Network slicing makes 5G networks really versatile, capable of supporting highly varied services and use cases. It’s a technique for partitioning a common physical network into multiple isolated logical networks – slices – each tailored to specific needs.
Multicast is a resource-efficient method of one-to-many communication, in which only one replica of data is sent over network links. It is intended for delivering bandwidth-greedy content, such as TV broadcasts. Integrated access and backhaul (IAB) offers a cost-effective approach to network densification, which is a key requirement for deployment of new high-band spectrum.
“Although the purposes of these technologies are different, they all profoundly impact the radio access network (RAN), the most complex and constrained part of a cellular communication system. Also, both academic and standardization activity suggest that these capabilities will be maintained and extended in future 6G systems and beyond. This is what makes the related research challenges particularly pressing,” Natalia Yarkina explains.
Natalia Yarkina’s dissertation addresses network slicing, the IAB technology and multicast communications from the perspective of RAN resource sharing. It proposes a priority-based resource allocation scheme that provides slice isolation, resource efficiency, and significantly improves user satisfaction in virtualized 5G RANs.
For IAB networks, new scheduling policies are designed to reduce delay under varying traffic conditions, and a hybrid control method is introduced to maximize system capacity. The study also evaluates the efficiency of multicast in high-band IAB deployments, showing notable resource savings. The analysis uses methods from queueing theory, optimization, and dynamic programming.
Public defence on Friday 29 August
The doctoral dissertation of Lic. Natalia Yarkina in the field of communications engineering titled Value-added functions in 5G cellular systems and associated RAN resource sharing will be publicly examined at the Faculty of Information Technology and Communication Sciences of Tampere University at 12.00 on Friday 29 August 2025, Hervanta campus, Pieni sali 1 (FA032) of the Festia building (Korkeakoulunkatu 8, Tampere).
The Opponent will be Adjunct Professor Janne Lehtomäki from University of Oulu, Finland. The Custos will be Doctor Dmitri Moltchanov from Tampere University, Finland.
The doctoral dissertation is available online.
The public defence can be followed via remote connection.