Critical communications over mobile operators' networks: 5G use cases enabled by licensed spectrum sharing, network slicing and QoS control

Commercial mobile operators’ networks will be used for public safety communications due to demand for wireless broadband services, new applications, and smart devices. Existing dedicated professional mobile radio (PMR) networks, such as terrestrial trunked radio (TETRA), Tetrapol, and project 25 (P25), are based on narrowband technologies and hence their data bandwidth is limited. This paper studies how critical communications needed e.g., by ambulance personnel, rescue squads, and law enforcement agencies can be implemented over a 5G network. The most important technology enablers are described and test network architectures used in our project given. We focus on two different use cases: First, how to enable priority communications over a commercial mobile network. Second, how to create rapidly deployable networks for emergency and tactical operations. Tests done with the implemented systems in real networks show that both approaches are very promising for future critical users. Techniques such as network slicing and licensed shared access (LSA) provide means to support mission critical applications in any environment.