Some lessons learnt

Commercial equipment not fully compliant with 3GPP Release features

  • Most smartphones do not support “testing” (non-commercial) PLMN IDs
  • Limited numbers of UEs support slicing. Those supporting can only be active with 1 slice
  • 5G RAN slicing is still not supported by some RAN vendors (e.g., Sunwave)
  • Handover between gNodeBs of different RAN vendors fails due to incompatibility issues

Roaming mechanisms/optimizations not implemented in most 5G Cores (commercial, open-source)

  • Need to align project timeline and 5G Core manufacturers roadmap (N14 interface, LBO roaming)

Deployment of orchestrated (dynamic) network slicing on the RAN side is still far from being realistic.

  • Commercial RAN equipment allows communication with an orchestrator through OSS, but it is expensive, or it is not possible due to cybersecurity issues
  • Most O-RAN equipment that allows direct communication with orchestrators is still unstable.

Irregular orography in corridors requires complex transport networks (multi-hop microwave links)