenmorecriticalwhenoperatorsoffernetworkslicespersegmentorusecase.Withoutasingle,end-to-endsolutionthatspansboththenetworkandservicelayertomonitoractivityona“perslice”basis,operatorswillfindthemselvesblindtowhat is happening across their network.

JamesCrawshaw,SeniorAnalyst,HeavyReading

For a comprehensive SOC solution, RADCOM Network Insights is correlated with BSS and OSS data that enables operators tomonitortheoverallservicequalityintelligentlyandrectifyservicedegradationsandserviceoutagesthatimpactsubscribers. For an end-to-end CEM solution, RADCOM Network Insights is correlated with BSS and OSS data to generate a Customer Experience Index (CEI), so operators can smartly monitor the entire customer experience journey with easy access to end-to-end troubleshooting, trend analysis as well as churn and Net Promoter Score (NPS) prediction.

Service assurance must work in conjunction with orchestration systems to dynamically monitor the 5G network and leverage machinelearningandartificialintelligence(ML/AI)-basedpredictiveassurancetoguaranteetheSLAsandQoSdelivered.UtilizingMLandAIwillbecriticaltoperformingclosed-loopautomationbasedontheinsightsgeneratedfrommonitoring5Gservices.

With virtualization opening the network to even more complexity, it will be down to an independent auditor to ensure continuousandconsistentnetworkperformance.RADCOMisalreadyworkingcloselywithitscustomerstoensureasmoothtransitionto5GwithRADCOMNetworkIntelligenceassuringthatthetechnologytransformationsunderthesurfacearetransparent to the customer, and whatever migration path the operator chooses and whatever use cases are deployed the end-to-end services are optimized, and the customer experience remains high throughout the transition.

Fromthefirstusecasesuptothemostadvanced,RADCOMNetworkIntelligenceisdesignedtoefficientlycorrelatethenetworkdatasothatoperatorscanunderstandthecustomerexperienceandtroubleshootnetworkperformancefromtheRAN to the core while using a stateless architecture that seamlessly integrates within an operators’ cloud environment.

SOC acts as a linchpin between the business-facing side of an operator (customer care, sales, and marketing) and the operational

side (network planning, optimization, and engineering).”

5. Ensuring initial 5G service quality5.1 Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB)Intheinitialphaseof5G,operatorswillusethetechnologytoprovidetheircustomerswithEnhancedMobileBroadband(eMBB).Asaprovenbusinesscase,itisthepriorityusecasefor5Gdeploymentsofferingearly5Gadoptersenhanceddataspeeds and higher quality user experience with its superior radio. It provides tangible revenue streams and will enable the operatortodifferentiatethemselvesfromcompetitors.

Thesefasterdataratesandtheimprovedconnectivitywillalsoenabletelecomoperatorstooffermobileservicestoprovidelast-mile connectivity. By using 5G, these services can potentially eclipse the quality and speed customers currently experiencefromfixedbroadbandtechnologies,whicharewhyoneofthefirstusecasesthatoperatorsarerollingoutisFixedWirelessAccess(FWA)asanalternativetofixedwirelessconnectivity.Bothspeedandcostsareinplaywithsomeestimatesstatingthat5G-basedFWAcanreducetheinitialcostofestablishinglast-mileconnectivityby40%(vs.FTTP).

5.2 Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) FixedWirelessAccess(FWA)willbedeployedbybothfixedoperators(suchascableoperators)tospeedupbroadbandrollouts and mobile operators as an opportunity to tap into the multi-play market segment, including a new route into the homebroadbandandvideomarket.FWAhasalreadybeenlaunchedbymultipleoperatorsacrosstheglobe.IntheUK,bothVodafone13 and Three14havelaunchedFWAservices.WhileintheUS,Verizon15 (using proprietary standards rather than 3GPPspecs)beganrollingoutservicesin2018,andotherUSoperatorshavefollowed.WhileinFebruary2019,OptusandNokiaclaimedtheworld'sfirstlive5Gfixed-wirelessaccessnetworkbasedon3GPPstandards,andinJune2019,GlobeTelecom launched services in the Philippines.

5Gopensnewopportunitiesforoperatorsastheymoveintonewmarketsegments.FWAenablesoperatorstoprovidebroadbandservicestobothconsumersandbusinesseshouseholdsinlocationswherethereisnofixedtelecominfrastructureand where it would be too costly or take too much time to deploy. According to the GSMA, FWA16 reduces the cost to connect householdstobroadband(perbit)by74%comparedtowirelineconnections.WithFWA,residentialgatewaysconnecttothe mobile operators’ network to provide reliable broadband connectivity into the home. As 5G advances, FWA will enable operatorstodelivermoredata-intensiveservicesatthefiber-likespeedsforbothbusinessandconsumerusecases,suchasimmersivegaming,telepresence,andAR/VRapplications.

