Multi-connectivity functional architectures in 5G

Future mobile networks need to fulfill stringent requirements on data rates, reliability, and availability. In order to satisfy these requirements, heterogeneous radio access technologies and deployments need to be used. To make efficient use of these technologies, multi-connectivity has been proposed to connect to multiple different technologies simultaneously. In this paper, we discuss different options to connect to multiple radio access points. Each of these options is further detailed, novel functionality required for multi-connectivity is introduced, and expected benefits are explained.