172. 5G TECHNOLOGIES AND BUSINESS ASPECTS: HIGH-LEVEL POINT OF VIEW

Abstract

This paper covers technological and business aspects of 5G mobile networks at their initial targeted year for acceptance, 2020. It gives a high level view beyond 5G, toward the next generation which is referred to here as 6G. The 5G introduces New Radio (NR) in sub-6 GHz bands and also in mm Wave bands above 24 GHz. The paper analyzes 5G novelties such as network function virtualization and network softwarization, which means that 5G Next Generation Core and 5G NR access network are built by using different functions in split user and control planes. That provides the basis for the network slicing approach, with three main service types defined for the 5G era: enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC) and Ultra-Reliable Low-Latency Communica­tion (URLLC), which may be provided via separate network slices as logically separated network partitions. Consid­ering the 5G business aspects, the paper states that the initial 5G driver is eMBB, then follows mMTC, and last to be deployed is the most demanding one, the URLLC. Finally, with many 5G network functions, also exposed to the third parties such as Over-The-Top (OTT) service providers, with constantly increasing volume of traffic and number of connected devices, this paper also includes future use of Machine Learning and generally Artificial Intelligence (AI) is becoming necessity for further expansion of the mobile world beyond 5G, toward the 6G in 2030s.