Increasing RAN and mobile broadband service capacity, new 5G-enabled services and the dynamic deployment flexibility of the 5G RAN split architecture are just a few examples of the growing list of demands that the transport network must meet. These demands are particularly evident in the fronthaul portion of RAN, where latency and synchronization requirements are especially challenging. Overcoming the 5G transport challenge requires a level of flexibility that would be very costly without automation. Our proposed solution provides the requisite intelligence and acts as a catalyst for automation, enabling operators to meet the 5G requirements of multiple use cases while simultaneously reducing opex.

1. ERICSSON
TECHNOLOGY
C H A R T I N G T H E F U T U R E O F I N N O V A T I O N | # 9 ∙ 2 0 1 7
INTELLIGENT
TRANSPORTIN5G
Control and observability
Management and orchestration
TIF
Core
NationaRegional data center
NationalMetroAccess
High bandwidthLow latency / reliability
Low latency / reliability
Central officeHub site
Core
DU
CU
CoreCU
SWRF
GW
GW
GW
GW
GW
GW
GW
GWGW
GW
GW
GWGW
URLLC
URLLC
URLLC
eMBB
eMBB

2. 2 ERICSSON TECHNOLOGY REVIEW ✱ MARCH 21, 2018
✱ INTELLIGENT TRANSPORT IN 5G
Terms and abbreviations
BBU–basebandunit|BPF–basebandprocessingfunctions|BSC–basestationcontroller|CO–centraloffice|
CPRI–CommonPublicRadioInterface|CU–centralizedunit|DU–distributedunit|DWDM–densewavelength
divisionmultiplexing|eCPRI –evolvedCPRI |eMBB–enhancedmobilebroadband| ERAN–ElasticRAN|
GW–gateway|Obs –observability|O&M–operationsandmaintenance|ONAP–OpenNetworkAutomation
Platform |PE–provideredge(router)|QoE–qualityofexperience|RBS–radiobasestation |RESTCONF–
RepresentationalStateTransferConfiguration |RF–radiofunctions|RNC–radionetworkcontroller|RRU–remote
radiounit|RRU-BF–remoteradiounitbeamforming|RU–radiounit|SBH–selfbackhauling|SDN–software-defined
networking|SDNc–SDNcontroller|SLA–ServiceLevelAgreement|SW–switch|SW/R–switch/router|
TCO–totalcostofownership| TIF–transportintelligentfunction|URLLC–ultra-reliablelow-latencycommunication|
µW–microwave|VPN–VirtualPrivateNetwork|VRAN–virtualizedRAN
STEFAN DAHLFORT,
ANTONIO DE
GREGORIO, GIOVANNI
FIASCHI, SHAHRYAR
KHAN, JONAS ROSEN­
BERG, TOMAS THYNI
The evolution toward 5G mobile networks is driven by the diverse
requirements of a multitude of new use cases in the areas of enhanced
mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC)
and massive machine-type communications. Along with a demand for lower
costs, these drivers have led to the development of split architectures for the
RAN to support multiple deployment models. Since the transport network’s
role is to connect all the pieces of the RAN and the mobile core network,
optimal performance in 5G scenarios will require high levels of intelligence,
flexibility and automation in the transport network.
IN 5G
NETWORKS
intelligent
transport
ENABLING

3. 3MARCH 21, 2018 ✱ ERICSSON TECHNOLOGY REVIEW
INTELLIGENT TRANSPORT IN 5G ✱
At a high level, it is clear that network operators
need to continuously look into new revenue
streams, faster deployment of required
transport connectivity and new consumer
services to lower total cost of ownership
(TCO). Together with RAN and mobile core
networks, transport networks need to evolve
to provide the desired level of flexibility in
service offerings, simple and agile service
configurations, and support for new operations
models and cross-domain orchestration that
are expected in 5G.
■Newrevenuestreamsarealwaysdifficultto
predict,butgreaterautomationcanreduceopex,
particularlyifitenablesmoreintelligentinteraction
betweentheRAN,thetransportnetworkandthe
mobilecore.Networkslicesthataresupportedin
awell-coordinatedwayacrossRAN,mobilecore
andtransportnetworkswillbeabletoprovide
improvedlifecyclemanagementofservicesonan
end-to-endbasis[1].Thisisparticularlyrelevantfor
5G,butvaluablefor3Gand4Gnetworksaswell.
