What is it about?
In this article, we propose a novel architecture for future cellular mobile communications networks, e.g., the upcoming Sixth Generation (6G) networks. The architecture of cellular networks is informed by two fundamental characteristics: (1) the need to support mobility to all users; and (2) its correspondence to legacy PSTN architecture. Signalling message exchange between a user device and the network control plane, which originated in PSTN, is a key characteristic of cellular mobile networks. This exchange precedes service delivery to the user. Using these signalling messages, a device registers itself with the network, gets authenticated and requests services like voice transfer, or mobility support. A cornerstone of all existing cellular network architectures, including the 5th Generation (5G) networks, is that the network treats these signalling messages entirely differently from regular service delivery or user data transfer. In a significant departure from existing network architectures, the proposed architecture treats ‘signalling exchange’ between a device and the network also as a service (or data) not much different from regular services, such as ‘media streaming’. This new perspective allows the decoupling of signalling handling functionality from the network control plane, to be handled by dedicated (signalling) service functions similar to other services like media streaming. It simplifies the control plane design & protocols and makes the network architecture more scalable and flexible, better capable of supporting continually growing network users and increased diversity of services.
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Why is it important?
It is anticipated that the upcoming Sixth Generation (6G) mobile communications network will see a massive surge in the number of users due to new usage scenarios like ‘Ubiquitous Connectivity’ and ‘Massive Communication’. This tremendous rise in the number of users may lead to a significantly higher signalling load (‘signalling storm’) in the network and may overwhelm its Control Plane. 6G network is also expected to support a greater diversity of use cases viz-a-viz the 5G network. The diverse use cases may require use-case-specific signalling exchanges between user devices and the network, which is not supported in the 5G network. To address these challenges, there is a need to evolve the mobile network architecture beyond 5G, especially the architecture of its control plane. The proposed architecture will enable future mobile networks to handle a much larger signalling load with the help of a simpler and scalable control plane and dedicated signalling service functions.
Perspectives
The proposal also introduces a paradigm shift in mobile network architecture by treating ‘signalling exchange’ as another form of data. This paradigm shift brings immense flexibility to the network, enabling novel capabilities like ‘core bypass for stationary users’ that dramatically reduces the communication overhead for such users, or use case specific signalling, e.g., support for different signalling messages for IoT and mobile broadband users with ease. It also leads to simpler control protocols viz-a-viz the 5G network. Another key point is that the proposal moves the architecture away from the legacy PSTN design and closer to data networks, e.g., Internet design, befitting the profile of supported services in these networks.
Rashmi Yadav
Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Signalling as Data: How it Transforms Network Architecture for 6G System, December 2024, ACM (Association for Computing Machinery),
DOI: 10.1145/3694812.3699923.
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