5G intends to enable multi-Gbps peak data rates, ultra-low latency, high reliability, enhanced capacity and a more consistent user experience for a large number of users. All these features will allow to execute and validate the use cases proposed in 5GMED in both small-scale and large-scale testbeds. As a result, the 5G infrastructure represents a crucial component for the whole 5GMED architecture and consists of the following building blocks: 

• 5G RAN: The Radio Access Network (RAN) provides wireless access to the mobile terminals. 5GMED will feature radio equipment supplied by different vendors, consisting of cutting-edge 5G NR massive MIMO gNBs capable of delivering data rates up to 1 Gbps. Moreover, the capability of meeting a wide range of QoS requirement will be supported thanks to the introduction of RAN slicing, a novel solution to assign resources to users based on their QoS profile.  

• 5GC: Together with the RAN, the core network (5GC) enables the end-to-end connectivity between a terminal and a remote service. 5GMED will employ a cloud-native 5GC standalone (SA) allowing to rapidly scale the resources up and down based on the service demand and requirements. The 5GC SA will also ensure low-latency communications and will enable edge computation by moving specific network function to the edge of the network. Furthermore, 5GMED will validate fast cross-border roaming by relying on advanced intercommunication between two core networks and on the local break-out approach, which will ensure extremely low-latency delivery of traffic generated by a user visiting a different country.   

• MEC: Multi-access edge computing (MEC) is a key enabler of the use cases introduced in 5GMED. Thanks to a novel 5GC feature, the 5G data can be processed next to the users, thus avoiding to be transferred to remote data centres. This is a fundamental requirement for the 5GMED Follow-Me concept, where a video streaming service will be moved across different edge nodes as the user travels along the corridor.   

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