Fraunhofer FOKUS
5G+ Nomadic Node
To extend a network capacity to a specific location, one of the most attractive use cases is to make the network portable or mobile, enabling private local communication as well as efficient backhauling to a central location or to edge nodes.
- A portable network can be installed and configured at the specific use case location in a matter of minutes and remain in use for a specific duration of time of the use case (such as for fairs or for construction sites).
- A mobile network has to be installed in a mobile vehicle and can follow the specific mobile communication needs at their location (such as public parades, public health or emergency networks);
The nomadic 5G edge network is designed to test the feasibility of such a solution for 5G networks:
- Spectrum usage around the nomadic edge node (licensed and unlicensed)
- Connectivity of the devices to the local network – connecting the devices to the locally deployed network, including automatic configuration
- Power management – especially the mobile edge network has to function with the spare power from the vehicle
- Local offloading of the communication – providing support for private local communication
- Backhaul selection between satellite and available terrestrial operators – enabling efficient communication with the central locations and the Internet for data, for control plane as well as for the management of the edge network
- Communication over unreliable wireless backhaul – especially for the mobile network, the backhaul connectivity quality is varying while mobile.
The Nomadic 5G Edge Network was specifically designed to be able to showcase the different use cases at the use case location when needed and according to the use case requirements.