5G will make it possible for mobile network operators to support enterprises in a wide range of industry segments by providing cellular connectivity to mission-critical applications. The ability to expose policy control to enterprise verticals will create new business opportunities for mobile network operators by enabling a new value chain through the integration of telecom with other industries.

1. ERICSSON
TECHNOLOGY
C H A R T I N G T H E F U T U R E O F I N N O V A T I O N | # 8 ∙ 2 0 1 7
5GNETWORK
PROGRAMMABILITY
(5G) core
network
Request to prioritize vehicle data traffic
Data traffic
prioritization interface
Scania bus
Ericsson test
network at Scania
test track Control plane
User plane Prioritized video traffic
Prioritized control traffic
Non-prioritized traffic
(e.g. mobile broadband, infotainment)
User plane
User plane
Scania
command
center Remote
driver
Ericsson Cloud
Network traffic prioritization
Internet

2. ✱ 5G NETWORK PROGRAMMABILITY
2 ERICSSON TECHNOLOGY REVIEW ✱ JANUARY 26, 2018
A key differentiator of 5G systems from
previous generations will be a higher degree
of programmability. Instead of a one-size-fits-
all mobile broadband service, 5G will provide
the flexibility to tailor QoS to connectivity
services to meet the demands of enterprise
customers.Thisenablesanewrange of
mission-critical use cases, such as those
involving connected cars, manufacturing
robots, remote surgery equipment, precision
agriculture equipment, and so on.
■ Networkprogrammabilitycansupportrapid
deploymentofnewusecasesbycombining
cloud-basedserviceswithmobilenetwork
infrastructureandtakingadvantageofnewlevels
offlexibility.Further,networkprogrammabilitywill
enableagreaternumberofenterprisecustomersto
usesuchservices,andconsumerswillbenefitfrom
auniqueandpersonalizedexperience.
Anumberofusecasesinmission-critical
scenarioscanbenefitfromQoSprogrammability
becauseacellularnetwork’sconnectivity
requirements–includinglatency,throughput,
servicelifetimeandcost–varywidelyacross
differentusecases.Tosupportthemall,wehave
developedanapplicationprogramminginterface
(API)thatallowsthirdpartiestospecifyand
requestnetworkQoS.Wehavealsodemonstrated
theusefulnessofthisAPIonatestmobilenetwork
usingatransport-relatedusecase.
Aspartofthisusecase,wehavebeencollaborating
withcommercialvehiclemanufacturerScaniato
developtheQoSrequirementsforteleoperation.
Teleoperationistheremoteoperationofan
autonomousvehiclebyahumanoperatorincases
wherethevehicleencountersasituationthatthe
autonomoussystemcannotovercomebyitself(a
roadobstacleormalfunction,forexample).
RAFIA INAM,
ATHANASIOS
KARAPANTELAKIS,
LEONID MOKRUSHIN,
ELENA FERSMAN
5G will make it possible for mobile network operators to support
enterprises in a wide range of industry segments by providing cellular
connectivity to mission-critical applications. The ability to expose policy
control to enterprise verticals will create new business opportunities for
mobile network operators by enabling a new value chain through the
integration of telecom with other industries.
FOR MISSION-CRITICAL APPLICATIONS
5Gnetwork
programmability

3. 5G NETWORK PROGRAMMABILITY ✱
3JANUARY 26, 2018 ✱ ERICSSON TECHNOLOGY REVIEW
Driversofnetworkprogrammability
Thekeydriversbehindthecreationofa
programmablenetworkaretheneedtoaccelerate
timetomarket,andthedesiretoreduceoperational
costsandtakeadvantageofthebusiness
opportunitiespresentedbyanewmission-critical
servicemarket.Inaprogrammablenetwork,
traditionalnetworkfunctionsrequiringspecialized
hardwarearereplacedwithsoftwarefunctions
hostedoncommercialoff-the-shelfinfrastructure.
