Self-organizing network

A Self-Organizing Network (SON) is an automation technology designed to make the planning, configuration, management, optimization and healing of mobile radio access networks simpler and faster. SON functionality and behavior has been defined and specified in generally accepted mobile industry recommendations produced by organizations such as 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) and the NGMN (Next Generation Mobile Networks).

SON has been codified within 3GPP Release 8 and subsequent specifications in a series of standards including 36.902, as well as public white papers outlining use cases from the NGMN. The first technology making use of SON features will be Long Term Evolution (LTE), but the technology has also been retro-fitted to older radio access technologies such as Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). The LTE specification inherently supports SON features like Automatic Neighbor Relation (ANR) detection, which is the 3GPP LTE Rel. 8 flagship feature.

Newly added base stations should be self-configured in line with a "plug-and-play" paradigm while all operational base stations will regularly self-optimize parameters and algorithmic behavior in response to observed network performance and radio conditions. Furthermore, self-healing mechanisms can be triggered to temporarily compensate for a detected equipment outage, while awaiting a more permanent solution.

Self-organizing networks are commonly divided into three major architectural types.

In this type of SON (D-SON), functions are distributed among the network elements at the edge of the network, typically the ENodeB elements. This implies a certain degree of localization of functionality and is normally supplied by the network equipment vendor manufacturing the radio cell.

In centralized SON (C-SON), function is more typically concentrated closer to higher-order network nodes or the network OSS, to allow a broader overview of more edge elements and coordination of e.g. load across a wide geographic area. Due to the need to inter-work with cells supplied by different equipment vendors, C-SON systems are more typically supplied by 3rd parties.

Hybrid SON is a mix of centralized and distributed SON, combining elements of each in a hybrid solution.

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