INT5GENT - Athens Use Case

PPDR day-to-day operations require on-demand but scheduled provisioning of network coverage and the enablement of mission-critical services even in areas lacking public network coverage. Int5Gent proposes a solution of ad-hoc automatic deployment of 5G access network segments -namely the gNB and the MEC - dedicated to the PPDR sector at a compact server (an edge box as portable IaaS) as an extension of the public network. The solution also includes the deployment/ configuration of the necessary transport network resources based on a resilient mm-Wave mesh transport network. On top of this, quick and automated deployment of reliable PPDR services in this case being drone-based real-time video streaming services using cloud native principles and AI-based edge processing.
Secondly, in case of PPDR disaster situations when we can have total or partial unavailability of the public core network, PPDR require a resilient solution for all network segments. Int5Gent solution proposes an ad-hoc automatic deployment of a complete 5G-assured PPDR network, including the gNB, MEC and 5GC segments dedicated to the PPDR sector at a compact server (edge box) – in the form of a Non-Public-Network (NPN in 5G terminology). On top of this, as in the previous case, quick and automated deployment of reliable PPDR services in this case being drone-based real-time video streaming services using cloud native principles and AI-based edge processing.
To facilitate the demonstration of the above scenarios over the Athens Int5Gent demo zone, key technological blocks with enhanced physical layer KPIs will be deployed to support the needs of the infrastructure. Specifically, high-throughput analogue fibre-wireless IFoF/D-band connections will be deployed for supporting up to 3Gbps connectivity in both indoor and outdoor environments. The tight synchronisation requirements of RU/DU connections will be provided by SD-RoF cards and SD-RoF-compatible RRU nodes that will be deployed across fronthaul the physical infrastructure of the access domain. Wavelength reconfiguration and passive optical switching functionalities will also be available in the fronthaul transport domain to multiplex fronthaul streams assigned for each transport scenario.
For the delivery of these PPDR Use Case storylines (scenarios), Int5Gent proposes a solution comprising the following layers and technologies. 
At the Infrastructure layer:
- (Virtualized RAN infrastructure) A 5G RRU and CPRI-based BBU capable of providing NR in SA mode, operating at N78 (TDD). 
- Multiple RRUs and a BBU with SD-RoF-based fronthaul interfaces, between which an AWGR node is placed/used to allow analogue wavelength switching, thus switching connectivity between RRUs with the BBU.
- D-band RRUs and FPGA cards implementing converged analogue RoF/wireless interfaces for outdoor scenarios.
- FPGA-based edge analogue RoF card interconnecting the analogue baseband processor with the standard CPRI processing cards.
- (Portable IaaS infrastructure) A portable NFVI prepared to be deployed at the network edge (edge box) at the Hardware level, including a Commercial Off-The-Shelf server (x86 architecture extendable with CPRI signal processing cards).
- A portable NFVI prepared to be deployed at the network edge on MLNX/NVIDIA server and smart NICs over which various virtualisation frameworks can be deployed, such as OpenStack and Kubernetes.
- (Transport infrastructure) A number of mmWave mesh nodes supporting point-to-multipoint (P-to-MP) and multipoint-to-multipoint (MP-to-MP) backhaul connectivity provided by SIKLU.
- (Operator IaaS Infrastructure) A telco-grade NFVI infrastructure (OpenStack based) over which a Kubernetes cluster could be deployed. 
At 3GPPP Network layer:
- A Containerized network and radio components provided by ININ in the form of CNFs, namely: gNB prepared as vBBU extended with CPRI-based 5G RRU, 5G Core Network prepared as a single CNF that is integrating 3GPP Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), Session Management Function (SMF), User Plane Function (UPF) and Authentication Server Function (AUSF). ININ’s PPDR ONE (The Public Protection and Disaster Relief facility for Outdoor and Indoor 5G Experiments) Portable Node will be used as a baseline solution (a compact 4G/5G-enabled mobile system for the PPDR; exposing 3GPP interfaces N1, N2, N3 and N6), which will be extended with the Int5Gent network and services orchestration framework to support highly reliable and fully automated 5G network slicing and mission-critical services deployment and its life cycle management.
- A commercial vendor 5G core network (provided by COSM), including the following 3GPP Control Plane Network Functions: Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), Session Management Function (SMF), Authentication Server Function (AUSF), User Data Management (UDM) Function while exposing the necessary 3GPP interfaces: N1, N2, N3, N4 and N6. 5GC will be deployed on a Core Platform as a Service environment 
At the Network Orchestration layer:
A number of SDN controllers (provided by separate technology providers) and a number of Network Orchestration functionalities providing the following functionalities/ capabilities:
- mmWave backhaul transport network management and control
- Kubernetes container orchestration controller.
- CNFs and VNFs Lifecycle Management, including deployment at Portable and Operator NFVI
o Radio Network Slice components (vBBU) orchestration at the Portable NFVI (Edge)
o 5G Core Network Slice components (v5GC) orchestration at the Portable NFVI (Edge)
- Exchange of information with Portable and Operator NFVI for:
o Application’s quota arbitration and reservation
o Application’s quota management
- 5G Network Slices’ modelling
- Application’s high-level requirements mapping into 5QI
- E2E Network Slice composition and orchestration
At the Application Orchestration layer:
An application orchestrator (provided by UBI) (ORC-02 in Figure 3-1)) that is compatible with state-of-the-art cloud orchestrators (k8s or OpenStack) undertaking the application lifecycle management, including:
- UI-based application onboarding
- UI-based application policy definition
- Automated Application graph composition
- Application components’ lifecycle management, orchestration, scaling
- Data analytics and monitoring dashboard
In the context of this Use Case and to verify the onboarding, deployment, and scaling capabilities of Int5Gent VAO and NO orchestrators, drone-based real-time video streaming services are deployed with processing capabilities at the edge and remote visualisation of processed outcomes and extracted results at end-user devices. The deployment of application components follows a cloud-native approach that is enforced through specific policy rules. The application also considers the deployment of AI-based edge processing functions for advanced services. The use case will apply for showcasing real-time video streaming from a drone over a 5G SA radio network provisioned at the edge site by Portable NFVI. Using Portable NFVI capabilities of the edge nodes, application components will be deployed and orchestrated by VAO to support:
1. live transcoding to various formats and resolutions depending on user type (e.g., field unit, dashboard/tactical command, AI),
2. video source to leverage AI capabilities,
3. edge AI leveraging edge box GPU core AI/ML (learning/inference).