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VALIDATION OF INTEGRATED NETWORK CONTROL ARCHITECTURE FOR FIXED,
                                    MOBILE AND SATELLITE CONVERGENCE

                                   Ved P. Kafle; Mariko Sekiguchi; Hitoshi Asaeda; Hiroaki Harai
                               National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, Japan



                              ABSTRACT                        Hence,  for  beyond-5G  and  6G  systems  to  provide  global
           Future  network  systems,  such  as  beyond-5G  or  6G,  are   coverage  of  high-quality  communication  services,  full
           expected to integrate non-terrestrial networks (NTN), such   integration of NTN segments, such as satellites and high-
           as satellite networks, with existing terrestrial networks (TN)   altitude  platform  stations,  with  the  Internet  and  terrestrial
           to  provide  global  access  to  high-quality  communication   mobile networks is imperative [2]. This convergence of TN
           services  and  promote digital transformation  for  everyone.   and  NTN  is  crucial  for  ensuring  uninterrupted
           Various  standard  development  organizations  are  actively   communication  services  during  natural  disasters  such  as
           working  on  standards  for  TN-NTN  convergence,  also   earthquakes, tsunamis, forest fires, and floods, which may
           known as fixed, mobile, and satellite convergence (FMSC).   damage  terrestrial  base  stations  and  interrupt  connectivity
           The  International  Telecommunication  Union  (ITU)  has   [3,4].
           recently  developed  several  ITU-T  Recommendations   The  research  and  development  of  new  technologies  for
           covering  different  aspects  of  FMSC.  Notably,  ITU-T   integrating  terrestrial  and  non-terrestrial  networks,  also
           Recommendation Y.3207 addresses a critical component of   known as fixed, mobile, and satellite convergence (FMSC),
           the  Integrated  Network  Control  Architecture  (INCA)  of   has  been  progressing  rapidly.  Standards  development
           FMSC.  This  paper  describes  the  implementation  of  an   organizations   (SDOs)   such   as   the   International
           experimental system designed to demonstrate the feasibility   Telecommunication  Union  (ITU)  and  the  3rd  Generation
           of  INCA.  It  explains  the  implementation  of  the  individual   Partnership  Project  (3GPP)  have  begun  creating  the
           network  controller  of  the  TN  and  NTN  segments,  the   necessary standards. ITU defines FMSC as the capabilities
           integrated  network  controller,  and  the  interfaces   enabling  service  and  application  delivery  to  end  users,
           connecting them. We experimentally  verify that INCA can   irrespective  of  their  location  or  the  fixed,  mobile,  or
           configure  network  services  with  the  desired  quality  of   satellite access technologies used [5].
           service  (QoS)  levels  over  both  TN  and  NTN  segments.   In  this  paper,  we  review  the  ITU  Telecommunication
           Additionally, we validate INCA's capability to monitor and   Standardization  Sector  (ITU-T)  Recommendations  of
           dynamically control computing and bandwidth resources in   FMSC  in  the  related  work  section.  Among  them,
           both segments to maintain consistent QoS levels.   Recommendation  ITU-T  Y.3207  [6]  addresses  a  critical
               Keywords—  Integrated  network  control  architecture;   aspect of the integrated network control architecture (INCA)
           terrestrial  and  non-terrestrial  network  convergence;  fixed,   for  the  convergence  of  FMSC.  To  demonstrate  the
           mobile, satellite convergence; digital transformation.   feasibility and functionality of INCA components specified
                          1. INTRODUCTION                     in  ITU-T  Y.3207,  we  have  developed  an  experimental
                                                              system in our lab.
           Beyond-5G  or  6G  networks  aim  to  seamlessly  integrate   We  describe  the  implementation  of  the  INCA  functional
           non-terrestrial network (NTN) segments, such as satellites,   components  and  interfaces,  along  with  the  individual
           with terrestrial network (TN) systems such as the Internet   controllers for fixed, mobile, and satellite network segments.
           and  mobile  networks.  This  integration  is  intended  to   Our experimental system comprises the data network (DN),
           provide  universal  access  to  high-quality  communication   5G core (5GC) network, 5G radio access network (RAN),
           services  worldwide  and  foster  equitable  opportunities  for   and NTN segment. The DN is configured using OpenStack
           digital  transformation.  5G  mobile  network  systems  can   and  the  Open-Source  MANO  (OSM)  platform,  while  the
           seamlessly connect a vast number of handheld devices and   5GC  and  RAN  are  based  on  open-source  software:
           Internet  of  Things  (IoT)  devices,  providing  enhanced   Free5GC   (https://free5gc.org)   and   UERANSIM
           mobile  broadband  (eMBB),  massive  machine-type   (https://github.com/aligungr/UERANSIM),   respectively.
           communication  (mMTC),  and  ultra-reliable  and  low-  The  NTN  includes  a  satellite  network  simulator  in  the
           latency  communication  (URLLC)  services  over  a  shared,   control plane and a bandwidth and latency emulator in the
           virtualized  infrastructure  [1].  However,  terrestrial  mobile   data plane, both developed in our lab.
           network  services  primarily  serve  densely  populated  urban   Through  experimentation,  we  validate  the  INCA’s
           areas, leaving gaps in global coverage due to economic and   capability to effectively create network services on both TN
           geographical  challenges.  Operators  hesitate  to  deploy  5G   and NTN segments with desired levels of quality of service
           base  stations  in  remote  or  rural  regions due  to  high  costs   (QoS).  Additionally,  we  validate  INCA’s  capability  to
           and  low  revenue  per  user.  Furthermore,  deploying  5G   continuously  monitor  computing  and  bandwidth  resource
           infrastructure  in  deserts,  seas,  and  mountainous  areas   usage  on  TN  and  NTN  segments.  It  dynamically  adjusts
           presents additional challenges.
                                                              resources to maintain required end-to-end QoS levels, even
                                                              amidst fluctuations in user numbers or data traffic volume.





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