Paper

{
  "raw_xml": "<entry>\n    <id>http://arxiv.org/abs/2603.09894v1</id>\n    <title>A Survey on Cloud-Based 6G Deployments: Current Solutions, Future Directions and Open Challenges</title>\n    <updated>2026-03-10T16:50:17Z</updated>\n    <link href='https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.09894v1' rel='alternate' type='text/html'/>\n    <link href='https://arxiv.org/pdf/2603.09894v1' rel='related' title='pdf' type='application/pdf'/>\n    <summary>The next generation of cellular networks is designed to provide ubiquitous connectivity to a wide range of devices. As Telecommunication Service Providers (TSPs) increasingly collaborate with public cloud providers to deploy 5G and beyond networks, a fundamental shift is underway, from hardware-bound Physical Network Functions (PNFs) to cloud-native, containerized deployments managed through platforms like Kubernetes. While this transition promises greater scalability, flexibility, and cost efficiency, it also introduces a complex set of technical and operational challenges that must be thoroughly understood before large-scale cellular deployments can take place in cloud environments. In this survey, we present a structured taxonomy that categorizes the design space of cloud-based cellular deployments across four dimensions: deployment architecture, resource management and orchestration, multi-tenancy and isolation, and economic and ownership models. Using this taxonomy as a foundation, we critically analyze six key investigation areas, security and privacy, scalability and elasticity, performance and latency, cost optimization, resilience and fault management, and compliance and sovereignty, examining each through a cloud-native lens. To benchmark the state of industry adoption, we examine the deployment strategies of leading Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) providers, namely Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform (GCP). Finally, we identify emerging trends such as AI-driven orchestration, quantum-safe protocols for virtualized network functions, and serverless networking for 6G, while articulating the open challenges that remain in realizing robust, scalable cloud-based cellular networks.</summary>\n    <category scheme='http://arxiv.org/schemas/atom' term='eess.SY'/>\n    <published>2026-03-10T16:50:17Z</published>\n    <arxiv:comment>47 pages, 403 citations, 21 figures, journal</arxiv:comment>\n    <arxiv:primary_category term='eess.SY'/>\n    <author>\n      <name>Tolga O. Atalay</name>\n    </author>\n    <author>\n      <name>Alireza Famili</name>\n    </author>\n    <author>\n      <name>Amirreza Ghafoori</name>\n    </author>\n    <author>\n      <name>Angelos Stavrou</name>\n    </author>\n  </entry>"
}