FWAstartedin4Gwitharound100mobileoperatorsworldwideofferingthisservice.However,5Gwillsignificantlyboosttheserviceandevenovertakefixedbroadbandspeedandperformance.Forexample,Optussaidthattheir5GHomeBroadbandwouldincludeunlimiteddataatsuperfastspeedswitha50MbpsSatisfactionGuarantee17.

5.3 Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC)Multi-accessEdgeComputing(MEC),formerlyknownasMobileEdgeComputing,enablescloudcomputingcapabilitiesandanITserviceenvironmentattheedgeofthecellularnetwork.ThepremisebehindMECisthatbyrunningapplicationsandperforminghigh-intensityprocessingtasksclosertothedevice(andend-user),networkcongestionisreduced,andapplicationsperformbetter.

Thetechnologyisdesignedtobeimplementedatthecellularbasestationsandisalreadyenablingflexibleandrapiddeploymentofnewapplicationsandservicesforcustomers.Bydeployingservicesandcontentatthenetworkedge,mobilecorenetworksarealleviatedfromfurthercongestionandcanefficientlyservecustomers.

SomeMECusecasesthatoperatorsarealreadydeploying:•High-speedvideoservices• Location-based services•Internet-of-Things(IoT)•AR/VR• Optimized local content distribution

RADCOMisworkingwithcustomersonmonitoringMECservicesandalreadyoffersSBAreadinessthatsupportsthecomplexCUPScorrelationneededtomonitoredgetrafficefficiently.RADCOM'ssolutionassuresservicesattheedgeusingRADCOM’sI.C.O.Ntechnology,whichiscontainer-basedandlightweight,maximizinginsightswhilebeingresource-efficient.

UDM AFPCFNRFNEFNSSF

SMFAMFAUSF

Nudm NafNpcfNnrfNnefNnssf

NsmfNamfNausf

DNN6N3

Data Network

UPF

gNBMobile

vNPB

N4N2

vNPBUP vProbes

CP vProbes

CUPSLoad balancing

Correlation keys

RADCOM Service AssuranceRADCOM Network Visibility

RADCOM SERVICE ASSURANCE

BACKEND

BothRADCOMNetworkVisibility(withingressloadbalancing)andRADCOMServiceAssurancecombineontheedgetoprovideaflexiblesolutionthatcanberapidlyscaledviaintegrationwithNFVMANOandiscost-effective.Asthenetworkedgewillsupportmultipleservicetypes(andassociatedVNFs),resourceswillbedynamicallymanaged,thisintegrationintotheoperators’NFVMANOiscritical.Similarly,ifanewserviceisdeployed,monitoringandvisibilitycanbelaunchedautomatically.

6. SummaryThewiderangeof5Gservicesisvitaltothelong-termeconomichealthofthetelecommunicationsindustryandwillboostmanyotherverticalindustries.Withtheservice-basedarchitectureofferingadditionalcapabilitiesthatenableoperatorstoacceleratethedeploymentofflexible,dynamicservices.

However,thesheerscaleoftrafficina5Gworldwilloverwhelmhumanunderstandingandtheabilityofoperatorstomakeoptimalnetworkpolicydecisionsmanually.Acombinationofautomationandhumaninterventionisrequiredtotakethe5Gservicevisionintoreality,whichisdependentonacontainerizedapproachtoserviceassurancethatfullyintegratesintoatelecomoperators’cloud.Theabilitytoassurethesediverseservicetypesonacloud-based,containerizedplatformisfundamentaltothesuccessoftheseservices.5Gintroducesmanynewinterfaces,protocols,andtechnologiesintothecloudcore and dynamic, cloud-native service assurance will be used to support automated, closed-loop service optimization that will enable operators to meet SLAs across these multiple service types as well as deliver end-to-end services that meet a unifiednetworkpolicy.

RADCOM’ssolutionbringsserviceassuranceintothe5Gerabycombiningthefunctionalityofavirtualprobe(withallthesophisticatedback-endprocessingcapabilities)intoonecontainerized,self-containedcomponent/framework.TogetherthesesignificantlyimprovetheutilizationofNFVIresources,takinginputsfrommanydifferentsources,storingdatainanopen(non-proprietary)way,foreasyintegrationintoBSS/OSSsystems.Thiswillencouragecollaborationbetweenteamswhileprovidingon-demandanalysisthatcanbespunupontheflytotroubleshoot,andthenspundowntoreleasevaluablecloudresources.Allthiswhilesignificantlyreducingtheamountofdatatheystore,andenabling,rapid,in-depthtroubleshootingofhighpriority,customer-affectingservicedegradations.

