A Scalable and Flexible Radio Access Network Architecture for Fifth Generation Mobile Networks

The fifth generation of mobile networks is expected to become the key enabling technology for new services and businesses in the Internet of Things realm, including automotive and industry communications. At the same time, the demand for the “bread and butter” services of mobile broadband will continue to increase, driving the need for ubiquitous data capacity everywhere. Compared to 3GPP LTE, fifth generation radio access networks need to support much more diverse requirements with a wide range of deployment options for infrastructure and spectrum availability. Based on this insight, this article discusses a flexible and scalable radio access network architecture design.