The tactile internet will enable a new range of capabilities to enable immersive remote operations and interactions with a physical world. Tactile internet use cases span over many fields, from remote operation of industrial applications in, e.g., hazardous environments, via remote-controlled driving in a fully automated intelligent transport system, to remote surgery where the unique expert skills can be delivered to different locations in the world. Fifth-generation (5G) communication will play a fundamental part in this tactile internet vision, as it will provide necessary capabilities for the demanding communication needs in terms of reliability and low latency, for operators or teleoperated systems that are connected wirelessly. This paper provides an overview of tactile internet services and haptic interactions and communication. The 5G functionality for ultrareliable and low-latency services is described in depth and it is shown how 5G new radio (NR) and the evolved long-term evolution (LTE) radio interface can achieve guaranteed low-latency wireless transmission. The costs for providing reliable and low-latency wireless transmission in terms of reduced spectral efficiency and coverage are discussed. The 5G system architecture with a software-based network design based on a distributed cloud platform is presented. It is shown how the 5G network is configured for tactile internet services via multidomain orchestration.

Integration of heterogeneous access technologies to provide multi-radio access allows for dynamic access selection. The "always best connected" paradigm can increase system capacity and end user throughput, as well as, reduce the network deployment costs for multi-radio wireless networks. In this paper we present the functional entities generic link layer and multi-radio resource management, and describe their interactions for access selection. A focus of the paper is to show - with an example given for 3G and WLAN - how existing wireless networks can be migrated to provide multi-radio access functionality. This will be explained for a single operator integrating different radio access standards, as well as, for multiple cooperating network operators.

Efficient employment of multiple radio access technologies is expected to be an important property of beyond 3G networks. This will put high demands on radio resource management support, both within and in-between radio access technologies. In this paper we discuss how to distribute radio resource management in a multi-radio access network, and identify three main distribution strategies: network centralized, network distributed and finally the option of having multi-access radio resource management located in the terminal. A combination of network distributed and terminal based radio resource management appears to be the best choice for dynamic multi-access radio resource management in most scenarios. Further, relations towards user plane functions are discussed and modeled, and the functionality is mapped to nodes and interfaces of a beyond 3G reference radio access network architecture.

A major aspect of Beyond 3G networks is the efficient integration of multiple radio access technologies in a common network. One advantage of this multi-radio access integration is the increase in radio resource efficiency, e.g. due to a larger trunking gain and reduced radio cost per link. This paper analyses and compares the different ways of how multi-radio access integration can be achieved. In particular, it investigates three multi-radio integration alternatives, two of them solving the problem at the network level and the third one on the link level. The comparison of the different approaches reveals that link level integration allows access path switching on a shorter time scale than network level integration. Another difference is where they allow the multi-radio resource management functions to take place, on network side or on user terminal side. In general, it is concluded that all schemes have certain advantages and disadvantages depending on the considered scenario. It is also highlighted, that these different integration schemes can be combined, i.e. some radio access technologies can be integrated on link level, while others can be integrated on network level.