Technologiessuchassoftware-definednetworking
andnetworkfunctionsvirtualizationareessential
tocuttingoperationalandcapitalcostsinmobile
networks.
Cloud-basedservicesandapplicationsare
enablersforprogrammability.Serviceprovisioning
inthecloudandmanagedaccesstotheprovisioned
servicesandapplicationsareimportant.This
requirescollaborationbetweentelecomandother
industries(ITapplicationandcontentproviders,
andautomotiveoriginalequipmentmanufacturers,
forexample).Onewaytosimplifyandacceleratethe
deploymentofservicesandapplicationsfrom
industryverticalsistheautomatictranslationof
industrialrequirementstoservicerequirements,
andthenontoresource-levelrequirements(in
otherwords,networkrequirements).Network
slicingprovidesadedicated,virtualizedmobile
networkcontainingasetofnetworkresources,and
providesguaranteedQoS.Thenetworkslicesare
notonlybeneficialbutalsocriticaltosupportmany
applicationsinverticalindustries.
Newnetworkcommunicationservicescanalso
beprovisionedprogrammatically;thatis,
byusingasoftwareserviceorchestrationfunction
insteadofmanualprovisioningbyengineers.
Asorchestrationwillalsobeusedforprovisioning
connectivityservicestomission-critical
applications,mobilenetworksneedtosupport
QoSprogrammability.
Mission-criticalIntelligent
TransportationSystemusecases
5Gwillsupportadiverserangeofusecases
indifferentindustrysectors,eachputtingitsown
QoSrequirementsonthemobilenetwork[1].Itis
possibletousenetworkprogrammabilitytorealize
mission-criticalusecaseswithQoSrequirements
bycreatinghighlyspecializedservicestailored
toindustrialneedsandpreferences.
Featureslikelowerlatency(reactiontimesthat
arefivetimesfaster),higherthroughput(10to100
timeshigherdatarate)andanenormousincreasein
thenumberofconnecteddevices(10to100times
more)cansupportthelarge-scaleuseofmassive
machine-typecommunication(mMTC)and
mission-criticalMTC(MC-MTC)usecasesforthe
firsttime.Further,adedicatednetworkslicewould
meetthespecificrequirementsofeachusecase.
InmMTCusecases,alargenumberofsensors
andactuatorsareconnectedusingashort-range
radio(capillarynetwork)toabasestation(eNodeB)
usingalowprotocoloverheadtosavethebattery
lifeofthedevices.
Thisrequiresanetworkslicewithbroadcoverage,
smalldatavolumesfrommassivenumbersof
devices.MC-MTCusecasesemphasizelower
latency(downtoalevelofmilliseconds),
Terms and abbreviations
AAR–AuthenticationAuthorizationRequest|AF–applicationfunction|API –applicationprogramminginterface
eNB–eNodeB|EPC–EvolvedPacketCore|EPS–EvolvedPacketSystem|HSS–HomeSubscriberServer|
ITS–IntelligentTransportationSystem|MME–MobilityManagementEntity|mMTC–massivemachine-type
communication|MTC–machine-typecommunication|PCRF–policyandchargingrulesfunction|PDN–packet
datanetwork|PGW–PDNgateway|QCI–QoSclassidentifier|Rx–radioreceiver|SAPC–Service-Aware
PolicyController|SGW–servicegateway|UDP–UserDatagramProtocol |UE–userequipment

4. ✱ 5G NETWORK PROGRAMMABILITY
4 ERICSSON TECHNOLOGY REVIEW ✱ JANUARY 26, 2018
robusttransmissionandmultileveldiversitydue
totheirmission-criticalnatureand,consequently,
needanetworksliceofverylowlatency,high
reliabilityandavailability(packetlossdownto
10-9).Thisispossiblebycreatingasliceofveryhigh
priority.Weenvisionrealizingtheseusecases
withaflexiblenetworkprogrammabilitytechnique.
