F4F-LWA

BASIC INFORMATION

Short name: F4F-LWA
Long name: Cloud-RAN based LTE-WiFi Aggregation

Company: Athens Technology Center S.A. (ATC) | atc.gr
Country: Greece

Call: F4Fp-02-Stage1 and F4Fp-02-Stage2 (see call details)
Proposal number: F4Fp-02-Stage1-06 | F4Fp-02-Stage2-06

SUMMARY REMARKS & TESTBEDS

STAGE 1 & 2

Cloud-RAN has been a hot topic in the scope of 5G and numerous efforts have been active towards its standardization. ATC is planning to follow the latest standards in terms of Cloud-RAN that specify the details of network splitting between the computational tasks taking place inside layer 2 of the protocol stack.More specifically, the experiment will follow the latest CU/DU split paradigm, and incorporate WiFi Radio Units next to normal LTE Radio Units that provide the RLC and below layers and communicate with a converged cross-technologyCentral Unit consisting of PDCP layers and upwards. The experiment will show the capability of aggregating data from heterogeneous networking technologies, enabling the operators to switch to the desired technology and topology based on criteria like load balancing, off loading or charging policies and more.During stage 1, ATC will prepare and implement the necessary components for transferring data plane traffic between the Cloud-RAN entities while during stage 2, the respective policies for the network selection/switching from an operator’s perspective will be developed.ATC expects to provide valuable feedback to its Patron and the Fed4FIRE+ consortium as a whole on the feasibility of5G experimentation by using the tools and platforms provided by Fed4FIRE+.

MATERIALS