Virtual RATs and a flexible and tailored radio access network evolving to 5G

This article first analyzes the requirements and challenges in the future 5G mobile wireless network. Then the authors describe a new method for radio access technologies called virtual RATs. The proposed scheme can provide a flexible and tailored access network that can meet the requirements and overcome the challenges in mobile broadband networks. The authors also present a high level design of the overall architecture and protocol stack for virtual RATs. Two concepts, virtual RAT Types and interface sets, are introduced. Two essential features, flexible control/user (C/U) plane separation and coordination between virtual RATs, are also discussed. Examples are provided to show how to achieve a flexible and tailored access network for services by using virtual RATs. Finally, the capability of hardware to support implementation of virtual RATs is analyzed.