5G Mobile Network Architecture and Design

Synopsis:-In this paper we propose a new design solution for Keywords: 5G, Heterogeneous Wireless Networks, Quality of
network architecture of future 5G mobile networks. The proposed Service (QoS), Policy Routing.
design is based on user-centric mobile environment with many including all services and using all-IP concept. However, the
wireless and mobile technologies on the ground. In heterogeneous main principle for NGN is complete separation in parallel
wireless environment changes in all, either new or older wireless between the transport part in the access and in the core
technologies, is not possible, so each solution towards the next networks from the service provisioning, i.e., from the service
generation mobile and wireless networks should be implemented in stratum. Since, the 4G is already at the “front door” of
the service stratum, while the radio access technologies belong to communication world, the next generation of mobile and
the transport stratum regarding the Next Generation Networks wireless networks will be labeled 5G, if we continue the
approach. In the proposed design the user terminal has possibility to same pattern from the past two decades. We believe that the
change the Radio Access Technology - RAT based on certain 5G approach will be user-centric approach [4], since the
criteria. For the purpose of transparent change of the RATs by the mobile terminals are becoming highly computationally
mobile terminal, we introduce so-called Policy-Router as node in capable devices which can support more complex
the core network, which establishes IP tunnels to the mobile functionalities for performing calculations, as well as bigger
terminal via different available RATs to the terminal. The selection memory space and longer battery life in years will provide
of the RAT is performed by the mobile terminal by using the enough storage capability for control information. Then, in
proposed user agent for multi-criteria decision making based on the IP world, the main principle from the beginning was keeping
experience from the performance measurements performed by the simple network nodes and having smart end devices (e.g.,
mobile terminal. For the process of performance measurements, we computers), an approach completely different from the
introduce the QoSPRO procedure for control information exchange Public Old Telephone Systems (POTS). However, we need
between the mobile terminal and the Policy Router. smart nodes on the networks side in all-IP concept as well,
which should be used for negotiation with the user
equipment premises (mobile terminals in the case of mobile
networks) for providing necessary Quality of Service, as
well as authentication, authorization, accounting and security
functionalities.
Introduction
Today we have different wireless and mobile In this paper we provide complete functional architecture
technologies, which are mass deployed, such as 3G mobile for 5G mobile networks. The main assumption in our
networks (UMTS, cdma2000), LTE (Long Term Evolution), approach is that the user will have the possibility to access
WiFi (IEEE 802.11 wireless networks), WiMAX (IEEE different RATs from single mobile device at the same time,
802.16 wireless and mobile networks), as well as which is reality even today. Then, we propose establishing
accompanying networks, such as sensor networks, or new network nodes for policy-based routing between IP
personal area networks (e.g., Bluetooth, ZigBee). Mobile tunnels to mobile user via different RATs, which are placed
terminals include variety of interfaces, including the GSM in service stratum of the network. We have invented several
ones, which are based on old-fashioned circuit switching, the solutions for making fully functional the proposed 5G
technology that is going into its last decade of existence. All network architecture.
wireless and mobile networks today are going towards all-IP The remainder of this article is structured as follows.
principle, meaning all data and signaling will be transferred Section 2 covers the models for interoperability in
via IP (Internet Protocol) on network layer [1]. So, we may heterogeneous wireless environment. Section 3 presents the
have different Radio Access Technologies (RATs) today and design of the network architecture for 5G mobile networks.
new RATs in the future (e.g., LTE-Advanced), but the In Section 4 we provide description of use-cases for the
common “thing” for all of them is IP, which is unifying proposed 5G architecture. The proposed system for
technology. The 4G term is related to available bit-rates in performance measurement in next generation wireless
the access link, i.e. more than 1 Gbps is set as condition by networks is addressed in Section 5. Finally, Section 6
ITU for a technology to be marked as 4G. Also, all-IP is the concludes the paper.
