Investigating network services abstraction in 5G enabled device-to-device (D2D) communications

The increased demand of data rate by mobile users has led to the evolution of mobile network technologies from the fourth generation to fifth generation (5G). 5G mobile network will support various technologies that will be able to provide low latency, offload traffic and connect vertical industries. Device-to-device (D2D) communications will be used as the underlay technology for 5G network in the offloading of traffic from the cellular network and pushing content closer to the user. With D2D communication, various network services can be implemented to improve spectral efficiency and reduce energy consumption of mobile devices. This paper gives a brief overview of D2D communication and discusses different D2D applications. It proposes a network services abstraction and suggests the mapping of existing studies with the network service abstraction which can be used in the harnessing the development and implementation of D2D communication applications in 5G network. The paper also highlights possible future research for D2D communication in 5G network