Service-tailored User-Plane Design Framework and Architecture Considerations in 5G Radio Access Networks

This paper presents a novel user plane framework, tailored for different 5G services with diverse and conflicting key performance requirements (KPIs). Subsequently, the paper discusses how various user plane design decisions related to the functional split options, multi-connectivity aspects, control / user plane split options and network slicing can potentially impact the overall 5G architecture. Finally, one key aspect of the user-plane design is the RAN/Core Network (CN) interface considerations and the interactions with CN given different protocols and QoS models.