Thelatestdemandsonthetransportnetwork
comefromareassuchasincreasingRANandmobile
broadbandservicecapacity,new5G-enabled
services(suchasthoseintheusecasespresented
below),andthedynamicdeploymentflexibility
ofthe5GRANsplitarchitecture,withitstight
transportcharacteristics.Thesecharacteristics
areespeciallymanifestedinthefronthaulportion
ofRANtransport(inotherwords,fromtheDUto
otherDUsandtothecentralizedunit(CU)control
andpacketprocessingpartsinFigure1),wherethe
latencyandsynchronizationrequirementsarevery
challenging.Enhancedautomationcapabilitiesin
theoperationsandmanagementdomainrepresenta
keyrequirementtomeetthesechallenges.
Transportnetworksolutionfor5G:
architecturesandprotocols
5GRAN’sdeploymentflexibilityandservice
require­­mentsdemandmuchgreatercontroland
knowledgeofthetransportnetworkresourcesand
characteristicscomparedtopreviousgenerations.
Theincreasinglyflexibleanddynamicbehaviorin
ElasticandvirtualizedRANalsorequirestheability
todynamicallyaddorremovetransportconnectivity.
Thisisimportantinthemobile-centricaccess
aggregationpartofthenetworktomaintainand
improveRANperformance.Itisalsoimportantfor
userservices,wherethepositioningofthemobilecore
becomescritical,orwhenanewserviceislaunched
usingmobilecoreresourcesatadifferentsite.
Theneedforflexibilityandtheabove
requirementswillbeamajoropexdriverinthe
transportnetworkunlessitisfullyautomated.
ENHANCEDAUTO­MATION
CAPABILITIES IN THE OPERA­
TIONS AND MANAGEMENT
DOMAIN REPRESENT A KEY
REQUIREMENT

4. ✱ INTELLIGENT TRANSPORT IN 5G
4 ERICSSON TECHNOLOGY REVIEW ✱ MARCH 21, 2018
Thisisespeciallytrueinthemobile-centricpartof
thenetwork.Toovercomethischallenge,wehave
usedsoftware-definednetworking(SDN)alongwith
anintelligentapplication,thetransportintelligent
function(TIF),todesignwhatweconsidertobean
optimal5Gtransportnetworkarchitecture.
SDNisoneofseveralpossibletechnicalsolutions
toachieveahigherlevelofautomation.However
itisachieved,moreautomationwillberequired
inthenearfuture.Todaymanynetwork(RAN,
transport)operations,suchasportandtrafficflow
configurations,aredonemanually–thatis, by
meansofanetworkoperationspersoninserting
commandsorusinggraphicaluserinterfaces.
Whilethishasbeendoable(thoughnotalwaysso
efficient)inearliergenerations,theincreasedability
toconfigureandoptimizein5Gwillmakemanual
operationsinviablegoingforward.Theusecases
belowfurtherillustratethispoint.
Ouroptimal5Gtransportnetworkisbuiltas
aself-containedinfrastructureunderlaywithan
SDN-controlledoverlayforavarietyofRANand
userservices.Thedistributedcontrolplaneinthe
underlaymaintainsthebasicinfrastructureand
handlesredundancyandquickrestorationincase
ofnetworkfailures.Theserviceandcharacteristics-
awareoverlayishandledbytheSDNcontrollerwith
theTIFapplication,andthiscreatesadynamically
controlledandorchestratedtransportnetworkthat
requiresminimummanualinteraction.Inother
words,theunderlaynetworkdescribedherehandles
theinfrastructureconnectivityandthenetwork
overlayhandlestheservicesrunningontopofthe
underlay.
Theautomationfocusoftheoverlayrelatestothe
establishmentofinitialanddynamicconnectivity
andisbasedonrequestsfromtheTIF,which
isaRAN-awareapplication[2].Itisalsothe
responsibilityoftheTIFapplicationtocollectand
ensureappropriatetransportcharacteristicsfor
differentRANconnectionsaswellasuserservices.
