Page 63 - Kaleidoscope Academic Conference Proceedings 2021

PROPOSAL FOR A USER-CENTRIC RAN ARCHITECTURE TOWARDS BEYOND 5G

Kosuke Yamazaki, Takeo Ohseki, Yoshiaki Amano, Hiroyuki Shinbo, Takahide Murakami and Yoji Kishi

KDDI Research, Inc., Japan

ABSTRACT and issues for Network 2030. FG NET-2030 has organized
all aspects of Network 2030 including vision, requirements,
In this paper, we propose a “user-centric Radio Access architecture, new use cases, and evaluation methods. In
Network (RAN) architecture” towards Beyond 5G. In a response to this, ITU-R is now compiling a list of key
Beyond 5G mobile networks, connectivity to the network with technologies for the Beyond 5G era in Working Party 5D
sufficient quality should always be provided to users who (WP5D), with a view to publishing Technology Trend
demand that various quality requirements be met anytime Reports. The Trend Report is expected to be published
and anywhere in the physical space. To achieve this, it is around 2023, after which discussions will proceed at 3GPP
necessary to eliminate the degradation of radio quality at the and other organizations.
cell edge, which requires the installation and cooperation of
a much larger number of base stations in higher density. In Europe, the 6Genesis project, which is being supported by
Furthermore, to overcome the imbalance in communication the University of Oulu in Finland, was designated as a
quality between the uplink and downlink still found in 5G, it Flagship Programme Project of the Academy of Finland in
is also necessary to eliminate the limitation of user terminals June 2018, and began to be studied from an early stage. The
by virtually increasing the number of antennas and main goal of the project is to support the industry in the
expanding transmission power for the number of antennas of future by supporting industry in the finalization of 5G,
user terminals and the power consumption of user terminals. developing the fundamental technology needed to enable 6G,
On the other hand, a new RAN management is expected to and expediting the digitalization of society. In September
provide users with their respective radio access capability 2019, a white paper entitled "Key Drivers and Research
through flexible cooperation of the base station around them. Challenges for 6G Ubiquitous Wireless Intelligence" was
In this paper, we describe in detail the specific technical published.
issues and our approach to realize the user-centric RAN
architecture. In North America, New York University and DARPA have
launched ComSenTer, a research center for wireless
Keywords – Beyond 5G, cell-free massive MIMO, RAN (terahertz) and sensor technology, to conduct R&D into
architecture, Terahertz, user-centric wireless communications, mainly in the terahertz band (100-
1,000 GHz), as part of the efforts toward Beyond 5G. UC
1. INTRODUCTION Santa Barbara, UCB, UCSD, Cornell University, and MIT
are also involved in this project, and are conducting R&D in
Beyond 5G and 6G (hereafter “Beyond 5G” includes both four teams: Systems, Integrated Circuit, Devices, and
terms), the next-generation mobile communication system is Demonstrations. In addition, the NEXT G Alliance was
expected to be launched in the 2030s. It is necessary to established by the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry
further enhance not only the characteristic functions of 5G Solutions (ATIS) and is working on a roadmap for Beyond
(eMBB: enhanced Mobile Broadband, URLLC: Ultra- 5G.
Reliable and Low Latency Communications, mMTC:
massive Machine Type Communication), but also autonomy, In Japan, Beyond 5G is expected to further accelerate the
expandability, ultra-safety / reliability, and ultra-low power integration of cyber and physical spaces (CPS: Cyber
consumption. Physical Systems) promoted by 5G, and play a core function
as the backbone of Society 5.0 [3]. Seven major requirements
To realize the Beyond 5G mobile communication network, for Beyond 5G are defined as Ultra-Fast & Large Capacity,
various initiatives have already begun in many countries. Ultra Low Latency, Ultra Numerous Connectivity, Ultra
First, ITU-T, the standardization body, launched FG NET- Low Power Consumption, Ultra Security and Resiliency, and
2030: ITU-T Focus Group on Technologies for Network Autonomy and Scalability, as described in the “Beyond 5G
2030, to identify gaps and issues for “Network 2030” [1][2]. Promotion Strategy - Roadmap to 6G” published by the
FG NET-2030 was launched to examine existing Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications in June
technologies, platforms, and standardization to identify gaps 2020 [4]. Along with this, KDDI and KDDI Research have
published a Next Generation Social Concept, “KDDI

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