Packet Duplication in Dual Connectivity Enabled 5G Wireless Networks: Overview and Challenges

TL;DR

This paper reviews packet duplication in 5G dual connectivity, discussing recent 3GPP developments, benefits for reliability and latency, and the technical challenges involved.

Contribution

It provides an overview of 5G packet duplication, highlighting recent 3GPP standards and identifying key technical challenges.

Findings

Packet duplication improves reliability and latency in 5G networks.

Recent 3GPP standards have integrated packet duplication functionalities.

Technical challenges include implementation complexity and resource management.

Abstract

Enabling ultra-reliable low latency communications (uRLLC) over 5G wireless networks creates challenging design requirements, particularly on the air-interface. The stringent latency and reliability targets require enhancements at different layers of the protocol stack. On the other hand, the parallel redundancy protocol (PRP), wherein each data packet is duplicated and transmitted concurrently over two independent networks, provides a simple solution for improving reliability and reducing latency in wireless networks. PRP can be realized in cellular networks through the dual connectivity (DC) solution. Recently, 3GPP has introduced packet duplication functionality in 5G wireless networks. To this end, this paper provides an overview of the packet duplication functionality in 5G, in light of recent developments within 3GPP, and also highlights the related technical challenges.