The large-scale rollout of 5G networks has started becoming a reality, with big vendors deploying 5G network equipment and MNOs being on the verge of its commercialization. However, in parallel to the deployment of such 5G high-performing network, there is an unprecedented urge to support solutions tailored to specific types of networks, capable of offering ubiquitous coverage with high data rate availability, densification and high capillarity of access points to enhance 5G system capacity. Affordable5G aims at creating a 5G network that will deliver a complete and affordable solution covering the needs of private and enterprise networks through technical innovation that span across all parts of 5G network, leveraging cell densification, RU/DU/CU split, hardware acceleration, edge computing and core network virtualization, seamlessly combined with the adoption of open source RAN, MEC and MANO solutions, for cloud-native, micro-service based deployments. To achieve its innovative and ambitious goal, the consortium brings together ten European SMEs, supported by MVNOs, system integrators and research institutes, grasping the opportunity to enhance their products, according to each company’s roadmap, while fostering collaboration among them. In this way, Affordable5G will offer a first-class opportunity to European SMEs to become frontrunners in the global 5G competition, facilitating them in their commercialization paths and strategies in niche market cases of neutral hosting, private networks and MVNOs with new entrant actors. The innovative solution will be evaluated and validated in two vertical pilots related to emergency communications and smart cities, which have been properly selected as being highly representative in terms of system performance, scalability, mobility patterns, slice types, deployment requirements and impact in the future 5G market.

5G is considered to be the next decade mainstream broadband wireless technology and can leverage the efficiency and effectiveness of everyday high demanding operations such as public protection and disaster relief (PPDR). ITU considers LTE-Advanced systems and 5G as a mission critical PPDR technology able to address the needs of mission critical intelligence by supporting mission critical voice, data and video services as an IMT radio interface. 5G-EPICENTRE will deliver an open end-to-end experimentation 5G platform focusing on software solutions that serve the needs of PPDR. The envisioned platform will enable SMEs and developers to acquire knowledge with regard to the latest 5G applications and approaches for first responders and crisis management, as well as to build up and experiment with their solutions. The 5G-EPICENTRE platform will be based on an open Service oriented Architecture, following the current best DevOps practices (containerization of micro-services) and will be able to accommodate and provide open access to 5G networks’ resources, acting this way as a 5G open source repository for PPDR Network Applications. For the assessment of the abovementioned platform, the realization of several use cases is being foreseen which will be realized as a PPDR vertical. The purpose of the use cases is to expand along the entire range of the 3 ITU-defined service types (i.e. eMBB, mMTC and URLLC) as well as to provide the floor for overseeing the platform’s secure interoperability capabilities beyond vendor-specific implementation. The engaged SMEs and organizations that will participate into the realization of the use cases constitute active players in the public security and disaster management, thus acting as key enablers for the assessment of 5G-EPICENTRE with regard to the real needs that should be addressed. Finally, through the use cases realization, KPIs relevant to 5G will be measured, especially those that are pertain to services’ creation time.

In the global race towards 5G, the establishment and implementation of the 5G-PPP programme in the EU has significantly strengthened the position of Europe, promoting both technological excellence and industrial leadership. So far, 5G-PPP Phase 1 and Phase 2 projects have been proven quite successful in developing focused solutions, targeting specific technical innovations. Now, the crucial next step in the “Genesis of 5G”, in Europe but also worldwide, is to integrate all these highly diverse results and technologies in order to “glue together” the 5G picture and unveil the potential of a truly full-stack, end-to-end 5G platform, able to meet the defined KPI targets. In this context, the main goal of 5GENESIS to validate 5G KPIs for various 5G use cases, in both controlled set-ups and large-scale events. This will be achieved by bringing together results from a considerable number of EU projects as well as the partners’ internal R&D activities in order to realise an integrated End-to-end 5G Facility, built on five diverse in terms of capabilities –yet fully interoperable- experimentation platforms distributed across Europe and interconnected with each other. The platforms will emerge as the evolution of existing testbeds, already owned and operated by the 5GENESIS partners, suitable for large-scale field experimentation. The 5GENESIS Facility, as a whole, will: - implement and verify all evolutions of the 5G standard, via an iterative integration and testing procedure; - engage a wide diversity of technologies and chain innovations that span over all domains, achieving full-stack coverage of the 5G landscape; - unify heterogeneous physical and virtual network elements under a common coordination and openness framework exposed to experimenters from the vertical industries and enabling end-to-end slicing and experiment automation; and - support further experimentation projects, in particular those focused on vertical markets.