VIRTUALIZED PLATFORMS FOR NETWORK RESOURCES ORCHESTRATION AND MANAGEMENT

Abstract

The concept of virtualization has contributed to improved structural functionality especially in modern telecom­munications networks. The introduction of Software-Defined Networks (SDN) and Network Functions Virtualization (NFV), es­pecially in mobile and wireless networks, marks the era of softwarization, centralized control and programmability of network entities. Various software platforms that support the concept of virtualization, provide a range of auspicious features such as modu­larity, multiplicity, interoperability, reliability. All of these features represent the building blocks of current fifth generation of mobile networks (5G). This paper focuses on the wireless (radio) virtualization. The paper gives the short overview of the latest and most important concepts related to wireless system virtualization and presents a platform operating a fully virtualized LTE network, capable of dynamically reconfiguring its radio parameters. The performance analysis focuses on the deployment and reconfiguration of the presented system. The results clearly show that wireless virtualization fosters significantly improved deploy­ment and reconfiguration times, compared to conventional systems.