Thecurrentfocusofourresearchiswithinthe
IntelligentTransportationSystem(ITS)domain
andincludesafew5GusecasesinmMTCand
MC-MTC,includingtransportationandlogistics,
autonomouscarsandteleoperatedvehicles.
Transportationandlogistics
Thelowerlatencyandhighthroughputof5G
willsupportmultipleusecasesrelatedtoconnected
cars,transportationandretaillogisticsthat
consistoffleetsofconnected/driverlessvehicles
transportingpeopleandgoods.Thekeynetwork
requirementsformission-criticalautomotive
drivingarehighthroughputandlowlatencyupto
100ms.Failureisnotanoptioninthesecases.
Therearealsomanypotentialsub-usecases.
Forexample,ajourneyfromAtoBinadriverless
vehiclecouldinvolvevehicle-to-vehicleconnections,
connectionsbetweenvehiclesandstreet
infrastructurefortrafficmanagement,and
high-speedreliableconnectivitytosupportcloud
applications.
Autonomousvehicles
Thevisionoffullyautonomousvehiclesaimsto
reducetherisksassociatedwithhumanerror.
Asystemtoachievethisvisionwouldneedto
connectthecarsandtheroadinfrastructurewith
1mslatencyinallareas(100percentcoverage).
Unfortunately,1mslatencyiscurrentlynotpossible
inmobilenetworks.However,thebandwidth
requirementstomakethispossiblearenot
excessive,asonlyvehiclecontroldataneedstobe
communicated.Thiscapabilityisexpectedin5G.
Teleoperationofvehicles
Theabilitytocontrolaself-drivingvehiclefroma
distanceisanimportantusecasethatisneededin
publictransportationwhenanonboard,autonomous
systemfacesadifficultsituation,suchasatraffic
accident,anunexpecteddemonstration,unscheduled
roadworksorflooding.Thesescenariosrequirethe
planningofanalternateroute,andanoperator
needstodrivethevehicleremotelyforashorttime.
Anothercasecouldbeamechanicalmalfunctionor
aninjuryonabusthatrequiresremoteintervention
tomitigatetheriskofdangertoothers.Network
requirementsforremotemonitoringandcontrol
includebroadcoverage,highdatathroughputand
lowlatencytoenablecontinuousvideostreaming
andtheabilitytosendcommandsbetweenaremote
operationscenterandavehicle[2].
WhyanAPI?
ToguaranteeQoSforthethreeITScasesdescribed
above(andmission-criticalusecasesingeneral)
mobilenetworkoperatorstypicallygothrough
manualnetworkplanningandconfigurations.
Examplesincludeconfiguringmanualdataroutes
viadifferentrouters,configuringDifferentiated
Servicesandallocatingdedicatedspectrumranges
toeachusecase.However,doingthisiscostlybecause
itrequirestheconfigurationanddeploymentof
networkequipment.Norisitparticularlyfeasible,
asthiskindofconfigurationdeploymentcannotbe
donemerelyinpartsofthetransportnetwork(such
asbackhaul).If,ontheotherhand,theresources
werevirtualizedandtherewassoftwarethatcould
setuptheseroutesoverthesamephysicalnetwork
link,bothofthelimitingfactorswouldbeeliminated:
thecostofconfigurationandthedeploymentof
multipleroutes.Asaresult,itwouldbeboth
financiallyandtechnicallyfeasibletosupport
theseusecasesconcurrently.
Itisclearthatoperatorswillnotbeableto
WEENVISIONREALIZING
THESEUSECASESWITHA
FLEXIBLENETWORK
PROGRAMMABILITY
TECHNIQUE

5. 5G NETWORK PROGRAMMABILITY ✱
5JANUARY 26, 2018 ✱ ERICSSON TECHNOLOGY REVIEW
supportthevolumeanddiversityofusecases
withthecurrentnetworkmanagementapproach.
