Open-source based testbed for multioperator 4G/5G infrastructure sharing in virtual environments

Author First name, Last name, Institution

Ricardo Marco Alaez, University of the West of Scotland
Jose M. Alcaraz Calero, University of the West of Scotland
Qi Wang, University of the West of Scotland
Fatna Belqasmi, Zayed University
May El Barachi, University of Wollongong in Dubai
Mohamad Badra, Zayed University
Omar Alfandi, Zayed University

ORCID Identifiers

0000-0002-4211-5223

0000-0002-2654-7595

0000-0002-7764-9858

Document Type

Article

Source of Publication

Wireless Communications and Mobile Computing

Publication Date

1-1-2017

Abstract

© 2017 Ricardo Marco Alaez et al. Fourth-Generation (4G) mobile networks are based on Long-Term Evolution (LTE) technologies and are being deployed worldwide, while research on further evolution towards the Fifth Generation (5G) has been recently initiated. 5G will be featured with advanced network infrastructure sharing capabilities among different operators. Therefore, an open-source implementation of 4G/5G networks with this capability is crucial to enable early research in this area. The main contribution of this paper is the design and implementation of such a 4G/5G open-source testbed to investigate multioperator infrastructure sharing capabilities executed in virtual architectures. The proposed design and implementation enable the virtualization and sharing of some of the components of the LTE architecture. A testbed has been implemented and validated with intensive empirical experiments conducted to validate the suitability of virtualizing LTE components in virtual infrastructures (i.e., infrastructures with multitenancy sharing capabilities). The impact of the proposed technologies can lead to significant saving of both capital and operational costs for mobile telecommunication operators.

DOI Link

10.1155/2017/1984314

ISSN

1530-8669

Publisher

Hindawi Limited

Volume

2017

First Page

1984314

Last Page

11

Disciplines

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Keywords

5G mobile communication systems, Long Term Evolution (LTE), Mobile telecommunication systems, Network architecture, Testbeds, Virtual reality, Design and implementations, Empirical experiments, Fifth generation (5g), Fourth-generation (4G) mobile networks, Infrastructure sharing, Mobile telecommunications, Open source implementation, Virtual infrastructures, Wireless telecommunication systems

Scopus ID

85042588969

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Recommended Citation

Marco Alaez, Ricardo; Alcaraz Calero, Jose M.; Wang, Qi; Belqasmi, Fatna; El Barachi, May; Badra, Mohamad; and Alfandi, Omar, "Open-source based testbed for multioperator 4G/5G infrastructure sharing in virtual environments" (2017). All Works. 2600.
https://zuscholars.zu.ac.ae/works/2600

Indexed in Scopus

yes

Open Access

yes

Open Access Type

Gold: This publication is openly available in an open access journal/series