Emerging network architecture and functional design considerations for 5G radio access

While there is already a common understanding of the services, which 5th generation (5G) mobile communications systems should support, and the key technology components needed to achieve this, there is still the need for further clarification and consensus among key players on the overall 5G radio access network (RAN) architecture and its detailed functional design. The 5G public private partnership (5G PPP) project METIS-II has the objective to foster exactly this consensus building before and in the early days of the standardisation work for 5G. This paper lists the 5G RAN design requirements as identified in the project and summarises the latest considerations of METIS-II on the air interface landscape in 5G, the envisioned logical RAN architecture and related aspects, as well as key functional design considerations in 5G, which have found wide endorsement within the project. Copyright (c) 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.