Future networks for convergent cloud and M2M multimedia applications

Current and new-generation wireless mobile networks face a high demand for very large bandwidth. Due to the high costs of spectrum usage and of the access network development, the network operators could be interested in sharing spectrum and operating costs of the access network. Already, Carrier aggregation, defined in 3GPP Rel. 10 allows a form of easy inter-operator sharing. The cloud computing paradigm will also most likely be extended to cover not only the delivery of computing resources over the Internet, but, in the case of mobile networks, also the delivery of Core Network functionalities to the Access Network, M2M and multimedia applications. The paper discusses the main technological pillars for future converged mobile networks and proposes an architecture reference model for cloud-based management and monitoring of the shared network resources and radio spectrum. The main technical and economic challenges that need to be addressed for this architecture to be deployed are also highlighted.