characteristic of 4G in the access and in the core network
part, there will be no circuit-switching as it existed in 3G
systems, such as UMTS. On the other side there are a lot of
efforts done for separation of transport stratum and service
stratum in the concepts of Next Generation Networks
(NGN), [2], [3]. Next generation of mobile and wireless
networks will certainly need to fit within the NGN, because
it is based on wireless and wired access possibilities,
Interoperability in Heterogeneous Wireless 802.11 networks is necessary to achieve true
Environment scalability. WiFi networks were never intended for use as
The challenge in the design of the terminals is connected broadband wireless networks. On the other side, WiMAX is
to the management of trade between the flexibility of how to also IEEE standard, but with more control implemented in
use the spectrum and the needed space and power to a given the base station. The base station is responsible for fair
platform. New methods for partial reconfigurable offer distribution of the available resources among the users
design dimensions that allow the system to adapt to the through the implementation of a centralized system for
opportunities and requirements of the terminals in a manner scheduling. The WiMAX handover functionalities are
that shall maximize the spectral efficiency and also supported by each base station and the handover is done with
maximize the battery power [4]. As a result of growing level their assistance, namely each serving base station helps the
of acceptance of the wireless technologies in different fields, user to find their target base station from the list of
challenges and types of wireless systems associated with candidates of base stations for handover.
them are also changing. Taking into consideration the existence of various wireless
With the evolution of 3G/4G cellular systems defined by technologies evolved in parallel, the concept of emergence
3GPP, new architecture provides sophisticated control of heterogeneous networks is not new. In heterogeneous
mechanisms that enable the central management of the wireless networks the concept is "always best connected"
operator's network in granular way with great precision and (always associated with the best quality radio network),
accuracy. In this context 3GPP introduced new methods for aimed at client terminals, and is proposed in different
providing radio management (hierarchical management of researches. This approach leads to the emergence for vertical
resources) implemented in systems with a common radio handovers between different radio access technologies [5].
resource management, a single radio resource management Based on different optimization techniques such as balancing
and in multiple-access radio resource management. In these the load on the network and/or maximizing battery life of the
hierarchical schemes, local resource managers of the various user terminal, it can change the access technology from one
wireless technologies provide interaction with the central to another on a periodic basis or triggered by a given event.
entity to perform a joint optimization of available resources. In order to perform controlled client assistance at the stage of
In parallel with the evolution of cellular data systems, we vertical handover, IEEE created the 802.21 standard referred
have evolution of WLAN, i.e., IEEE 802.11 networks. The to as mechanism for exchanging messages between the client
802.11 systems handovers between different AP (Access and the corresponding base station or AP below the network
Point) from a common domain are based on a decision by layer (which is IP in all these cases).
the user. Large 802.11 networks show the emergence of Reviewing the concept of heterogeneous networks
problems in resource management in areas with a dense inevitably raises the question of inter-working among the
distribution of AP. The concept of unified wireless network radio access technologies in a newly designed system, which
architecture argues that the centralized management of data will not demand changes in the RATs, but only introduction
resources in of control functionalities in the core networks. In terms of
the user or user applications, heterogeneous system or a
heterogeneous network is considered as a unified network
services for a satisfactory price certainly appears the need for
parallel use of the variety of radio access technologies in
order to realize the user requirements, [4]. The heterogeneity
of these networks allows the user terminal to perform a
Design of 5G Network Architecture
Figure 1 shows the system model that proposes design of
network architecture for 5G mobile systems, which is all-IP
based model for wireless and mobile networks
interoperability. The system consists of a user terminal
(which has a crucial role in the new architecture) and a
number of independent, autonomous radio access
technologies. Within each of the terminals, each of the radio
access technologies is seen as the IP link to the outside
Internet world. However, there should be different radio
interface for each Radio Access Technology (RAT) in the
mobile terminal. For an example, if we want to have access
to four different RATs, we need to have four different
access-specific interfaces in the mobile terminal, and to have
all of them active at the same time, with aim to have this
architecture to be functional.
