Automated service delivery platform for C-RANs

Abstract

Cloud computing is gaining significant attention and virtualized data-centers are becoming popular as cost-effective infrastructure. Recently, there has been a trend to collocate the baseband unit (BBU) functionalities and services from multiple cellular base stations into centralized BBU pool for statistical multiplexing gain. The technology is known as Cloud Radio Access Network (C-RAN). C-RAN is a novel mobile network architecture that can address a number of challenges the mobile operators face while trying to support growing end users' needs. The idea is to virtualize BBU pools, which can be shared by different cellular network operators, allowing them to rent radio access network (RAN) as a cloud service. However, manual configuration of the BBU services over the virtualized infrastructure may be inefficient and error-prone with the increasing mobile traffic. In this work, we propose development of a novel automated service deployment platform, which will help to automate the instantiation of virtual machines at the central clouds as per user demands vary and achieve end-to-end automation in service delivery for C-RANs.