Automationapplicationframework
Networkautomationinthecontextoftransportis
abroadareathatincludesconceptslikezero-touch
andself-optimizingnetworks,sothereisaneedto
clarifywhatexactlywemeanwhenweusetheterm.
Ericssoniskeentodefineaframeworkwithregard
toautomation.Whileourdefinitionisinlinewith
ongoingindustrialinitiatives,itcanalsoprovide
uniquebuildingblocksfromtheRANandtransport
interactionperspective[3].Definingatransport
automationframeworkisanimportantstep.
Anautomationapplicationframeworkprovidesthe
requiredflexibilityofconnectivityinthevariousRAN
deploymentscenarios.Thisframeworkdefinesthe
platformforlightweightapplicationstobedeveloped
ontop.Thefollowingkeycomponentsareused:
〉〉 cross-domaincommunicationforreal-timenotifications/
eventsandservicerequest
〉〉 networkandserviceobservabilityfunction
〉〉 performance-awaretopologymanager
〉〉 pathcomputationandoptimizationfunction
〉〉 networkandservicelogic
〉〉 interfacestocontrollayer(SDNcontroller,forexample)
andtomanagementandorchestrationsystem
〉〉 interfacetonetworkobservabilityaggregatorfunction
Itshouldbenotedthatsomeofthesecomponents
arenotexclusivelyusedbytheTIF.Whilethe
architecturaldetailsareoutsidethescopeofthis
article,itisworthmentioningthattheautomation
frameworkoutlinedherehasbeendesignedwith
theOpenNetworkAutomationPlatform(ONAP)
inmind.
Transportintelligentfunction
Whilethecontrollayerprovidesanabstractviewofthe
transportnetworkandenablesitsprogrammability,
theintelligencetodecidehowtooptimize/reconfigure
thenetworkisprovidedbytheTIF.TheTIFutilizes
thenetworkprogrammabilityfeaturesofferedbythe
THEAPPLICATIONFRAME­
­WORK INHERITS A HIGHLY
MODULAR MICROSERVICE
ARCHITECTURE

5. INTELLIGENT TRANSPORT IN 5G ✱
5MARCH 21, 2018 ✱ ERICSSON TECHNOLOGY REVIEW
Figure 1 Transport network architecture. The color coding indicates the four different domains: RAN, Transport, Mobile core, Control and observability,
and Management and orchestration. TIF represents a cross-domain function between RAN and Transport (the latter via the Transport control and
observability).
CPRI
Access
aggregation
TIF
National
backbone
Metro-
regional
aggregation
5G-SBH
eCPRI
RU DU
Switch/
router
Switch/
router
Switch/
router
Switch/
router
Switch/
router
Mobile
core
DU/
CUDU
Switch/
router
Switch/
router
Control and observability
Management and orchestration
Router
Router
Router
Router
Switch/
router
DU
VRAN
ERAN
VRAN
S1
BSC
RNC
Mobile
core
S1
Overlay
Underlay
CU
CU
S1
VRAN
ERAN
DU
BBU
RRU-BF
DWDM
DWDM
RBS
DU
S1
uW
Switch/
router
ERAN
Switch/
router
Switch/
router
Switch/
router
Router
Switch/
router
Router
Router
Router
Mobile
core
uW

6. ✱ INTELLIGENT TRANSPORT IN 5G
6 ERICSSON TECHNOLOGY REVIEW ✱ MARCH 21, 2018
controllayerandautomationapplicationframework,
andenablestheautomationandoptimizationofthe
variousrequiredinter-5G-networkconnectivitycases.
Across-domaincommunicationbusisused
toautonomouslyreceiveconnectivityrequests
fromtheRAN.TheTIFreceivestheserequests
viathisbusandprocessesthemtogetherwith
performance-awaretopologydataandapre-
configuredsetofpolicies(retrievedfrommanage­ment
andorchestrationsystems).Toensuretheoptimal
actionsaretaken,theTIFcontinuouslyrequests
insightsfromtheobservabilityfunction,which,
inturn,retrievesitsstatusandperformance
informationfromthenetworkviathecontrollayer.
ThisinformationenablestheTIFapplicationto
decide,atanytime,howbesttoautomate,optimize
andconfigurethetransportnetwork.