Theyneedadifferentmeansofmanagingthe
networktostaycompetitive.Inourview,
developinganAPIisthelogicalfirststeptoward
exposingaprogrammablenetworktotheindustry
verticals.Thisapproachwillresultinasolutionthat
ismoreresponsivethanrigidcommercialofferings,
suchaspreconfiguredsubscriptionpackages.
ArchitectureoftheEricsson-Scaniaproject
Teleoperatingabusrequiresdatafromsensorson
thebus,includingavideofeedfromacameraatthe
frontthatisstreamedtoaremoteoperationscenter
overLTEradioaccesswithanevolved5Gcore
network.Thecommandstodrivethebusaresent
fromthecentertothebususingScania’scommand
system.
Figure1illustratesthedatastreamsthatneedto
beprioritizedtomeetQoSdemands:sensordata,
thevideofeedoriginatingfromthevehicleuser
equipment(UE)andthecommandstoremotely
drivethebus.Sendingthesedatastreamsover
low-prioritydatatraffic(likeinfotainment)
isacriticalrequirement.WeusedQOSclass
identifier(QCI)bearers,asdetailedinthe
corresponding3GPPstandard,toenforcethis
prioritization.WeassignedQCIclass5and2to
videoandsensordatarespectivelyandlowest-
priorityQCIclass9toinfotainment.Inourlab
environment,wehaveconfirmedthatthehigh-
prioritystreams(QCI2and5)canbekept
regardlessoftheamountoflow-priority
backgrounddatatrafficinthenetwork[3,4].
Thenextstepwillbetotestourtestbedsetup
fortheprioritizedvideostreaminthepresence
ofthenetworkloadduetoinfotainment-type
backgroundtraffic.
Howitworks
Acloud-hostedapplicationfunction(AF)
dynamicallysetsupvirtualconnectionsbetween
vehiclesandthe5GEvolvedPacketCore(EPC)
network,withspecificQoSattributes,suchas
designatedlatencylevelsandguaranteedthroughput.
Figure2illustratesthearchitectureofthesystem
onwhichwehaveimplementedtheAPI.Inaddition
todeployingastandardEPCandLTEband-40RAN,
anAFisdeployedonanOpenStack-managedcloud.
Thisapplicationfunctionalityallowsthirdparties
tosetupQoSfortheirUEsthroughanAPI.
TheAFconsistsofthefollowingcomponents:
aknowledgebasemodule,anAPIendpointmodule
andatransformer.
Knowledgebasemodule
Thismodulemapsdomain-specificconcepts
tothegenericconcepts.Theknowledgebaseis
implementedasagraphdatabase,hasaschema
ofgeneralconceptsandcanbeextendedwith
additionaldomainconceptdocumentsthat
instantiatethegeneralconceptschema.Theschema
includesabasicvocabularyofgeneralconceptsthat
modelQoSrequests.Theseconceptscanbe
instantiatedindomainconceptsforaspecific
enterprise.Inourcase,theenterprise
isautomotive.
Withintheknowledgebasemodule,an“agent”
isastringthatissemanticallyrelatedtothemobile
deviceforwhichQoSisrequested.Inourcase,the
agentisinstantiatedwiththe“vehicle”domain
concept.QoSclassidentifiers(QCIs)areindicators
ofnetworkQoSforagivenagent.TheQCIconcept
wasintroducedin3GPPTS23.203Release8,
withadditionalclassesbeingintroducedin
Release12andRelease14.
EveryQCIclasshasanintegeridentifier,for
exampleQCI1orQCI2,andismappedtoasetof
QoSmetricssuchasanindicatorofpriorityofdata
traffic,anupperceilingfornetworklatencyand,in
somecases,guaranteedbitrate.Inourcase,
QCIsareinstantiatedwithdomainconceptsfor
real-timevehicletrafficdomainconcepts.
Forexample,QCI3isinstantiatedas“vehicle_
control_traffic”andQCI4isinstantiatedas
“vehicle_video_traffic.”Forusersbrowsingtheir
mobiledevicesinthevehicles,weinstantiatea
low-priorityclassQCI9as vehicle_web_browsing.”