The first two OSI levels (data-link level and physical
level) are defining the radio access technologies through
which is provided access to the Internet with more or less
QoS support mechanisms, which is further dependent upon
the access technology (e.g., 3G and WiMAX have explicit
QoS support, while WLAN has not). Then, over the OSI-1
and OSI-2 layers is the network layer, and this layer is IP
(Internet Protocol) in today’s communication world, either
IPv4 or IPv6, regardless of the radio access technology. The
purpose of IP is to ensure enough control data (in IP header) when there is a mobile user
for proper routing of IP packets belonging to a certain at least on one end of such connection. In order to preserve
application connections - sessions between client
the proper layout of the packets and to reduce or prevent
applications and servers somewhere on the Internet. Routing
packets losses, routing to the target destination and vice
of packets should be carried out in accordance with
established policies of the user. Application connections are versa should be uniquely and using the same path. Each
realized between clients and servers in the Internet via radio access technology that is available to the user in
sockets. Internet sockets are endpoints for data achieving connectivity with the relevant radio access is
communication flows. Each socket of the web is a unified presented with appropriate IP interface. Each IP interface in
and unique combination of local IP address and appropriate the terminal is characterized by its IP address and netmask
local transport communications port, target IP address and and parameters associated with the routing of IP packets
target appropriate communication port, and type of transport across the network. In regular inter-system handover the
protocol. Considering that, the establishment of change of access technology (i.e., vertical handover) would
communication from end to end between the client and mean changing the local IP address. Then, change of any of
server using the Internet protocol is necessary to raise the the parameters of the socket means and change of the socket,
appropriate Internet socket uniquely determined by the that is, closing the socket and opening a new one. This
application of the client and the server. This means that in
means, ending the connection and starting e new one. This
case of interoperability between heterogeneous networks and
approach is not-flexible, and it is based on today’s Internet
for the vertical handover between the respective radio
technologies, the local IP address and destination IP address communication.
should be fixed and unchanged. Fixing of these two In order to solve this deficiency we propose a new level
parameters should ensure handover transparency to the that will take care of the abstraction levels of network access
Internet connection end-to-end. technologies to higher layers of the protocol stack. This layer
is crucial in the new architecture.
To enable the functions of the applied transparency and
control or direct routing of packets through the most
appropriate radio access technology, in the proposed
architecture we introduce a control system in the functional
architecture of the networks, which works in complete
coordination with the user terminal and provides a network
abstraction functions and routing of packets based on
defined policies.
At the same time this control system is an essential
element through which it can determine the quality of Description of use-cases in the proposed
service for each transmission technology. It is on the Internet network architecture
side of the proposed architecture, and as such represents an Heterogeneity of wireless networks enables the user
ideal system to test the qualitative characteristics of the terminal to perform a selection of access technologies
access technologies, as well as to obtain a realistic picture depending on their preferences. This choice provides better
regarding the quality that can be expected from applications conditions for user applications. The processes of achieving
of the user towards a given server in Internet (or peer). connectivity in new environments are strongly associated
Protocol setup of the new levels within the existing protocol with the application process. Namely, the need of the user
stack, which form the proposed architecture, is presented in application to establish communication with the some
Figure 2. application server usually ends by initiating a connection
The network abstraction level would be provided by through the network level, i.e., network access to resources
creating IP tunnels over IP interfaces obtained by connection by the user terminal.
to the terminal via the access technologies available to the Considering that the functions of the virtual network layer
terminal (i.e., mobile user). In fact, the tunnels would be in the proposed new architecture include many functions
established between the user terminal and control system related to connectivity, security and continuity of the
named here as Policy Router, which performs routing based application sessions initiated by the user, the virtual network
on given policies. In this way the client side will create an layer logically is divided into several cooperative software
appropriate number of tunnels connected to the number of modules which perform different functionalities. Figure 3
radio access technologies, and the client will only set a local shows the block-diagram of the software modules in the
IP address which will be formed with sockets opened for virtual network layer.
