Smart City Mobile Network Design: Project
Report
1. Introduction
This report presents the design of a state-of-the-art mobile network for a fictional smart
city—“Technopolis”—that aims to support advanced services such as autonomous transport,
telemedicine, and a massive IoT ecosystem. The design considers modern urban challenges,
focusing on coverage, spectrum, technology, network architecture, and key smart city services.
2. Technopolis: City Overview
● Population: 2 million residents
● Terrain: Mostly flat with several high-rise urban clusters and green zones
● Population Density: High (urban core); Medium (suburbs)
● Key Urban Features:
○ Business and tech districts
○ Mixed-use residential/commercial zones
○ Major transport corridors and “smart” highways
○ Multiple hospitals and telemedicine hubs
3. Network Generation and Technology
● Primary Technology: 5G Standalone (5G SA), complemented by LTE-Advanced (4G)
fallback for redundancy
● Justification:
○ 5G SA is ideal for supporting ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC),
massive IoT, and high-bandwidth use-cases.
○ LTE-Advanced ensures seamless coverage and legacy device support12.
4. Frequency Bands & Spectrum Allocation
Ban Frequency Range Purpose Justification
d
n78 3.3–3.8GHz Enhanced Mobile Broadband High capacity, urban
(eMBB) coverage
n258 26GHz Dense urban, hotspot coverage Ultra-low latency, high
speed
n28 700MHz IoT, rural/indoor penetration Excellent coverage, IoT
focus
LTE 1800MHz, Fallback & legacy Broad device compatibility
2100MHz
Dynamic spectrum sharing will be implemented to maximize efficiency for diverse services.
5. Network Architecture
a) Core Network (5G Core)
● 5G Core (5GC): Cloud-native, virtualized, supporting network slicing and service-based
architecture
● Capabilities:
○ Ultra-low latency, multi-Gbps speeds
○ Network Function Virtualization (NFV)
○ Control and User Plane Separation (CUPS)
○ Service orchestration, automation, and full SDN integration34
b) Radio Access Network (RAN)
● Multi-tier RAN:
○ Macro cells for wide coverage
○ Densely deployed small cells for urban hot zones and venue coverage
○ Massive MIMO and beamforming
○ Dynamic spectrum aggregation
c) Edge Computing
● Distributed Edge Nodes: Micro data centers near base stations for real-time
applications
● Benefits:
○ Reduces latency for critical services (e.g., autonomous vehicles, AR/VR,
telemedicine)54
○ Offloads network backhaul
○ Enables location-aware service deployment
Network slices will be allocated for URLLC, eMBB, and mMTC (massive Machine Type
Communications), each optimized for specific service requirements.
6. Key Services Supported
● IoT Ecosystem: Smart sensors for traffic, utilities, pollution, energy, and city operations
● Autonomous Transport: Vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, smart traffic
lights, collision avoidance67
● Telemedicine: Real-time video consultations, remote diagnostics, and mobile health
monitoring89
● Augmented/Virtual Reality (AR/VR): Public safety, urban planning, and immersive
citizen services
● Surveillance & Emergency Response: AI-enhanced video, smart alerts, and prioritized
emergency network access
7. Justification of Design Choices
● 5G SA: Supports the sheer device density, real-time requirements, and diverse data
rates in a smart city12.
● Network Slicing: Provides dedicated logical networks for ultra-reliable,
latency-sensitive, or massive-IoT use cases34.
● Edge Computing: Decentralizes processing, cuts latency, and scales local resources as
demand rises510.
● Diverse Spectrum Allocation: Maximizes coverage (low-band) AND capacity
(mid/high-band), using spectrum efficiently across services.
● Integration with AI and Analytics: Enables self-optimizing networks, predictive
maintenance, and data-driven city management811.
8. Addressing Key Challenges
a) Latency
● 5G SA and edge computing for sub-10ms latency where required.
● Local edge processing for V2X and remote health interventions510.
b) Coverage
● Low-band spectrum (700MHz) for broad coverage and deep indoor penetration.
● Macro plus dense micro-cell deployment ensures even the most crowded areas have
high service continuity.
c) Scalability
● Cloud-native, virtualized core for on-demand scaling.
● Modular architecture allows for rapid network expansion.
● Massive IoT connectivity using n28 and NB-IoT/MTC extensions123.
d) Security
● Multi-layered security, from device to core (using network slicing isolation).
● Integrated AI for threat detection and anomaly monitoring13.
● Strict user authentication, encryption, and dynamic trust policies.
9. Visual Network Diagram
Refer to the diagram below for a high-level architecture of the Technopolis Smart City Mobile
Network:
[Diagram: Smart City Mobile Network - showing Core (5GC), Edge Nodes near cell sites, Macro
+ Small Cells, Slices for IoT, URLLC, eMBB, and endpoints such as autonomous vehicles,
telemedicine hubs, and AR/VR devices.]
10. Conclusion
The proposed 5G standalone (SA) mobile network design for Technopolis provides robust,
scalable, and secure infrastructure, enabling a rich set of smart city services—from massive IoT
to life-saving telemedicine and autonomous transport. By integrating advanced technologies like
edge computing, network slicing, and AI-driven management, Technopolis will deliver
unparalleled quality of experience to its residents, enterprises, and service providers12541011.
Select References
1 Smart City: importance and impact of 5g technology - Reply
13 Building Secure Smart Cities in the Age of 5G and IoT
12 Integration of 5G Networks and Internet of Things for Future Smart City
2 Design of robust ultra-dense 5G networks for smart cities
5 Edge Computing in 5G Network
8 Council Post: Smart Cities And E-Health: The Convergence Of Urban Infrastructure And
Digital Healthcare
3 Review Article: Integration of 5G Networks and IoT in Smart Cities
6 5G Networks - Smart Cities and Transportation eBook
4 Designing and Deploying 5G Core on the Edge
9 Smart city healthcare delivery innovations: a systematic review
10 Optimizing Network Performance With Edge Computing for 5G
7 Smart cities, urban mobility and autonomous vehicles
11 5G and Smart Cities: Unlocking Tomorrow's Potential
Note: For full credits, a detailed visual diagram of the described architecture should be created
and appended to this report.
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