Datatrafficdescriptorsaregenericcontentsthat
canconfigureeachQCI.Theconfiguration

6. ✱ 5G NETWORK PROGRAMMABILITY
6 ERICSSON TECHNOLOGY REVIEW ✱ JANUARY 26, 2018
pertainstoacharacterizationofthetrafficinterms
ofrequiredthroughputforboth“uplink”and
“downlink,”theformerbeingdatatraffic
transmittedfromtheagentandthelatterbeingthe
opposite.Optionally,descriptorsmayalsocontain
thetypeofdatapacketsexchanged(forexample,
UDP/IPorTCP/IP),aswellaspotentiallytheport
orportrange.Forexample,inthecaseof
“vehicle_control_traffic,”thedatatraffic
descriptoridentifiesanuplinkbandwidth
of1Mbpsandadownlinkbandwidthof1Kbps.
Acombinationofagents,QCIsandtheir
associateddatatrafficdescriptorsarestored
intheknowledgebaseasadomainconcept
document.Everyusecasehasitsowndomain
conceptdocument,whileeachspecificenterprise
hasmorethanonedocument.Forexample,inour
case,thereisan“automotive/teleoperation”
document.However,otherdocumentsfor
automotivecanalsoexist,suchas“automotive/
autonomousdrive”or“automotive/remotefleet
management.”Becausethedataisstoredaslinked
data,conceptsfromone domainconceptdocument
canbereusedinanother.
APIendpointmodule
ThismodulecomposesAPIspecificationsfrom
everydomainconceptdocumentintheknowledge
base.ThisAPIspecificationisRESTful,uses
symmetricencryption(HTTPS)andcanbecalled
Figure 1 Prioritized data streams to meet QoS demands
(5G) core
network
Request to prioritize vehicle data traffic
Data traffic
prioritization interface
Scania bus
Ericsson test
network at Scania
test track Control plane
User plane Prioritized video traffic
Prioritized control traffic
Non-prioritized traffic
(e.g. mobile broadband, infotainment)
User plane
User plane
Scania
command
center Remote
driver
Ericsson Cloud
Network traffic prioritization
Internet

7. 5G NETWORK PROGRAMMABILITY ✱
7JANUARY 26, 2018 ✱ ERICSSON TECHNOLOGY REVIEW
Figure 2 Architecture for programmable QoS in existing an LTE EPC network
Knowledge
base
API endpoint
Ericsson
research
cloud
Generic API
call
UEUE
eNB
Domain
knowledge
definition
Domain
semantics
Third party
AF
EPC
QoS setup
Uu Uu
Rx
S6a
S5/S8
S1-MME
S1-U
S1-MME
S1-U
UEUE
eNB
Uu Uu
HSS
SAPCPGW
SGW
MME
Transformer
Gx
fromanythirdparty.TheseAPIcallsgettranslated
intogenericconceptcallsthataresubsequently
senttothetransformermodule.Notethat,in
additiontoanAPIcallforsetupofspecializedQoS,
thereisanotherAPIcallforteardownofthisQoS.
Forexample,whenavehicleisdecommissioned
ordoesnotneedtobeteleoperated,therecanbe
acalltoteardowntheQoStunnel,sonetwork
resourcescanbeallocatedtoUEsinothervehicles
ordevices.Figure3providesanoverviewof
domain-specificandgenericrequests.
Transformermodule
Thetransformermoduletranslatesgenericrequests
forQoStoRxAARrequests,astheserequestsare
specifiedin3GPPTS29.214.TheRxrequestsare
sentdirectlytothePCRFnodeinordertosetup
the“EPSbearer”(inotherwords,thedatatunnel
withtherequestedQoS).Asisthecasewiththe
endpointmodule,thetransformermodulecanalso
translateateardownrequesttoanRxrequestto
reverttothelowest-prioritydefaultbearer
(inmostcases,QCI9).
