Computing and Communication Architectures for C-RAN Base Station Virtualization

信息和通信技术（ICT）行业正面临着对由多媒体丰富的移动的设备的爆炸式增长所引入的无处不在的无线和互联网服务的日益增长的需求。为了应对这一巨大挑战，ICT行业正在开发新一代无线接入网络（RAN）技术，该技术能够满足不断增加的容量密度的需求，同时降低资本支出（CAPEX）和运营支出（OPEX），并减少碳足迹和该行业产生的环境影响。 在实现这一目标的可行解决方案中，中国移动的研究院提出的基于云的无线接入网络（C-RAN）概念因其利用云计算和数据中心技术快速发展的潜力而引起了广泛关注。作为全球领先的ICT解决方案提供商，该项目的行业合作伙伴华为技术有限公司正在投资开发C-RAN相关技术，旨在为下一代（5G）移动的网络铺平道路。根据这一愿景，拟议的项目解决了在开放平台上实施C-RAN虚拟化基站的计算和通信架构。我们将投资于如何将商用现货（COTS）刀片式服务器和交换机转变为确定性和可预测的计算平台，以实现LTE虚拟化。拟议项目的主要目标是为计算、存储和网络资源的管理开发节能和具有成本效益的解决方案（3D资源分配），包括动态计算和网络资源分配与管理，LTE空中接口的建模与虚拟化，动态资源分配和实时调度算法的FPGA实现，以及能够支持C-RAN的实时平台的确定性和性能的表征和增强。

The Information and Communications Technology (ICT) industry is facing an increasing demand for ubiquitous wireless and Internet services introduced by an explosion of multimedia-rich mobile devices. To respond to this tremendous challenge, the ICT industry is developing a new generation of Radio Access Network (RAN) technologies capable of meeting the need for ever-increasing capacity-density, while lowering capital expenditures (CAPEX) and operating expenditures (OPEX) and reducing the carbon footprint and the environmental impact generated by this industry sector. Among the viable solutions towards this goal, the concept of Cloud-based Radio Access Networks (C-RANs), introduced by China Mobile Research, has drawn many attentions due to its potential of leveraging the rapid growing of cloud computing and data center technologies. As a leading global ICT solutions provider, the industry partner of the proposed project, Huawei Technologies, is investing in the development of C-RAN related technologies aimed at paving the way toward the next generation (5G) mobile networks. In line with this vision, the proposed project addresses computing and communication architectures for implementing C-RAN virtualized base stations on open platforms. We will invest in how to turn Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) server blades and switches into a deterministic and predictable computing platform to enable LTE virtualization. The primary objective of the proposed project is to develop energy-efficient and cost-effective solutions for the management of computing, storage and networking resources (3D resource allocation) at the data centers in the context of C-RAN, including dynamic computing and network resource allocation and management, modeling and virtualization of LTE air-interface, FPGA-based implementation of dynamic resource allocation and real-time scheduling algorithms, as well as the characterization and the enhancement of determinism and performance of a real-time platform that can support C-RAN.