For mobile operators and networks the challenge in the coming years will be to offer high bitrate data services to mobile customers. At the same time future mobile architectures are being standardized to offer mobility between heterogeneous access technologies. These architectures are primarily centralized that can lead to scalability issues. The study proposes to provide a new architecture that integrates scalability requirements with the reduction of the number of network nodes to one node which is the base station, by the distribution of traditional user and control plane functions in this node. This new ultra flat architecture must optimize service establishment and mobility procedures in a fixed mobile convergence environment.

What are the main objectives of this Project?

The main objectives of the study is to exchange views between operators concerning 3GPP architectures' limitations and to evaluate the interest in an ultra flat architecture.

More specifically

• Evaluate the limitations regarding scalability, and also from time to market point of view of 3GPP (and 3GPP2) architectures using anchor based mobility;

• Define an ultra flat architecture;

• Assess the advantages (e.g. cost efficiency) of adopting an ultra flat architecture;

• Provide a list of requirements for such an ultra flat architecture.