CONCEPTSFROM
ONEDOMAINCONCEPT
DOCUMENTCANBEREUSED
INANOTHER

8. ✱ 5G NETWORK PROGRAMMABILITY
8 ERICSSON TECHNOLOGY REVIEW ✱ JANUARY 26, 2018
Figure 3 Overview of requests
Domain specific request Generic request Description of the request
GET /vehicle GET /agent Retrieve QoS information
for all UEs
GET /vehicle/<IP> GET /agent/<IP> Retrieve QoS information
for one UE, based on its IP
address
GET /qos GET /qos Retrieve QoS for all UEs
GET /qos/vehicle_control_traffic GET /qos/QCI3 Retrieve all UEs with QCI3
bearer setup
POST /qos/
{
“source_IP”:<src_IP>,
“source_port”:<src_port>,
“destination_IP”:<dst_IP>,
“destination_port”:<dst_port>,
“qos_class”:”vehicle_control_
traffic”,
“protocol”:”TCP”,
“type”:”vehicle_video_stream”
}
POST /qos
{
“source_IP”:<src_IP>,
“source_port”:<src_port>,
“destination_IP”:<dst_IP>,
“destination_port”:<dst_port>
“qos_class”:”QCI3”,
“protocol”:”TCP”,
“max-requested-bandwidth-
UL”:”1024,
“max-requested-bandwidth-
DL”:”100”
}
Set QoS for UE with IP src_
IP and port src_port toward
destination with IP dst_IP
and port dst_port. Protocol
in this example is TCP but it
can also be UDP.
DELETE /vehicle
{
“source_IP”:<src_IP>,
“source_port”:<src_port>,
“destination_IP”:<dst_IP>,
“destination_port”:<dst_port>,
“protocol”:”TCP”
}
DELETE /agent
{
“source_IP”:<src_IP>,
“source_port”:<src_port>,
“destination_IP”:<dst_IP>,
“destination_port”:<dst_port>,
“protocol”:”TCP”
}
Remove QoS for UE
with given source and
destination IP and port

9. 5G NETWORK PROGRAMMABILITY ✱
9JANUARY 26, 2018 ✱ ERICSSON TECHNOLOGY REVIEW
Testbedresults
ToassessQoS,weperformedexperimentsonthe
uplinkprioritizedvideostreamusingQCI5inthe
presenceofthenetworkloadduetoinfotainment-
typebackgroundtrafficusingQCI9.Thetotal
measuredavailablebandwidthonthenetwork
wasapproximately8.55Mbps.Wetestedseveral
networkloadscenariosandmeasuredtheresults
againstthreebackgroundtrafficconditions:
〉〉 none(0Mbps)
〉〉 some(4.2Mbpsor49percentoftheavailablebandwidth)
〉〉 extreme(8.55Mbpsor100percentoftheavailable
bandwidth)
Wemeasuredboththroughputandone-way
networkdelayunderthesetrafficconditions.
