Adaptive Network Slicing with Multi-Site Deployment in 5G Core Networks

Abstract

In today's moving world to ambitious 5G, 3GPP has defined three fundamental and promising services, namely enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), ultra Reliable Low Latency Communication (uRLLC), and massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC) by tuning user's needs on these services to network slicing. While the Network Function Virtualization (NFV) and Software Defined Networking (SDN) are used to enable the network slicing in the mobile network, an effective end-to-end slice management in 5G system is still a challenge to improve the network performance in terms of throughput, latency, and connectivity for each of these envisioned services. In this paper, we focus on the end-to-end network slice life cycle management of network slices on different sites using a single management and orchestration entity with a coherent proof of concept. We propose algorithms for efficiently activating, deactivating, and decommissioning the network slices, using real time status information of network slices from Network Slice Management Function (NSMF). Our results show that by adopting better strategy in these algorithms and considering learned user traffic from the past, in controlling various phases of slice life cycle, we can reduce the response time for a user request by 50%.