Cloud-RAN in Support of URLLC

Flexible network architecture is envisioned as one of the properties of the next generation mobile networks, and is also foreseen to significantly contribute to lowering latency, and addressing Ultra-Reliable Low Latency Communications (URLLC). In this paper, we study the flexibility in Radio Access Network (RAN) configuration in terms of splitting the radio and baseband functionalities between central cloud and distributed entities, and the impact of this flexibility on delivery of URLLC. Three different functionality splits have been implemented in cloud- RAN, and the impact of each of these splits on communication latency and jitter is examined. We modeled traffic based on the 3GPP traffic models and, for completeness, in addition to URLLC, the two cases of massive machine-type communications (mMTC) and enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) models are also implemented. Hence, thorough analyses are performed and recommendation for split point between central cloud and distributed radio units are discussed.