Open5G: A Software-Defined Networking Protocol for 5G Multi-RAT Wireless Networks

Mobile Networks today comprise of multiple Radio Access Technologies (RATs), e.g., 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE), Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), and the upcoming 5G-New Radio (5G-NR). The access networks of these RATs are controlled by RAT-specific entities, e.g., the resource management function located inside an individual LTE eNB is used for the eNB control, or access controllers are used for controlling WLAN access points. Even in the 3rd Generation Partnership Project’s (3GPP) 5G architecture, which has a common Core supporting multiple RATs, radio access related decisions are taken independently within individual RATs. Due to the fragmented nature of control-plane in multi-RAT Radio Access Network (RAN), a unified global view of network resources is unavailable, hindering optimized allocation of resources. It also brings complexity to the features involving multiple RATs, e.g., dual connectivity. To address these issues, we introduced an SDN-based Multi-RAT RAN architecture (SMRAN) in our earlier work [1], where the RAN control-plane is segregated from the data-plane. As part of the SMRAN architecture, we defined a logically centralized multi-RAT RAN Controller and individual RAT- specific data-plane functions. In the current work, we define a protocol, called Open5G, to be used for control and management of the SMRAN data-plane. Open5G is based on OpenFlow (OF) and OF-Config, which are commonly used protocols in the SDN-based wired networks and data centers. With the Open5G protocol, the multi-RAT RAN can be controlled by an open interface, bringing flexibility and simplicity in network interactions.