Demonstration of Multi-Access 6G Networks With User Mobility Considerations

This paper demonstrates the development of a multi-technology Radio Access Network integrating 3GPP and non-3GPP technologies to support a diverse set of mobile User Equipments (UEs). UEs with various mobility patterns are attached to the network requesting the establishment of end-to-end (E2E) slices with the Data Network (DN). In case where UEs are attached to the 3GPP access network, the corresponding slices are established over paths formed by interconnecting the gNB, User Plane Function and DN nodes. However, in case where UEs select a non-3GPP network, their connectivity with the DN is achieved through the Non3GPP Interworking Function, that ensures secure communication and facilitates smooth integration with the overall network architecture. To solve the optimal network selection problem, a resource allocation policy is proposed that tries to jointly minimize the blocking and dropping rates for slow and fast, respectively, moving UEs. The overall process is theoretically evaluated using a two-dimensional Markov Chain. Finally, a cloud-based 5G testbed has been used to validate the performance of the whole system providing insights into E2E performance and resource consumption.