As the rollout of 4G mobile communication networks takes place, representatives of industry and academia have started to look into the technological developments toward the next generation (5G). Several research projects involving key international mobile network operators, infrastructure manufacturers, and academic institutions, have been launched recently to set the technological foundations of 5G. However, the architecture of future 5G systems, their performance, and mobile services to be provided have not been clearly defined. In this paper, we put forth the vision for 5G as the convergence of evolved versions of current cellular networks with other complementary radio access technologies. Therefore, 5G may not be a single radio access interface but rather a “network of networks”. Evidently, the seamless integration of a variety of air interfaces, protocols, and frequency bands, requires paradigm shifts in the way networks cooperate and complement each other to deliver data rates of several Gigabits per second with end-to-end latency of a few milliseconds. We provide an overview of the key radio technologies that will play a key role in the realization of this vision for the next generation of mobile communication networks. We also introduce some of the research challenges that need to be addressed.
This paper presents the results of the joint Intel/ Nimbus Low Power-Wide Area (LPWA) technology PoC deployment in smart cities context. The PoC deployment addresses the problem of river Liffey monitoring in Dublin city center. We deployed a buoy on the Liffey river in Dublin for duration of 8 months. The deployed buoy embeds many sensors inside the hull enclosure and outside. The data captured is, from the water: depth, temperature and velocity; from inside the hull: temperature, humidity and barometric pressure; from the GPS unit: location and timestamp; and from the system: battery voltage. The buoy also embeds a LoRa-based LPWA transceiver and a 3G modem for backup. The paper gives an insight of the results obtained in terms of range and data consistency and gives conclusions on the use of LPWA technologies in the context of smart cities.
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