RADCOM is designed to ensure a smooth transition to 5G. With RADCOM Network Intelligence, operators can assure that thetechnologytransformationsunderthesurfacearetransparenttothecustomer,andwhateverusecasesdeployed,theend-to-endservicesareoptimizedefficiently,andthecustomerexperienceremainshighthroughoutthetransition.

FormoreinformationonhowtoMAXIMizeyour5Gservicestoday,visit www.radcom.com.

7. AbbreviationsTerm Description5G NR 5G New Radio

5GC 5G core network

5QI 5GQoSIdentifier

AF Application Function

AMF Access and Mobility Management Function

AN Application Network

API ApplicationProgrammingInterface

ATSSS AccessTrafficSteering,SwitchingandSplittingschemes

AUSF Authentication Server Function

BBU Baseband unit

BSS Business Support Systems

CEI Customer Experience Index

CEM Customer Experience Management

CN Core Network

CPRI CommonPublicRadioInterface

cRAN Cloud-RAN or Centralized-RAN

CU Centralized Unit

CUPS Control and User Plane Separation

DC Dual connectivity

DU Distributed Unit

eMBB Enhanced Mobile Broadband

EPC Evolved Packet Core (4G)

FWA Fixed Wireless Access

HPLMN HomePublicLandMobileNetwork

MEC Multi-access Edge Computing

MIoT MassiveInternetofThings

NEF Network Exposure Function

NEP Network Equipment Providers

NRF Network Repository Function

NPS Net Promoter Score

NSA Non-standalone

NSSF Network Slice Selection Function

NWDAF Network Data Analytics Function

OSS Operations Support Systems

PCF Policy Control Function

PDU Protocol Data Unit

RAN Radio Access Network

RAT Radio Access Technology (Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, as well as 2G, 3G, 4G or 5G NR)

RCAF RAN Congestion Awareness Function

RRH Radio head unit

SA Standalone

SBA Service-based Architecture

SBI Service-basedInterface

SEPP Security Edge Protection Proxy

SMF Session Management Function

SOC Service Operations Center

TLS Transport Layer Security

UDM UnifiedDataManagement

UE User Equipment

UPF User Plane Function

uRLLC Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communications

V2X Vehicletoeverything

vRAN VirtualizedRAN

8. ReferencesGSAReport|May2019|EvolutionfromLTEto5G-GlobalMarketStatus

EricssonMobilityReport|November2019

TheTransportLayerSecurity(TLS)ProtocolVersion1.3-https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc8446

The OAuth 2.0 Authorization Framework - https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6749

FierceWireless-ThisiswhythewirelessindustryisrunningfromcRANtovRANhttps://www.fiercewireless.com/tech/editor-s-corner-why-wireless-industry-running-from-cran-to-vran-to-oran

China'MegaCity'Hosts4G/5GcRANTestNetworkhttps://www.sdxcentral.com/articles/news/china-mega-city-hosts-4g-5g-cran-test-network/2019/03/

RakutenMobileandNECtoBuildOpenvRANArchitectureinJapanhttps://global.rakuten.com/corp/news/press/2019/0605_01.html

Agiantleapfor5GCloudRANhttps://www.nokia.com/blog/giant-leap-5g-cloud-ran/

3GPPTSG#80PlenaryMeetinghasapprovedthecompletionofthestandalone(SA)Release15,5Gspecificationshttp://www.3gpp.org/news-events/3gpp-news/1965-rel-15_news

ConnectedConsumerSurvey2018:mobilecustomersatisfactioninEuropeandtheUSAhttps://www.analysysmason.com/Research/Content/Reports/Mobile-satisfaction-Europe-USA-RDMM0

PolicyandChargingControlFrameworkforthe5GSystem;Stage2https://www.etsi.org/deliver/etsi_ts/123500_123599/123503/15.02.00_60/ts_123503v150200p.pdf

Systemarchitectureforthe5GSystem(5GS)https://www.etsi.org/deliver/etsi_ts/123500_123599/123501/15.02.00_60/ts_123501v150200p.pdf

VodafoneUnlimitedandVodafoneTogetherhttps://mediacentre.vodafone.co.uk/news/5g-unlimited-and-vodafone-together/

Threeentersthe5GfracaswithFWAofferinghttp://telecoms.com/497826/three-enters-the-5g-fracas-with-fwa-offering/

5GbecomesrealasVerizonlaunchesFWAofferinginfourcitieshttp://telecoms.com/492549/5g-becomes-real-as-verizon-launches-fwa-offering-in-four-cities/

GSMA,“FixedWirelessAccess:EconomicPotentialandBestPractices,”2018https://www.gsma.com/futurenetworks/5g/fixed-wireless-access-economic-potential-and-best-practices/

Optusannouncesplansfor1,2005Gsitesinthefirstwave,$70permonthunlimited5Gbroadbandplanshttps://www.optus.com.au/about/media-centre/media-releases/2019/01/Optus-5G-Whiz

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