IMAGINE-B5G

Proximity Services (ProSe) in 3GPP enable direct device-to-device communication based on proximity. Primarily serving public safety and commercial discovery, ProSe utilizes proximity awareness to actively/passively seek value in physical/virtual proximity. While currently limited on mobile phones, ProSe is crucial during network downtime or out-of-coverage scenarios. Despite being defined in 3GPP, it’s not yet available in telecom equipment.

Our project has advanced the deployment of ProSe by integrating our orchestrator into Eurecom’s 5G core as an edge service. We achieved integration with the NWDAF function, enabling the provision of location information for devices. Experiments were conducted in Eurecom’s facilities with student participation, during which we collected and analyzed KPI measures to evaluate performance. This solution, aligned with Open5GLab and O-RAN, complements the IMAGINE-B5G goals by providing flexibility and programmability within a disaggregated RAN framework