Computing and Communication Architectures for C-RAN Base Station Virtualization

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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.