Frankfurt, Germany – Today, the Next Generation Mobile Networks (NGMN) Alliance has announced the latest requirements for a 5G End-to-End (E2E) Architecture Framework. It aims to advance the 5G ecosystem to enable heterogenous access, virtualisation, autonomic capabilities, forward-looking service enablers, and emerging usage scenarios that support 5G’s full potential. The content of this publication builds on the architectural concepts and directions described in the first NGMN 5G White Paper, and further related NGMN publications.

“This is an important development and another step in our efforts to support SDO’s in standardizing 5G technologies. NGMN encourages the development of interoperable and market enabling specifications, which will ultimately allow for realisation of emerging use case scenarios,” stated Sebastian Thalanany, UScellular, and NGMN project lead of the 5G E2E Architecture Framework project.

Essential to an evolving 5G ecosystem, the latest requirements from NGMN describe the next steps needed to advance forward-looking technologies and use cases that will enable network service providers to offer new capabilities and enhance the customer experience. With many new 5G use cases to deliver, diverse service deployment from an end-to-end perspective is a challenge. NGMN addresses this by looking at agile service deployment as one of the objectives of a cognitive Platform as a Service, with a focus on Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning data models.

This White Paper outlines the requirements in terms of entities and functions that characterise the capabilities of an E2E framework. Architectural perspectives and considerations underscore the definition of the E2E framework requirements. This goes in hand with the service categories – Enhanced Mobile Broadband, Massive Internet of Things and Ultra-Reliable Low Latency Communications – envisioned for 5G.

Furthermore, the document analyses in detail autonomic networking, which provides a scalable, customisable, and self-organizing model for system-wide automation. Here, virtualisation and programmability are adopted in an end-to-end manner. Self-organization is an integral aspect of autonomic networking for automation that dynamically learns and adapts to changing conditions in the system and its environment, while satisfying service KPIs and the quality of service experience.

“This is another important milestone for NGMN to enable the 5G ecosystem to deliver on its promise and demonstrates the excellence of our Partnership,” commented Anita Döhler, CEO NGMN Alliance.

The published results of its 5G End-to-End (E2E) Architecture Framework project can be found on the NGMN website.