Nguyen, Brunstrom, Grinnemo, and Taheri
36
2.2.4 Flexibility and Programmability
Flexibility and programmability are two network‐driven requirements. Since the 5G
system will be the integration of multiple technologies to support a large number of
devices and services, its network architecture should be flexible in order to satisfy a
range of different requirements in connection to properties, and attributes exposed by
those devices and services. The flexibility of the network can be expressed in terms of the
ability to support various types of radio access technologies, the capability of scaling the
network resources on demand and independently between the radio access network
and the core network, as well as between the control plane and the data/user plane,
the capability of installing new services and applications in a very short time, and the
capability of re‐shaping the network infrastructure in real time to adapt to a change in
the user or customer demands.
In addition, the network infrastructure in 5G should be programmable and reconfigurable. Indeed, the 5G network infrastructure will be constructed as a set of different logical virtualized networks or “slices” over the same physical infrastructure. The
programmability of the network allows on‐demand and autonomic networking, where
mobile operators can define, program and configure their own network “slices”
according to their policies and their defined use cases.
2.2.5 Energy, Cost and Spectrum Efficiency
Along with the enhancement of the network capacity and the improvement of user
experience, energy and cost efficiency must be taken into account in the design of 5G.
In particular, the 5G system is expected to have a 100‐fold improvement on energy
efficiency compared to today’s 4G system. Meanwhile, the cost efficiency, which represents the economical aspect of the 5G system, must be increased in order to guarantee
mobile operator’s revenue.
In addition, as described previously, 5G will be fueled by not only the human‐centric
devices such as smartphones, but also the massive number of “things”, such as sensors,
smart meters, etc. These things are required to have much longer battery life in order
to operate in the field, without any further power supply, for example at least 10‐year
battery lifetime.
Last but not least, spectrum efficiency should also be significantly improved compared
to today’s 4G system. For example, it should be three times higher for enhanced mobile
broadband [7].
2.2.6 Security and Privacy
Apart from the aforementioned requirements, security is another important aspect
that needs to be taken into account in the development of 5G. Indeed, the introduction of diversified services and devices will pose many challenges for guaranteeing the
security in the 5G era. More specifically, the security for 5G will need to be guaranteed
in different levels, including access level, infrastructure level, and service level. For
example, at the infrastructure level, being enabled by a variety of technologies such as
SDN, NFV, network slicing, etc., 5G network infrastructure will be more open and
programmable, thus driving new security requirements such as how to securely
36
2.2.4 Flexibility and Programmability
Flexibility and programmability are two network‐driven requirements. Since the 5G
system will be the integration of multiple technologies to support a large number of
devices and services, its network architecture should be flexible in order to satisfy a
range of different requirements in connection to properties, and attributes exposed by
those devices and services. The flexibility of the network can be expressed in terms of the
ability to support various types of radio access technologies, the capability of scaling the
network resources on demand and independently between the radio access network
and the core network, as well as between the control plane and the data/user plane,
the capability of installing new services and applications in a very short time, and the
capability of re‐shaping the network infrastructure in real time to adapt to a change in
the user or customer demands.
In addition, the network infrastructure in 5G should be programmable and reconfigurable. Indeed, the 5G network infrastructure will be constructed as a set of different logical virtualized networks or “slices” over the same physical infrastructure. The
programmability of the network allows on‐demand and autonomic networking, where
mobile operators can define, program and configure their own network “slices”
according to their policies and their defined use cases.
2.2.5 Energy, Cost and Spectrum Efficiency
Along with the enhancement of the network capacity and the improvement of user
experience, energy and cost efficiency must be taken into account in the design of 5G.
In particular, the 5G system is expected to have a 100‐fold improvement on energy
efficiency compared to today’s 4G system. Meanwhile, the cost efficiency, which represents the economical aspect of the 5G system, must be increased in order to guarantee
mobile operator’s revenue.
In addition, as described previously, 5G will be fueled by not only the human‐centric
devices such as smartphones, but also the massive number of “things”, such as sensors,
smart meters, etc. These things are required to have much longer battery life in order
to operate in the field, without any further power supply, for example at least 10‐year
battery lifetime.
Last but not least, spectrum efficiency should also be significantly improved compared
to today’s 4G system. For example, it should be three times higher for enhanced mobile
broadband [7].
2.2.6 Security and Privacy
Apart from the aforementioned requirements, security is another important aspect
that needs to be taken into account in the development of 5G. Indeed, the introduction of diversified services and devices will pose many challenges for guaranteeing the
security in the 5G era. More specifically, the security for 5G will need to be guaranteed
in different levels, including access level, infrastructure level, and service level. For
example, at the infrastructure level, being enabled by a variety of technologies such as
SDN, NFV, network slicing, etc., 5G network infrastructure will be more open and
programmable, thus driving new security requirements such as how to securely