Blockchain-Based Intelligent Network Management for 5G and Beyond

Abstract

The concept of spectrum and infrastructure sharing appeared to solve the problem by allowing operators to cooperate between each other. However, the current architecture of mobile network, which is mostly based on the centralized management entities is not suitable for the spectrum and infrastructure sharing due to the complexity of billing procedure. Moreover, the operator oriented mobile network is slowing the overall technological development, because operators must balance between capital expenditures and profit margins. Such situation negatively affects users, because they are either experience lower quality of service or forced to pay higher price. In this paper, we propose a new intelligent network architecture, which leverage the blockchain technology to handle relationship between operators and users based on smart contracts. The new unlicensed spectrum sharing algorithm between operators using the virtual cryptocurrency has been developed based on game theory. Simulation results show that proposed algorithm achieves Nash equilibrium between operators within few seconds.