Onceallthedatadescribedaboveisavailable,
thepathcomputationandoptimizationfunction
processesthedataandprovidestheconfiguration
actionstobetakenbythetransportcontrollayer.
Figure1showsthecontrolarchitecture,including
thecontrollayerinterfacestothenetworkandthe
TIFinterfacestotheRANfunctionsandcontrol
layerforthetransportnetworkandservices.The
geographicalareaaTIFfunctionoperatesinwould
typicallybearoundaportionofametroarea,oreven
justafewsites.AsillustratedinFigure2,withan
Figure 2 ERAN/VRAN auto-configuration
TIF 1
1
1
2 3
2 3
4 5
4 5
5
6
6
6
Flow/
SLA
CUPE
SDNc
SW/RDU
Path Policy Corre-
lation
ERAN
VRAN
S1
1 Underlay topology discovery
2 RAN topology discovery
3 RAN connection setup request
4 Overlay service readiness
5 Overlay aware path setup
Transport
infrastructure
6 Real-time topology-aware SLA monitoring
Obs

7. INTELLIGENT TRANSPORT IN 5G ✱
7MARCH 21, 2018 ✱ ERICSSON TECHNOLOGY REVIEW
areaofthatsize,thesignalingloadontheTIFwould
notbetechnicallychallenging.
Thetransportautomationframeworkis
applicabletothreeverydistinctstagesofthelife
cyclemanagementprocess.Inauto-integration,
theframeworksupportsauto-installationof
transportnetworkinfrastructure,establishes
basicconfigurationwithO&Mconnectivityto
thecontrollerandregisterswithcontroland
managementfunctions.Inauto-configuration,the
frameworkautomaticallyconfiguresthetransport
connectivityserviceforthedesiredRANinterfaces
(suchasvirtualizedRANorVRAN),andinteracts
withtheRANfromaconnectivityrequirement
perspective.Finally,inauto-optimization,itauto­
maticallyoptimizestransportresourcesduringthe
runtimephasetoachieveoveralloptimalQoEfor
consumersandinteractswiththeRANdomainto
achieveoveralloptimization.
WhilecoordinatedRANtransportautomation
isusefulforauto-integration,itsbenefitsaremuch
moresignificantforauto-configurationandauto-
optimization,thefocusareasofthetwoTIFuse
casespresentedbelow.
Usecase1:auto-configurationinERANand
VRANscenarios
WhenElasticRAN(ERAN)isdeployed,inter-site
basebandconnectivityisneededtogivetheRAN
enoughfreedomtoarrangeradiocoordination
patterns.However,manuallysettinguptheconnec­
tivitycanbecomplex.Ononehand,multiple
pathsaredesirabletoexploitalltheresourcesof
thetransportnetwork,distributethetrafficload
andreducetheprobabilityofpacketcollisions
andconsequentdelays,whichwoulddramatically
reducetheadvantagesoftheERANfeatureitself.
Ontheotherhand,unlessveryspecificlatency
constraintsarerespected,theconnectivitywillbe
unusablefortheapplication.Finally,tominimizethe
collisionprobabilityonthewholenetwork,thetraffic
distributionshouldbegloballyoptimized.
InVRANdeployments(alsoknownassplit
architecture[4]),theconnectivityaccuracyisnotas
criticalasinERAN.Thecomplexityinthesecases
isduetothelargerscaleandpossiblyheterogeneous
natureofthenetwork.Portionsoftheunderlay
networkmaybeself-builtbytheoperatorandmay
consistofthird-partyequipmentandtechnology.
Thedatacenterarchitecturalelementsmustalso
beorchestratedintheVRAN,whichaddsfurther
complexity.Therequiredconnectivitybetweenthe
basebandfunctionsinhubsitesandthevirtualized
functionsincentraloffices(COs)andaggregation
sitesismany-to-many,andadaptivetransportis
neededtoensureresilience,continuoustraffic
optimizationandreconfigurationaftertheaddition
andremovalofthepacketprocessingfunction.
InbothERANandVRAN,constantmonitoring
ofthetransportnetworkstatus(todetecttemporary
partialoutage,forexample)isalsorequiredto
beforwardedtotheRANdomaintoallowfor
consequentactions.
