Nokia is leading a new research project aiming to bring 5G mobile network architecture from concept to the real world.
The European 5G-MoNArch research project was launched this week as part of Phase II of the 5G Infrastructure Public Private Partnership (5G-PPP) initiative under the European Union's Horizon 2020 Framework Program.
The consortium will consist of 14 mobile network players from six European countries and be co-ordinated by Nokia. The €7.7 million ($9.1 million) project will run for two years.
The specific focus of the project will be using network slicing to support a variety of use cases in vertical industries such as automotive, healthcare, and media.
Network slicing involves sectorizing a network based on logical not physical criteria, so that individual services are supported by each separately managed logical network.
Key objectives will be developing a detailed specification and extension of 5G architecture, enhancing architectural designs for future network architecture and developing functional innovations around the key technologies required for dedicated 5G use cases.
"5G PPP brings together a range of stakeholders from the communications technology sector and other industries,” Nokia Bell Labs head of end-to-end mobile network solutions Peter Merz said.
“We follow a shared architecture of what the next-generation communications infrastructure needs to look like to enable and meet the network demands of the next decade.”
Nokia also co-ordinated Phase I of the 5G-PPP initiative 5G-NORMA, which set the conceptual basis for 5G communications networks. The 5G-MoNArch project aims to build on the groundwork laid by Phase I.