Internet communication between the mobile client There are certain differences between client and server
applications and the Internet-based servers. The way IP functions to a virtual network layer. On the client side there
packets are routed through tunnels, or choosing the right are five software modules that:
tunnel, would be served by policies whose rules will be • RAT-CCSM (Radio Access Technology -
exchanged via the virtual network layer protocol. This way Connection Control Software Module);
we achieve the required abstraction of the network to the • MQPBR (Mobile Quality Policy Based Router);
client applications at the mobile terminal. The process of • SPME (Security and Policy Management Entity);
establishing a tunnel to the Policy Router, for routing based • ITHC (Inter Tunnel Handover Control); and
on the policies, are carried out immediately after the • QoS / QoE CM (QoS and QoE Control Manager).
establishment of IP connectivity across the radio access On the other side, the Policy Router includes four software
technology, and it is initiated from the mobile terminal modules as follows:
Virtual Network-level Protocol. Establishing tunnel • MCCSM (Media Connection Control Software
connections as well as maintaining them represents basic Module);
functionality of the virtual network level. • CQPBR (Central Quality Policy Based Router);
• SPME (Security and Policy Management Entity); Providing functionality between software modules is done
• CPH (Client Profile Handler); and through precisely defined interfaces to other modules and
• QoS / QoE CM (QoS and QoE Control Manager). with appropriate links between peer protocol modules on
Each software module has determined position within the both sides of the architecture.
global architecture to provide the ultimate functionality that
is providing interoperability in 5G heterogeneous systems.
Functionality of the virtual network layer in the particular, with the MCCSM module). The tunnel is formed
proposed architecture through the established IP connectivity of the particular
As can be seen from the diagram in Figure 3 there are four radio access technology. Source IP address of the tunnel is
common cooperative modules on different sides (client and the IP address obtained by the establishment of IP
server) that are interconnected. Hence, we may distinguish connectivity via the given access technology, while
among four basic functionalities carried out by the virtual destination IP address of the tunnel seeing in the uplink
network layer. direction from the mobile side) is the loopback address of the
First basic functionality of the virtual network layer is to software module of MCCSM Policy Router. RAT-CCSM
provide a network abstraction. This functionality is related to software module performs continuous monitoring of the
the cooperative working together of the RAT-CCSM and status of each radio access technology in terms of radio
MCCSM software modules that are designed to make parameters (signal received level) and in terms of IP
masking of the IP level seen by each radio access connectivity through the same network. The obtained
technology. Besides this basic functionality, RAT-CCSM information regarding the radio access technologies it
module at the client side is using API interfaces for access to forwards to another associated software module whose
the appropriate software modules from the lower levels of primary function is managing handover in the transmission
radio access technologies in order to provide additional of data between the established IP tunnels (the ITHC
information. This link is a way through which it receives software module). The second link of this module refers to
information for improving connectivity of individual access the routing module, where routing is based on policies
technologies (e.g., generated PDP context with specified IP determined on the offered Quality of Service. Their
address, connection established with a given AP in WLAN interaction results in defining the appropriate tunnel
networks and corresponding IP addresses, etc.) and the level interfaces (corresponding to the tunnels created by the radio
of received signal of the corresponding radio access access technologies) within the routing table. The process of
technology. In this way the software module has continuous establishing the tunnel procedure begins with the
information for the network and radio conditions in each authentication and authorization between the mobile client
radio access technology. Tunnels are formed between RAT- and the Policy Router, so the software module has a direct
CCSM on the client side and MCCSM module in the Policy connection with SPME module for management of security
Router. RAT-CCSM module starts a process to establish a mechanisms.
