Re: Has virtualization become obsolete in 5G?

[Etienne-Victor Depasquale <edepa () ieee org>]

> Well, I doubt the radio has any service intelligence. It's just a conduit.
> Depending on why two devices on the same radio have to communicate, a
> cleverer system deep in the core would need to process that before handing
> it back to the radio network.
5G introduced a number of functional units (RU, DU and CU) in the radio
access network and disaggregation is flexible. Service intelligence doesn't
need to come from the core; it may be far out in the edge. At the RU, there
is packetized data ready for transmission over eCPRI to the DU. In this
webinar <https://www.lightreading.com/webinar.asp?webinar_id=1656> (@6:07),
there's a bit of a projection about use of service intelligence.

Cheers,

Etienne

On Thu, Aug 6, 2020 at 10:21 AM Mark Tinka <mark.tinka () seacom com> wrote:

> On 5/Aug/20 18:34, Etienne-Victor Depasquale wrote:
>
>
> Release 16 is just out and if it has delivered the 5G vision,
> latency between devices connected over the same radio interface
> (which I take to mean the same gNB),
> is now < 1 ms.
> Isn't that a good improvement?
>
>
> Well, I doubt the radio has any service intelligence. It's just a conduit.
> Depending on why two devices on the same radio have to communicate, a
> cleverer system deep in the core would need to process that before handing
> it back to the radio network.
>
> Of course, it makes the case for deploying services at each base station
> to localize services, but that could get expensive for an entire radio
> network, particularly within a 100km Metro where fibre latency will remain
> at ±1ms anyway.
>
> Not to mention that with the exception of things like cars in a traffic
> jam or on the same piece of highway, the chances of two devices talking to
> each other over the same radio can't always be guaranteed.
>
>
>
> I understand that this is a key enabler for driverless cars (real-time,
> automated vehicle navigation) - the V2I part of V2X.
>
>
> I look forward to seeing this.
>
>
>
> Here's one blogger who agrees with you
> <https://www.brighttalk.com/webcast/16515/349885?utm_source=brighttalk-recommend&utm_campaign=network_weekly_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=company&utm_term=312020>
> (@19:46) about coverage - and count me in.
> But, I guess, it's fair to say that this is the chicken-and-egg conundrum
> :)
>
>
> The video won't play. Could be my browser.
>
> Anyway, time will tell. I see 5G roll-out density like rolling out fibre
> in places only where the postal service can get to. But I hope I'm wrong.
>
> Mark.


-- 
Ing. Etienne-Victor Depasquale
Assistant Lecturer
Department of Communications & Computer Engineering
Faculty of Information & Communication Technology
University of Malta
Web. https://www.um.edu.mt/profile/etiennedepasquale