Satisfying the stringent 5G Quality of Service (QoS) requirements necessitates efficient resource utilization by the mobile networks. Consequently, we argue that Multi-Connectivity (MC) is an effective solution to leverage the limited radio resources from multiple base stations (BSs) in order to enhance the user throughput, provide seamless connectivity, or increase the data reliability. For this, we study different MC architectures, where distinct network entities and protocol layers are used to split or aggregate the user traffic. The benefits and challenges of MC are analyzed as well as the open issues that network/device vendors and mobile network operators (MNOs) have to address for its use. Finally, through experimental evaluations, we illustrate the importance of MC design decisions for the overall network performance.

翻译：为了满足严格的5G服务质量(Qos)要求,移动网络必须高效地利用资源,因此,我们认为,多连接性(MC)是利用多基站有限无线电资源的有效解决办法,目的是提高用户流量,提供无缝连接,或提高数据可靠性。为此,我们研究不同的MC结构,其中使用不同的网络实体和协议层来分割或汇总用户流量。分析了MC的好处和挑战,以及网络/供应商和移动网络运营商(MNOs)必须解决的公开问题。最后,我们通过实验性评估,说明了MC设计决定对于整个网络绩效的重要性。