3GPP Work Item description

This page contains informal descriptive text only.  See master WID page for further details.

Feature: Network Composition

In the last couple of years an increasing number of heterogeneous network types have come to the focus of attention, e.g. heterogeneous access systems (otherwise known as multi-access), PANs, PNs, moving networks etc. This trend is expected to continue. Different scenarios have been studied in the All-IP Network (AIPN) Feasibility Study in TR 22.978, which lists "network extensibility/composition " as a key aspect of AIPN. The integration of PANs and Personal Networks will be completed earlier as specified in the Personal Network Management (PNM) work item. Related Technical Specification work is ongoing within the AIPN Stage 1 in TS 22.258 and Personal Network Management Stage 1 in TS 22.259. It would be desirable for 3GPP networks to be able to integrate many of these heterogeneous network types, or to interwork with them, in an efficient manner that for operators is easy to manage and control.

This new study item proposes to build on the work on AIPN and to study the concept of heterogeneous network/system integration and interworking in more detail. This “Network Composition” includes integration of networks with different administrative domains, and the dynamic and flexible integration of ad-hoc networks, PANs, sensor networks etc. The goal is to explore a uniform composition procedure independent of what kind of network is "composed" with the 3GPP system. Complementing the AIPN work a concrete dynamic “plug&play” and flexible composition procedure shall be studied.

Objective: 

The proposal is to explore the feasibility of a uniform procedure for the integration of, and the interworking with, a large variety of heterogeneous network types. It focuses on ad-hoc networks, PANs, moving networks etc., but also includes access systems. The goal being to avoid the need for defining a new procedure for integration / interworking with each newly emerging network type and to explore the feasibility of making the composition procedure dynamic and to minimize human intervention ("plug and play").
This uniform procedure is called network composition. 

Of course, the high security (authentication, authorization) standards of 3GPP must thereby be maintained. Finally, it is desirable for the composition procedure to be flexible regarding what functionality is assumed in the composing network.  

It is intended to write a Feasibility Study covering the following aspects:

    §        Description of purpose and benefits of composition

    §        Develop composition use cases highlighting uniformity, dynamicity, security, manageability, scalability, flexibility, as well as business aspects

    §        Study potential composition requirements

    §        Define traits and/or implications of introducing this functionality into the 3GPP system, covering subjects such as management, multi-link radio access, mobility, context & policy awareness, security, and media transcoding & adaptation capabilities.

    §        Description of composition process

    §        Description of relations to other functionalities of the evolving 3GPP architecture (e.g. AIPN, PNM), if such can be identified

Service aspects include, but are not limited to:

    §        Uniform handling for network composition (Identical handling of e.g. PANs, Moving Networks,  heterogeneous access systems,...)

    §        Flexible control delegation (i.e. flexibility regarding what functionality is assumed in the composing network, such that e.g. a particular control feature  can be executed in the 3GPP system or in the other network.

    §        Support of plug and play composition.