Architecture Harmonization Between Cloud Radio Access Networks and Fog Networks

To guarantee the ubiquitous and fully autonomous Internet connections in our daily life, the new technical challenges of mobile communications lie on the efficient utilization of resource and social information. To facilitate the innovation of the fifth generation (5G) networks, the cloud radio access network (RAN) and fog network have been proposed to respond newly emerging traffic demands. The cloud RAN functions more toward centralized resource management to achieve optimal transmissions. The fog network takes advantage of social information and edge computing to efficiently alleviate the end-to end latency. In this paper, we conduct a comprehensive survey of these two network structures, and then investigate possible harmonization to integrate both for the diverse needs of 5G mobile communications. We analytically study the harmonization of cloud RAN and fog network from various points of view, including the cache of Internet contents, mobility management, and radio access control. The performance of transition between the cloud RAN and the fog network has been presented and the subsequent switching strategy has been proposed to ensure engineering flexibility and success.