5G and beyond networks

Small Cells, Cloud-Radio Access Networks (C-RAN), Software Defined Networks (SDN) and Network Function Virtualization (NVF) are key enablers to address the demand for broadband connectivity with low cost and flexible implementations. Small Cells, in conjunction with C-RAN, SDN, NVF pose very stringent requirements on the transport network. Here flexible wireless solutions are required for dynamic backhaul and fronthaul architectures alongside very high capacity optical inter-connects. 5G-XHaul proposes a converged optical and wireless network solution able to flexibly connect Small Cells to the core network. 5G, Networks

Will design and develop an integrated, scalable and open 5G infrastructure with the aim to support operational and end-user services for both ICT and “vertical” industries. This infrastructure will rely on a converged fronthaul and backhaul solution, integrating advanced wireless access and novel optical network domains. To address the limitations of current solutions, 5G-PICTURE will adopt the novel concept of Disaggregated-Radio Access Networks (DA-RANs), allowing any service to flexibly mix-and-match and use compute, storage and network resources through HW programmability. It will also rely on network softwarisation to enable an open reference platform instantiating a variety of network functions and adopt slicing and service chaining to facilitate optimised multi-tenancy operation. 5G, Networks"