Wealsomeasuredtheratioofpacketslost
versuspacketssenttotestthethroughput
qualityofthenetworkforthreedifferent
qualitiesofvideostreams:
〉〉 excellent(6Mbpsor70percentoftheavailablebandwidth)
〉〉 good(3Mbpsor35percentoftheavailablebandwidth)
〉〉 borderlinedrivable(2Mbpsor23percentoftheavailable
bandwidth)
Borderlinedrivableistheminimumrequirementto
performteleoperation.Weobtainedthepacket
Figure 4 Packet loss (in percentage of total packets) in best effort (QCIŁ9) and prioritized (QCI5) bearers
100.000
10.000
1.000
0.100
0.010
0.001
No background traffic
(0 Mbps)
Some background traffic
(4.2Mbps)
QCI9 QCI5
No background traffic
(0 Mbps)
Some background traffic
(4.2Mbps)
Extreme background traffic
(8.55Mbps)
Extreme background traffic
(8.55Mbps)
2Mbps
video
3Mbps
video
6Mbps
video
2Mbps
video
3Mbps
video
6Mbps
video
2Mbps
video
3Mbps
video
6Mbps
video
2Mbps
video
3Mbps
video
6Mbps
video
2Mbps
video
3Mbps
video
6Mbps
video
2Mbps
video
3Mbps
video
6Mbps
video
0.049715 0.045638 0.042681
0.048628 0.045809 0.050838 0.049232 0.046540 0.046033
0.053639 0.051253 0.057156
0.044295
50.7720697 45.764087 47.333316
1.3418724
5.086253
Color interpretation
<= 0.08% packet loss: unnoticeable in video
>0.08 – 0.5%: ghosting effect
0.5% – 1%: artificial movement/dropped frames
1% – 5%: long pauses
5%+ impossible to follow
Percentageofpacketslost

10. ✱ 5G NETWORK PROGRAMMABILITY
10 ERICSSON TECHNOLOGY REVIEW ✱ JANUARY 26, 2018
Further reading
〉〉 YouTube, Remote bus driving over 5G,
November 2016 : https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=lPyzGTD5FtM
〉〉 Ericsson Research blog, 5G teleoperated
vehicles for future public transport, June
8, 2017, Berggren, V; Fersman, E; Inam, R;
Karapantelakis, A; Mokrushin, L; Schrammar,
N; Vulgarakis, A; Wang, K : https://www.
ericsson.com/research-blog/5g/5g-teleoperated-
vehicles-future-public-transport/
〉〉 EricssonMobilityReport,June2017:
https://www.ericsson.com/assets/local/mobility-
report/documents/2017/ericsson-mobility-report-
june-2017.pdf
droprequirementsfromempiricalobservations
duringtestdriving.Wetookatotalof160
measurementsforeachexperimentandplotted
thegraphsbasedontherespectiveaveragevalue.
Measurementsfromthe5G-networktestbed
showthatresourceprioritizationcanassure
predefinedQoSlevelsformission-critical
applications,regardlessofbackgroundtraffic.
Figure4illustratesguaranteeduplinkpacketloss
foracriticalapplication,inwhichtheacceptable
packetlossoflessthanorequalto0.08percentis
unnoticeableinthevideostream.Thisistrueeven
withextremebackgroundtrafficwhenthesystemis
congested–thecriticaltrafficisstillservedwithno
performancedegradation.
However,asFigure4alsoillustrates,forthe
non-prioritizedinfotainmenttraffic(QCI9)the
packetlossincreasesheavilywiththeincrease
inthebackgroundtraffic,introducinglongpauses
andmakingteleoperationimpossibleevenfora
lowerlevelofcongestion.
Whenwemeasuredtheuplinkdelay,wefound
thatitispreserved(remainingatlessthan34ms)
forthecriticalvideotrafficevenwhenthesystem
exhibitscongestion.Forthenon-prioritizedtraffic,
thedelayreachesupto600msduringcongestion.
Thenextstepistodeveloptheconceptfora
self-serviceportalwherenetworkcustomers
couldspecifyQoSrequirementsontheirownterms;
forexample,toprioritize4Kvideotrafficfor
40busesinanurbanscenario.Thesoftwarewould
thentranslatethisspecificationintoinstructions
fornetworkresourceprioritization.
Conclusion
5Gattributessuchasnetworkslicingandlow
latencywillsoonmakemission-criticalusecases
suchassafe,autonomouspublictransportareality.
Automatednetworkresourceprioritizationviaa
programmableAPIcansupportnetworkQoSfor
diverseusecaseswithdifferentconnectivity
requirementsonthecellularnetwork.Bydeveloping
anAPIthatallowsathirdpartytorequestnetwork
resourcesandimplementingitonatestmobile
network,wehavedemonstratedhowthetechnology
worksinanurbantransport-relatedusecasewith
Scania.Theinitialresultsshowthatthroughputand
latencyaremaintainedforhigh-prioritystreams
regardlessofthenetworkload.