Figure2illustratestheoperationsequence,and
oneaspectworthhighlightingisthecommuni­
cationbetweentheRANandtransportthattakes
placethroughtheTIF.Thiscommunication
includesthespecificationofRANflowsetup
requirementstothetransportnetworkina
dynamicfashion.TheTIFisresponsiblefortaking
thesespecificrequirementsandtranslatingthem
intocomputationofrequisitetransportpaths
andoptimaldistributionofRANflowsacross
thesepathstoensurethedesiredServiceLevel
Agreement(SLA)requirements.
Figure2showsthesixmainTIFoperationsin
relationtotheothercomponentsofthenetwork:
(1)underlaytopologydiscovery,(2)RANtopology
discovery,(3)RANconnectionsetuprequest,
(4)overlayservicereadiness,(5)overlayaware
pathsetupand(6)real-timetopology-awareSLA
monitoring.Theauto-configurationprocessfor
THE AUTO-
CONFIGURATIONPROCESS
FOR ERAN AND VRAN
SCENARIOS REQUIRES
COMPLETEAUTOMATION

8. ✱ INTELLIGENT TRANSPORT IN 5G
8 ERICSSON TECHNOLOGY REVIEW ✱ MARCH 21, 2018
ERANandVRANscenariosrequirescomplete
automationofthewholesequence.
Duringunderlaytopologydiscovery(1),the
TIFacquiresthetransportnetworkunderlay
topologyfromtheSDNcontrollerviaastandard
RESTCONFinterface.InRANtopologydiscovery
(2),theTIFacquirestheRANtopologydirectlyfrom
theRAN.Itthenintegratesitwiththetransport
topologytobuildtheentirenetworktopology
view.DuringRANconnectionsetuprequest(3),
RANsendsconnectivityrequeststotheTIFwhen
needed,includingendpointinformationalongwith
constraintssuchasmaximumallowedlatencyand
expectedbandwidthusage.
Duringoverlayservicereadiness(4),theTIF
triggerstheprocessoftheoverlayservicesetup
basedontheconnectivitysetuprequest.This
includestheVPNserviceconfigurationparameters
andthepoliciesrequiredtobeconfiguredtomatch
RANflowstothedesiredtransportpaths,whichare
configuredaspartofthenextstep.
Duringoverlayawarepathsetup(5),theTIF
computesallpossiblepathsaccordingtotheoverlay
servicerequirementsandthenrequeststheSDN
controllertoprovidethedesiredpathsonthe
transportedgenodes.Oneimportantconsideration
inthecaseofERANistheneedforoptimalload-
balancingonRANflowsonallfeasibletransport
paths.Theideaistoensuretheoptimalusageof
allavailabletransportresourcestoaccommodate
theinherentlyburstytraffic.Thisrequiresthe
implementationofacustomizedload-balancing
algorithmintheTIF,asitisresponsibleforhandling
theoverlayservicepart.
Duringreal-timetopology-awareSLAmonitoring
(6),themonitoringsystemscontinuouslysupervise
boththeoverlayRANflowsandtheunderlying
transportnetworkandupdatetheTIFincaseof
anychanges.Thisisnecessarybecauseenhanced
observationlevelsarekeytoprovidingadesired
SLAfortheRANflows.
Thisauto-configurationprocessforERANand
VRANscenariosisdesignedtoenablecomplex
andlarge-scaledeploymentsinanagilemanner,
simplifyingoperationssignificantlyandreducing
TCOfortheoperator.
Aspreviouslymentioned,theTIFprovidesthe
mappingandcorrelationbetweentheVRANor
ERANtrafficflowsandtheunderlaytransport.Such
anenhancedlevelofobservabilityintotheusageof
varioustransportresourcesandoverlayservices
canbeusedtoprovidemuchmoreadvancedservice
levelguarantees.Forexample,congestionina
certainpartofthetransportnetworkwouldresult
indetectionofallimpactedoverlayservices.This
couldthentriggeroptimizationofvarioustransport
resourcestoprotectSLAsfortheimpactedoverlay
services.TheprocessofdetectingSLAviolationand
doingacorrelationandanimpactanalysismakes
anexcellentcaseforatypeofautomationcalled
auto-optimization.Thisisanaturalnextsteptothe
auto-integrationandauto-configurationprocesses.