tunnel between the mobile client and the Policy Router (in The second function is related to routing policies based on
the determined Quality of Service offered by access
technologies. This functionality is accomplished by The third function is associated with managing security
cooperative working between MQPBR and CQPBR software procedures or security mechanisms and policies applied to
components on the client and server sides. The mutual users. RAT-CCSM module triggers corresponding module
cooperation between these two modules is realized through on the client side (SPME) in order to carry out proper user
the appropriate routing control protocol developed authentication and authorization for the same approval to
specifically for this purpose. Its goal is to provide proper create a tunnel through the appropriate technology. This
prioritization of routes or routing rules via the tunnel process is accomplished through any “free” IP address
interfaces within routing matrix / table. The changes are obtained from a radio access technology towards a defined
initiated and controlled by MQPBR client module in IP address of the server on the other side. In this case RAT-
cooperation with the ITHC module. At the same time, the CCSM transparently forwards these packages directly to the
MQPBR software module on the client side presents the network interfaces of the radio access technologies. After
client IP address which is obtained in the phase of the receiving the result of a process of authentication and
authentication and authorization by the software module for authorization RAT-CCSM and MCCSM begin the process of
that purpose - SPME. The actual determination of the client establishment of an IP tunnel or reject the request. On the
mobile IP address will be marked with McIP, where it is an client side the user terminal contains all the information in a
IP address of the client in the heterogeneous network, which local storage (in the mobile terminal) within the security
is generated by SPME software module and it is then given software module, while the Policy Router stores the
to the MQPBR client module. The communication of the information for the mobile clients in an additional software
upper protocol levels, such as the transport, session and module, referred to as CPH, which can be part of the same
application levels, is via McIP address of the user, which is Policy Router (but, it is not mandatory). All information for
seen as IP network address to them. The main feature of this each user of this architecture, the authentication parameters
software module, in comparison with other routing software and policies, are stored in this database - CPH. Obtained
components, is its ability to perform coordinated routing policies and user parameters describe a mobile customer,
between the two software modules depending on the which are obtained from other systems and stored in CPH
application that is initiated by the client. This would mean module, and such data is then made available to RAT-CCSM
that routing table of this module expands and takes the form module as well as MQPBR and CQPBR modules and the
of three-dimensional routing matrix where for each initiated IHTC module. The RAT-CCSM module is allowed to
user application is defined priority for the tunneling establish a tunnel, the defined McIP address is announced to
interface. MQPBR and CQPBR modules, while to IHTC are
announced other policies contained in the CHP that should Software Module continually processes data
help it in the process of handover decisions. from RAT-CCSM software module (realized tunnels and
The fourth functionality is associated with the signal reception level of each access technology). Also, it is
management mechanisms for measuring the parameters that directly associated with the QoS / QoE module, from which
define the Quality of Service and Experience in terms of user it receives information about the qualitative characteristics of
applications. This functionality is accomplished by each radio access technology used by the user. Then, with
cooperative working between the QoS / QoE module on the aim to decide which application will use which available
client side and QoS / QoE module on the server side. The radio access technology, it receives from the SPME the user
purpose of this module in the mobile terminal (the client policies as well as preferences of the user and the operator
side) is to continuously measure the basic qualitative (that is the one that provides the functionalities of Policy
parameters of radio access technologies. Thus, the measured Router). If there is a need of changes of the access
parameters give a realistic picture of the Quality of Service technology for an ongoing session, this module is required to
that can be expected from the radio access technologies, initiate the process of handover between tunnels connected
which in fact are on the path between the client and Policy with the relevant access technologies. The criteria under
Router. Measurements are carried out individually by each which it will begin the procedure of handover are part of the
access technology. The results of these measurements are a software module and its internal logic. The change of
direct input to the ITHC module for handover decisions priorities for the routes for each application is performed by
between tunnels. the module responsible for policy-based routing, i.e., the
Fifth functionality of the network architecture is dedicated Policy Router on the network side.
to the user only, and its location within the heterogeneous In the following subsections we present more important
wireless network. This functionality is intended to ensure use-cases of the proposed architecture in this section.
continuity of customer service while taking into account the
qualitative requirements of the applications, the user, and the
network, in a form of predefined policies or gained
knowledge from the user services. This module on the user
side is represented as ITHC software module and has a direct
interaction with other software modules of the virtual
network layer.
