Text/Huang Haifeng's communication life
On August 9, at the "Tech Talk2022-Prospect Forum" of the "2022 World 5G Conference", Wang Xiaoyun, General Manager of China Mobile Technology Department and Deputy Chief Engineer of 03 Special Technology, delivered a keynote speech on "Reflections on the Evolution of Mobile Communication Network Architecture".
Wang Xiaoyun said that computer system architecture, Internet architecture, and mobile communication network architecture are the three basic architectures of the digital world, and SBA (service-oriented architecture) is the key to 5G network architecture, and put forward 6 points of thinking and 8 major problems for the development of 6G network architecture.
Mobile network architecture: three major systems, four major features, five major capabilities
Mobile communication is a complex giant system built by tens of billions of terminals, tens of millions of base stations, and 10,000 sets of core networks, which requires systematic and global system architecture design.
The three major systems, four characteristics and five major capabilities have finally formed a unique architecture system for mobile communications. Specifically, the five major capabilities of mobile communication system user management, mobility management, connection management, business management, and security management have brought four major characteristics: global roaming, home control, whole network, and cross-generation symbiosis.
Wang Xiaoyun believes that the three major systems of networking system, signaling system and expression system are the key to forming the above four characteristics of mobile networks.
Wang Xiaoyun also briefly reviewed the evolution and development of mobile network architecture. In the era of language services, mobile networks are single business networks, self-contained; In the era of traffic service, mobile networks have realized a unified network and massive applications; In the era of information services, mobile networks need platform networks and customized services. Wang Xiaoyun believes that the mobile network architecture from 1G to 4G is an evolutionary process, and 5G requires major changes.
SBA is key to 5G architecture
"Centralization, cloudification, and servitization are the three main lines of mobile network architecture reform." Wang Xiaoyun concluded: "5G is a process of moving from homogenization to differentiated services. ”
Wang Xiaoyun pointed out that the business launch of the traditional architecture is slow and the upgrade network element is more, which restricts the innovation and development of new services. For example, when China Mobile introduced NB-IoT in 4G, it upgraded Class 5 network elements and more than 10,000 sets of equipment, which lasted for 1 year. Therefore, in the 5G era, the traditional mobile network architecture cannot support service differentiation services, and the 5G core network must carry out architectural changes!
5G new service-oriented architecture (SBA), with service as the core, based on atomic capabilities, IT-based architecture, CT-based mechanism, reconstruct functions and connections, and create platform-based service capabilities.
Wang Xiaoyun said that based on SBA, it is possible to flexibly design differentiated network slices, generate private networks in different industries on demand, and quickly form lightweight edge computing networks. At present, 99 operators around the world have begun to invest in the deployment of SBA-based 5G networks in more than 50 countries. China Mobile has served more than 7,900 vertical industry projects, involving 108 application scenarios such as mines, factories, and medical treatment.
The SBA architecture is a signature innovation of 5G and a cornerstone of 6G development. In the future, with the intergenerational evolution of communication networks, China Mobile will gradually evolve and deepen to the eSBA architecture and HSBA architecture.
The four drivers of the 6G architecture, six points of thinking, and eight major problems
The four driving factors of the 6G architecture: First, the new strategic needs of the digital economy, information services, carbon peaking, carbon neutrality, east and west calculation, integration of computing networks, and security and credibility; Second, immerse in multimedia, holographic communication, synaesthesia, and new scenes and new needs brought about by the integration of heaven and earth; Third, doict new technologies and their financial development, artificial intelligence, new IP technologies, digital twins, blockchain brought about by new technologies and new integration needs; Fourth, the concept of service-oriented needs to be further deepened, new industry needs need to be better met, SLA cross-domain collaboration is difficult, and the degree of automation operation and maintenance needs to be improved.
At the same time, Wang Xiaoyun shared 6 points of thinking on the design of 6G network architecture: the unity of evolution and change needs to evolve smoothly, the unity of itself and cross-domain needs a consistent experience, the unity of concentration and distribution needs ubiquitous autonomy, the unity of endogenous and minimalist needs to be quickly enabled, the unity of ontology and twins needs precise operation and maintenance, and the unity of IT and CT needs elasticity and agility.
Wang Xiaoyun introduced that China Mobile recently released the "China Mobile 6G Network Architecture Technology White Paper", proposing the overall architecture design of "three bodies, four layers and five sides" 6G. Specifically, the "three-body" is the network ontology, management orchestration body, and digital twin, the "four layers" are the resource and computing power layer, the routing and connection layer, the service-oriented function layer, and the open enable layer, and the "five sides" are the control surface, user plane, data plane, intelligence plane, and security plane.
Finally, Wang Xiaoyun said that there are still many issues in the 6G network architecture that are controversial and need to be discussed continuously. Wang Xiaoyun raised eight major questions.
- Question 1: Is the interface between the core network and the wireless network facing reconstruction?
- Question 2: How to establish a cross-layer invocation mechanism for a hierarchical network?
- Question 3: Can 3GPP achieve standard collaboration in non-3GPP fields and achieve end-to-end cross-domain pull-through?
- Question 4: How to optimize the terminal implementation mechanism to accelerate the launch of new functions?
- Question 5: Will new technologies such as the integration of computing networks and memory and computing lead to changes in the network architecture?
- Question 6: Will user data be distributed storage based on new technologies such as blockchain?
- Question 7: What is the impact of new technologies such as deterministic networks on SLAs?
- Question 8: How effective are new technologies such as HTPP/3.0, Serverless computing, on deepening HSBAs?
In the 5G era, mobile network architecture innovation brings opportunities for the development of China's mobile networks, but how to promote the continuous leadership of mobile network architecture in the 6G era?
In the view of "Haifeng Looking at Science and Technology", the so-called ten thousand people exercise the bow, shoot a move together, and all the moves are hit. China's communications industry is leading in the construction of 6G networks, which requires the joint efforts of the industry.
As Wang Xiaoyun said at the end, China Mobile hopes to work with industry, academia and research to draw a new blueprint for 6G.