Usecase2:auto-optimization
Figure3illustratesanexampleofend-to-endauto-
optimization.Inthisscenario,ifcongestionis
detectedinthetransportpathtotheCOthatserves
theURLLCservices,thetransportpathandthe
RANandcorefunctionscanbemovedtoanotherCO
thatprovidesthesamelevelofreliabilityandlatency
constraints.ThisisonlypossiblebecausetheTIF
candetectthecongestioninthetransportnetwork,
identifytheimpactedURLLCflowsandtakethe
necessarycorrectiveactioninconjunctionwith
otherdomainssuchastheRANandcore.Thiskind
offlexibility,agilityandcross-domainorchestration
inanautomatedfashionisthekeytoofferinghighly
demandingnew5GservicessuchasURLLC.
Meanwhile,concurrentlyexistingservicessuch
aseMBBmustnotbeadverselyimpactedbythis
flexibility.Inotherwords,asingletransportnetwork
mustbeabletosupportanextremelydiversesetof
CONGESTIONINACERTAIN
PARTOFTHETRANSPORT
NETWORKWOULDRESULTIN
DETECTIONOFALLIMPACTED
OVERLAYSERVICES

9. INTELLIGENT TRANSPORT IN 5G ✱
9MARCH 21, 2018 ✱ ERICSSON TECHNOLOGY REVIEW
Figure 3 Example of end-to-end auto-optimization
Control and observability
Management and orchestration
TIF
Core
Core
National data centerRegional data center
NationalMetroAccess
High bandwidthLow latency / reliability
Low latency / reliability
Central officeHub site
Core
DU
CU
CoreCU
SWRF
GW
GW
GW
GW
GW
GW
GW
GWGW
GW
GW
GWGW
URLLC
URLLC
URLLC
eMBB
eMBB
eMBB

10. ✱ INTELLIGENT TRANSPORT IN 5G
10 ERICSSON TECHNOLOGY REVIEW ✱ MARCH 21, 2018
1. Ericsson Technology Review, February 2016, A vision of the 5G core: flexibility for new business
opportunities, available at:https://www.ericsson.com/en/ericsson-technology-review/archive/2016/a-vision-of-
the-5g-core-flexibility-for-new-business-opportunities
2. Ericsson Review, July 2015, Radio access and transport network interaction – a concept for improving
QoE and resource utilization, available at:https://www.ericsson.com/en/news/2015/7/radio-access-and-
transport-network-interaction--a-concept-for-improving-qoe-and-resource-utilization
3. EricssonTechnologyReview,December2016,Fixedwirelessaccessonamassivescalewith5G,availableat:
https://www.ericsson.com/en/ericsson-technology-review/archive/2016/fixed-wireless-access-on-a-massive-
scale-with-5g
4. Ericsson Technology Review, July 2016, 4G/5G RAN architecture: how a split can make the difference,
available at:https://www.ericsson.com/en/ericsson-technology-review/archive/2016/4g5g-ran-architecture-
how-a-split-can-make-the-difference
References
Further reading
〉〉 https://www.ericsson.com/en/networks/trending/hot-topics
〉〉 https://www.ericsson.com/en/networks/offerings/network-intelligence-and-automation
services.TheTIFplaysanimportantroleinproviding
thecapabilitytotracktheSLAsofalltheoverlay
services.Furthermore,withtheTIFinplace,runtime
impactanalysisofchangesintheunderlaynetwork
characteristicslikebandwidth,latencyorpacketloss
iscarriedoutinconjunctionwiththeoverlaySLA
requirements,andthenecessarycorrectiveactionis
taken.Onesuchexampleofcorrectiveactionmight
bedynamicallymovingtheflowsofanoverlayservice
toanalternatepathcomputedwithminimalorno
impactontheotheroverlayservices.
Globalorchestrationandoptimizationofall
networklevelresourcesisanotherimportant
considerationintheauto-optimizationprocess.We
arecurrentlystudyingthisaspect,aswebelieveit
willtakenetworkautomationtoawholenewlevel.