Establishing a tunnel
The process of establishing the tunnel begins with the first
phase, a phase of continuous monitoring of the Radio Access
Technologies (RATs), performed by RAT-CCSM module.
At this stage of the process, it is cyclically repeated
interrogation of the RATs through direct interaction with
their network level. This activity is covered in steps 1 and 2
of the diagram in Figure 4.
In the second phase, when the mobile terminal detects The process of establishing of customer service starts with
established IP connectivity to the network layer of a RAT, the first phase, a phase of the user initiating the connection.
represented by step 3, begins the process of authentication The user in this process is accessing to its own applications
and authorization of the client and relevant RAT (step 4). In and starts the interaction with the appropriate application
this step there is interaction with the module for managing server. This activity is covered in steps 1 and 2 of the
security mechanisms and policies SPME. Failure of diagram in Figure 5. At this stage of the process the
authentication results in error that should be presented to the application level is in direct interaction with the virtual
user (steps 5 and 6).
network layer of the proposed architecture, specifically with
The third phase of the process of establishing the tunnel
its module for routing packets based on policies and Quality
starts with a successful authentication and authorization of
the client-side using the Policy Router (step 7). This is a
of Service - MQPBR. The establishment of customer service
trigger for the start of step 8, which is initiation of the from the mobile terminal is outlined in diagram shown in
procedures for establishing a tunnel between client and Figure 5.
server interacting with MCCSM module on the side of the 4.4 Process for changing Radio Access Technology -
Policy Router. Failure of this procedure (step 9) starts the tunnel handover
mechanism of recurrence of the process that repeats via the The process of changing radio access technology begins
steps of 8, 9 and 10, retrying until it exceeds the allowable with the first phase, a phase of collecting information as
number of attempts defined in the algorithm. This phase ends input for the handover algorithm. This activity is covered in
with the successful creation of the tunnel and the steps 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 of the diagram in Figure 6 that is
corresponding tunnel interface. If this represents the first performed in direct interaction with other components of the
created tunnel, i.e., there is no McIP address assigned to the virtual network layer (RAT-CCSM, QoS / QoE CM, SPME),
user, then the IP address obtained during authentication and as well as using user preferences. At this stage of the process
authorization of the user at the Policy Router is the one that all the above components are in direct interaction with the
is given to the MQPBR module with aim to be used as ITHC.
source address for communication initiated by the user.
4.3 Establishment of customer service
•The second phase of the process
presents an analysis of the input
parameters through an intelligent
algorithm in
•step 6, with aim to decide on
handover. This procedure is
•repeated for each user session.
The algorithm used for
•decision making mechanism is
shown in Figure 7.
environment, and here this is very important to create mobile
user assisted probing of the RAT performances, [11], [12].
Figure 8 presents also detailed view of the general
architecture for Management for Performance Measurements
(MPM) in NGN, with added functionalities on the side of the
mobile terminal (CPE – Customer Premises Equipment).
The network architecture consists of the following
entities:
• Performance Measurement Execution Functional Entity
(PME-FE) is an entity to perform performance
measurements. PME-FE is responsible for three groups
of functionalities: performance measurements, process
measurements and single configuration entity
conducting the measurements;
• Performance Measurement Processing Functional Entity
(PMP-FE) is an entity for processing the measurements.
PMP-FE is responsible for two groups of functions:
processing of measurements and configuration of
measurement tests across the network architecture.
Functions for processing of measurements include
collecting measurement reports, their analysis,
aggregation as well as analysis of measurements in
cyclical periods; and
• Performance Measurement Reporting Functional Entity
(PMR-FE) is an entity reporting the performed
performance measurements.
Most of the sessions of multimedia services over IP based
networks are using RTP (Real-time Transport Protocol).
RTCP (Real-time Transport Control Protocol) is
accompanying the RTP protocol to transmit the feedback
from receiver to sender’s RTP side.
