Low-Cost On-Demand C-RAN Based Mobile Small-Cells

Although 4G networks are vastly being deployed around the world, the exponential growth of mobile traffic and the requirements of upcoming services are further pushing the limits on current mobile networks; hence, worldwide research interests have shifted toward 5G paradigm. But 5G networks are not to be deployed until 2020; hence, there is a need for solutions to address increasing demands of current networks, without incurring huge costs on operators. In this paper, we discuss low cost innovative networking scenario, which can be built using available 4G technologies, yet continue to exist within the 5G paradigm when deployed. This paper proposes on-demand deployment of mobile small cells, using either user mobile handsets or remote radio units. The front hauling from the core network to the small cells exploits disruptive technology trends, which are expected to play roles within the 5G paradigms, including the cloud-based radio access network, and self-organizing networking. This paper discusses the envisioned scenario, shows how it can be built on expected 5G technologies trends, presents preliminary results that show the benefits gained from such deployment, and, finally, details the foreseen open research challenges that need to be addressed.