A Journey Towards a Converged 5G Architecture & Beyond

Mobile network architectures and standards have evolved over a period of time. However, to improve the average revenue per user (ARPU), an efficient and simplified network architecture is needed. Network designers and operators are working towards an optimized network architecture and a simplified 5G deployment framework. In this paper, we present our approach towards the logical evolution of the next-generation 5G network from the perspective of access, core networks, and data analytics convergence for effective traffic steering and moving towards enterprise-focused private 5G deployment models. As a step forward, we propose novel mechanism on how a user can switch between different types of access technologies (Wi-Fi, LoRA-WAN, 5G, SatCom, etc.) and how convergence of analytics can help achieve end-to-end use case optimization.