Novel concept for performance The idea is to perform continuous performance
measurement for the next generation of measurements by the customer premises equipment (CPE)
wireless networks without introducing additional probing systems and this to
Next Generation Networks (NGN) consists of support be used towards the management of the performance as an
functionalities for data transport, and control transport, as aid in decision-making on resource allocation in next
well as functionalities for support of services and generation networks, respectively, and thus directly affect
applications. The measurement of traffic is a basic control the provisioning of the required QoS for each of the realized
activity in order to provide Quality of Service, [10]. So, services that customers use. Figure 8 shows the possible
performance measurement is an intrinsic component in configuration for performance measurements.
NGN, and it is usually performed at edge (border) network
nodes, in access, core and transit networks. Also, it can be
performed by the mobile terminals in the wireless
Admission Control Function (RACF), which is an essential The idea of this protocol QoSPRO (Quality of Service
paper the interface for measurement data is between the QoS Policy based ROuting) is to unite in itself all the essential
/ QoE CM software module and software module for control and necessary parameters by which the exchange between
of handovers between wireless technologies (ITHC). the control and measurement entities, in particular between
The procedure for notifications based on qualitative MQPBR and CQPBR software modules in the proposed
performance measurements obtained by RTP / RTCP-based architecture, would enable the mutual synchronization in
scheme is shown in Figure 9. order to achieve proper operation. Protocol procedures that
The necessity of setting a new protocol for the exchange should be supported by QoSPRO protocol are shown in
of network parameters between the two sides of the network Figure 10. Decisions for change of the radio access
architecture (policy client and router) is perceived by the technology are executed on the mobile terminal (client) side,
parameters and scope of information to be exchanged. using the developed M-RATS algorithm [9], which uses key
For proper operation of the process for control and routing performance indicators as input parameters for proper
of packets there are required the following four key decision for RAT choice.
functionalities: All these information are intended to make the proper
• Exchange of initial policies for technologies and user direction of the packets of user applications in order to
requirements; achieve best quality and optimal routing. In the process of
• Exchange of the application characteristics for routing it is also important to introduce hysteresis in periodic
separation of the packets; review of the status of the RATs, to avoid the effect of ping-
• Continuous periodic exchange of measurement pong switching between them. The idea of using the
information of the QoS parameters of each radio access DIAMETER as the basis of this protocol gives great
technology, which is achieved through connection to the flexibility and simplicity and yet makes it a powerful and
client with the IP world; and expandable enough to meet also future requirements of the
• Exchange of information on selected set of routes for given proposed architecture.
applications (periodic exchange triggered by the
ITHC module).
 The Policy Router creates IP tunnels
Conclusion
with the mobile terminal via each of the interfaces to
The development of the mobile and wireless networks is
different RATs available to the terminal. Based on the given
going towards higher data rates and all-IP principle.
policies, the change of the RAT, i.e., vertical handover, is
Currently, there are many available radio access
executed via tunnel change by the Policy Router, and such
technologies, which provide possibility for IP-based
change is based on the given policies regarding the Quality
communication on the network layer, as well as there is
of Service and user preferences, as well as performance
migration of all services in IP environment, including the
measurement obtained by the user equipment via new
traditional telephony and even television, besides the
defined procedure for that purpose in this paper, called
traditional Internet services, such as web and electronic mail
Quality of Service Policy based ROuting (QoSPRO).
as most used among the others. On the other side, mobile
The proposed architecture for future 5G mobile networks
terminals are obtaining each year more processing power,
can be implemented using components of the shelf (existing
more memory on board, and longer battery life for the same
and standardized Internet technologies) and its
applications (services). It is expected that the initial Internet
implementation is transparent to the radio access
philosophy of keeping the network simple as possible,
technologies, which makes it very likeable solution for the
giving more functionalities to the end nodes, will become
next generation mobile and wireless networks. The architecture
reality in the future generation of mobile networks, here
includes the introduction of software agents in the mobile
referred to as 5G.
terminal, which will be used for communication with newly
In this paper we have defined completely novel network
defined nodes called Policy Routers, which shall be placed
architecture for such 5G mobile networks
in the core network.