A Case for Enabling Delegation of 5G Core Decisions to the RAN

Abstract

Under conventional 5G system design, the authentication and continuous monitoring of user equipment (UE) demands a reliable backhaul connection between the radio access network (RAN) and the core network functions (AMF, AUSF, UDM, etc.). This is not a given, especially in disaster response and military operations. We propose that, in these scenarios, decisions made by core functions can be effectively delegated to the RAN by leveraging the RAN's computing resources and the micro-service programmability of the O-RAN system architecture. This paper presents several concrete designs of core-RAN decision delegation, including caching of core decisions and replicating some of the core decision logic. Each design has revealed interesting performance and security trade-offs that warrant further investigation.