Domain-specificintelligentfunctionssuchasTIF
fortransportaresettoplayacriticalroleinthe
globaland/orcross-domainoptimizationowing
tothelevelofvisibilityandinherentinter-domain
communicationcapabilities.
Conclusion
Thetransportnetworktendstogetlessattention
thanRANandmobilecorenetworksindiscussions
about5G,butasthevitallinkbetweenallthe
pieces,ittoorequiressignificantenhancementto
supportthediversesetofservicesanddeployment
modelsexpectedin5G.Intelligent,automated
coordinationbetweenRAN,transportandmobile
corenetworkswillundoubtedlybeakeypartofa
robust5Gsolution,becausewithoutautomationit
willnotbepossibletoachievetherequiredlevels
offlexibilityandobservability.TheTIFsolution
providestherequisiteintelligenceandactsasa
catalystforautomation,enablingoperatorstomeet
the5Grequirementsofmultipleusecaseswhile
simultaneouslyreducingopex.

11. INTELLIGENT TRANSPORT IN 5G ✱
11MARCH 21, 2018 ✱ ERICSSON TECHNOLOGY REVIEW
StefanDahlfort
◆ has worked in the tele­
com industry for 22 years.
He founded a start-up
before joining Ericsson in
2007 as a manager for fiber
to the x research. Having
held different management
positions in Research and
Systems & Technology in
the transport area, he is
now based in Santa Clara in
Silicon Valley as a product
development leader. He
holds an M.Sc.in electrical
engineering and a Ph.D. in
optical networking from KTH
Royal Institute of Technology
in Stockholm, Sweden.
Antonio De Gregorio
◆ has23yearsofexperience
in the telecom industry.
He joined Ericsson in
1997, initially working
in the Operations and
Maintenance area. Since
thenhehasbeenresponsible
for the strategy and
technology units of different
product development
organizations in Europe
and in Silicon Valley in the
US. He currently heads the
Technical Management
organization in Genoa, Italy
within Development Unit
Network Management. He
holds an M.Sc. in electronic
engineering from the
University of Salerno, Italy.
Giovanni Fiaschi
◆ joinedthecompany
in2005whenMarconi,
hisemployersince1990,
wasacquiredbyEricsson.
Hehasbeenworkingin
telecommunicationsformore
than25years,specializing
mostlyincontrolfunctions
fortransportnetworks.
Fiaschicurrentlyworksat
DevelopmentUnitNetworks,
SystemsandTechnology,
focusingonmobiletransport
networksimulationsand
controlsolutions.Heisalso
activeintheIPRandsecurity
areas.HeholdsanM.Sc.in
computersciencefromthe
UniversityofPisa,Italy.
Shahryar Khan
◆ has nearly two decades of
experience in architecture
design and integration
for multiservice IP and
transport networks for
telecom operators and
large enterprises. Khan held
several roles within Ericsson
during the period 2005-2017,
most recently serving as an
expert and chief architect in
multiserviceIPandtransport
networksinDevelopment
UnitNetworks in Kista,
Sweden. He holds a B.Sc.
in electrical engine­ering
from the University of
Engineering and Technology
in Lahore, Pakistan.
Jonas Rosenberg
◆ is a senior specialist
in network architecture
and solutions whose
main area of expertise is
within technologies and
theauthors
software for cross-domain
automation and assurance
solutions in mobile networks.
He works as a leader
for the mobile transport
technology area and is
responsible for Transport
O&M within Development
Unit Networks. Rosenberg
joined Ericsson in 2000 and
holds an M.Sc. in electrical
engineering from KTH Royal
Institute of Technology in
Stockholm, Sweden.
Tomas Thyni
◆ is an expert in the area of
IP and transport networks.
A telecommunication
and network engineer, he
joined Ericsson in 2000
and has worked within the
IP, broadband and optical
networks areas. Today, Thyni
works as a chief architect on
new concepts for transport
in RAN at Development Unit
Networks; one such concept
area is RAN and transport
interaction. Prior to joining
Ericsson, he accumulated
15 years of experience as an
IP and transport network
designer with various
network operators.

12. ✱ INTELLIGENT TRANSPORT IN 5G
12 ERICSSON TECHNOLOGY REVIEW ✱ MARCH 21, 2018
ISSN 0014-0171
284 23-3307 | Uen
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