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A Survey on Cloud-Based 6G Deployments: Current Solutions, Future Directions and Open Challenges

Tolga O. Atalay, Alireza Famili, Amirreza Ghafoori, Angelos Stavrou

TL;DR

A structured taxonomy is presented that categorizes the design space of cloud-based cellular deployments across four dimensions: deployment architecture, resource management and orchestration, multi-tenancy and isolation, and economic and ownership models, which critically analyze six key investigation areas, security and privacy, scalability and elasticity, performance and latency, cost optimization, resilience and fault management, and compliance and sovereignty.

Abstract

The next generation of cellular networks is designed to provide ubiquitous connectivity to a wide range of devices. As Telecommunication Service Providers (TSPs) increasingly collaborate with public cloud providers to deploy 5G and beyond networks, a fundamental shift is underway, from hardware-bound Physical Network Functions (PNFs) to cloud-native, containerized deployments managed through platforms like Kubernetes. While this transition promises greater scalability, flexibility, and cost efficiency, it also introduces a complex set of technical and operational challenges that must be thoroughly understood before large-scale cellular deployments can take place in cloud environments. In this survey, we present a structured taxonomy that categorizes the design space of cloud-based cellular deployments across four dimensions: deployment architecture, resource management and orchestration, multi-tenancy and isolation, and economic and ownership models. Using this taxonomy as a foundation, we critically analyze six key investigation areas, security and privacy, scalability and elasticity, performance and latency, cost optimization, resilience and fault management, and compliance and sovereignty, examining each through a cloud-native lens. To benchmark the state of industry adoption, we examine the deployment strategies of leading Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) providers, namely Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform (GCP). Finally, we identify emerging trends such as AI-driven orchestration, quantum-safe protocols for virtualized network functions, and serverless networking for 6G, while articulating the open challenges that remain in realizing robust, scalable cloud-based cellular networks.

A Survey on Cloud-Based 6G Deployments: Current Solutions, Future Directions and Open Challenges

TL;DR

A structured taxonomy is presented that categorizes the design space of cloud-based cellular deployments across four dimensions: deployment architecture, resource management and orchestration, multi-tenancy and isolation, and economic and ownership models, which critically analyze six key investigation areas, security and privacy, scalability and elasticity, performance and latency, cost optimization, resilience and fault management, and compliance and sovereignty.

Abstract

The next generation of cellular networks is designed to provide ubiquitous connectivity to a wide range of devices. As Telecommunication Service Providers (TSPs) increasingly collaborate with public cloud providers to deploy 5G and beyond networks, a fundamental shift is underway, from hardware-bound Physical Network Functions (PNFs) to cloud-native, containerized deployments managed through platforms like Kubernetes. While this transition promises greater scalability, flexibility, and cost efficiency, it also introduces a complex set of technical and operational challenges that must be thoroughly understood before large-scale cellular deployments can take place in cloud environments. In this survey, we present a structured taxonomy that categorizes the design space of cloud-based cellular deployments across four dimensions: deployment architecture, resource management and orchestration, multi-tenancy and isolation, and economic and ownership models. Using this taxonomy as a foundation, we critically analyze six key investigation areas, security and privacy, scalability and elasticity, performance and latency, cost optimization, resilience and fault management, and compliance and sovereignty, examining each through a cloud-native lens. To benchmark the state of industry adoption, we examine the deployment strategies of leading Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) providers, namely Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform (GCP). Finally, we identify emerging trends such as AI-driven orchestration, quantum-safe protocols for virtualized network functions, and serverless networking for 6G, while articulating the open challenges that remain in realizing robust, scalable cloud-based cellular networks.
Paper Structure (81 sections, 22 figures, 1 table)

This paper contains 81 sections, 22 figures, 1 table.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Background and Enabling Technologies
  3. Evolution from PNFs to VNFs and CNFs
  4. 5G RAN & Core Network
  5. Distributed Cellular Deployments
  6. Cloud-Native Design Elements
  7. Kubernetes-Based Deployments
  8. Side Car Proxies, Service Meshes & eBPF
  9. Orchestration and Operations
  10. Observability and Tracing
  11. Resilience
  12. Taxonomy of Cloud-Based Cellular Deployments
  13. Deployment Architecture
  14. Infrastructure Layer and Multi-Cloud Federation
  15. Virtualization and Execution Layer
  16. ...and 66 more sections

Figures (22)

  • Figure 1: Transitioning milestones from LTE to 5G with cloud computing; adoption of NFV and SDN; network slicing and OpenRAN
  • Figure 2: Coexistence of network slices supporting different use cases with different SSTs
  • Figure 3: Organization of this survey consisting of background and enabling technologies; a taxonomy for cloud-based cellular deployments; key technical investigation areas; the deployments trends across major cloud providers; future trends and research directions and the open challenges
  • Figure 4: Transition from physical network functions to virtual and containerized network functions as a result of embracing NFV in cellular networks
  • Figure 5: 5G Core and RAN overview with a service-based-architecture and disaggregated gNodeB
  • ...and 17 more figures