11. 5G NETWORK PROGRAMMABILITY ✱
11JANUARY 26, 2018 ✱ ERICSSON TECHNOLOGY REVIEW
Rafia Inam
◆ joined Ericsson Research
in 2015. She works as a
senior researcher in the
area of machine intelligence
and automation, and her
research interests include
5G management, service
modeling, virtualization
of resources, reusability
of real-time software and
ITSs. Inam received her M.S.
from Chalmers University of
Technology in Gothenburg,
Sweden, in 2010. She
received her Licentiate
and doctoral degrees from
Mälardalen University in
Västerås, Sweden in 2012
and 2014 respectively. Her
paper, “Towards automated
service-oriented lifecycle
management for 5G
networks”, won a best
paper award in 2015.
Athanasios
Karapantelakis
◆ joined Ericsson in
2007 and currently works
as a master research
engineer in the area of
machine intelligence and
automation. He holds a B.Sc.
in computer science from
the University of Crete in
Greece and an M.Sc. and
Licentiate of Engineering
in communication systems
from KTH Royal Institute of
Technology in Stockholm,
Sweden. His background is
in software engineering.
Leonid Mokrushin
◆ is a senior specialist
in the area of cognitive
technologies. His current
focus is on investigating
what technological
opportunities artificial
intelligence may bring to
Ericsson by creating and
prototyping innovative
concepts in the context
of new industrial and
telco use cases. He joined
Ericsson Research in 2007
after postgraduate studies
at Uppsala University in
Sweden. He holds an M.Sc.
in software engineering
from Peter the Great St.
Petersburg Polytechnic
University.
Elena Fersman
◆ is head of machine
intelligence and automation
at Ericsson Research and
an adjunct professor in
cyber-physical systems
at KTH Royal Institute of
Technology in Stockholm.
She holds a Ph.D. in
computer science from
Uppsala University in
Sweden and did post-
doctoral research at École
normale supérieure Paris-
Saclay, France, before
starting her industrial
career. Her current research
interests are in the areas of
modeling and analysis and of
software- and knowledge-
intensive intelligent systems
applied to 5G and IoT.
theauthors
Theauthors
wouldliketo
acknowledge
theworkof
Keven(Qi)Wang
onthisproject
duringhisstayat
Ericsson.
References
1. IEEE,InternationalConferenceonIntelligentTransportationSystems(November2016)–Feasibility
AssessmenttoRealiseVehicleTeleoperationusingCellularNetworks–RafiaInam,NicolasSchrammar,Keven
Wang,AthanasiosKarapantelakis,LeonidMokrushin,AnetaVulgarakisFeljanandElenaFersman,availableat:
http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7795920/
2. IEEE,InternationalConferenceonFutureInternetofThingsandCloud(August2016)–DevOpsforIoT
ApplicationsUsingCellularNetworksandCloud–AthanasiosKarapantelakis,HongxinLiang,KevenWang,
KonstantinosVandikas,RafiaInam,ElenaFersman,IgnacioMulas-Viela,NicolasSeyvetandVasileios
Giannokostas,availableat:http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7575883/
3. EricssonMobilityReport,ImprovingPublicTransportwith5G,November2015,availableat:https://www.
ericsson.com/res/docs/2015/mobility-report/emr-nov-2015-improving-public-transport-with-5g.pdf
4. IEEE,ConferenceonEmergingTechnologiesandFactoryAutomation(September2015)–Towardsautomated
service-orientedlifecyclemanagementfor5Gnetworks(BestPaper)–RafiaInam,AthanasiosKarapantelakis,
KonstantinosVandikas,LeonidMokrushin,AnetaVulgarakisFeljan,andElenaFersman,availableat:http://
ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7301660/

12. ✱ 5G NETWORK PROGRAMMABILITY
12 ERICSSON TECHNOLOGY REVIEW ✱ JANUARY 26, 2018
ISSN 0014-0171
284 23-3306 | Uen
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