DY-RUM: Dynamic Resource Allocation for Converged Unicast and Multicast Transmission in 5G

With the proliferation of cellular networks, there has been an unprecedented surge in multimedia mobile data traffic. Managing this massive data traffic has become increasingly intricate due to limited resource availability. To address this limitation and for improved resource utilization in cellular networks, multicast transmission is considered a promising technology due to its capability to serve multiple users via shared radio resources. However, as we show in this article, a blanket switching from unicast to multicast transmission without consideration to the channel condition of users may not achieve the most efficient result. In order to achieve an efficient resource utilization in cellular networks, we propose a DYnamic Resource allocation scheme for converged Unicast and Multicast (DY-RUM) transmissions considering the channel condition of users. The scheme has been proposed in the context of the Fifth Generation (5G) mobile communication system. To implement this scheme, we use the Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) architecture for the 5G system, which provides a suitable setting for the scheme. We also present simulation results affirming the effectiveness of the proposed scheme in improving resource utilization for converged unicast-multicast transmissions in 5G.