title: 5G: The Convergence of Wireless Communications.
abstract: As the rollout of 4G mobile communication networks takes place, representatives of industry and academia have started to look into the technological developments toward the next generation (5G). Several research projects involving key international mobile network operators, infrastructure manufacturers, and academic institutions, have been launched recently to set the technological foundations of 5G. However, the architecture of future 5G systems, their performance, and mobile services to be provided have not been clearly defined. In this paper, we put forth the vision for 5G as the convergence of evolved versions of current cellular networks with other complementary radio access technologies. Therefore, 5G may not be a single radio access interface but rather a "network of networks". Evidently, the seamless integration of a variety of air interfaces, protocols, and frequency bands, requires paradigm shifts in the way networks cooperate and complement each other to deliver data rates of several Gigabits per second with end-to-end latency of a few milliseconds. We provide an overview of the key radio technologies that will play a key role in the realization of this vision for the next generation of mobile communication networks. We also introduce some of the research challenges that need to be addressed.
authors.affiliation: Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway ; Intervention Center, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway ; Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Raúl
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Chávez-Santiago
authors.affiliation: Huawei R&D Sweden, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Michał
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Szydełko
authors.affiliation: Poznan University of Technology, Poznan, Poland.
authors.forename: Adrian
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kliks
authors.affiliation: Athena Research and Innovation Centre, Industrial Systems Institute, Patras, Greece.
authors.forename: Fotis
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Foukalas
authors.affiliation: Jerusalem College of Technology, Jerusalem, Israel.
authors.forename: Yoram
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Haddad
authors.affiliation: Intel Labs Europe, Intel, Leixlip, Ireland.
authors.forename: Keith E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Nolan
authors.affiliation: Intel Labs Europe, Intel, Leixlip, Ireland.
authors.forename: Mark Y
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Kelly
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical Engineering, Tshwane University of Technology, Pretoria, South Africa ; Meraka Institute, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Pretoria, South Africa.
authors.forename: Moshe T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Masonta
authors.affiliation: Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway ; Intervention Center, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway ; Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Ilangko
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Balasingham
keywords: 5G; Radio spectrum; Small-cells; Software defined networking; Software defined radio; Traffic offloading