Self-Organizing Cellular Network Approaches Applied to 5G Networks

SON is an interesting topic in today’s cellular networks. Indeed, heterogeneous networks, ultra-dense deployments and diverse Radio Access Technologies in the same operating area in 5G systems require functions enabling networks to configure, optimize and heal itself. These automated functions will undoubtedly simplify the operational tasks as well as improve network flexibility. We give a special focus on a set of useful use cases, as described by 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). In this paper, we review and discuss the basic concepts of SON. Furthermore, we provide a new taxonomy for SON use cases and describe their underlying Machine Learning techniques.