NFV MANO Based Network Slicing Framework Description

In this chapter, we present a comprehensive end-to-end (E2E) network slicing framework for fifth-generation (5G) wireless and core networks and provide our vision on network slicing for beyond 5G (B5G) networks using artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. We first give an introduction on the 5G communication networks by specifying distinct 5G networking characteristics. As the key features of 5G pose challenges on quality-of-service (QoS)-oriented resource provisioning, a new concept of network slicing is presented, based on software-defined networking (SDN) and network function virtualization (NFV) technologies, to enhance the overall resource utilization while guaranteeing QoS isolation among services. We focus on developing specific network slicing solutions for both 5G wireless networks and core networks. In addition, the evolution of B5G networks is discussed in terms of a potential networking paradigm shift with new service key performance indicators (KPIs). To satisfy B5G service requirements, a framework of AI-assisted network slicing lifecycle is developed to automate the slice creation with reduced slice management complexity. A case study is presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed E2E network slicing solutions.Keywords5G communication networksNetwork slicingWireless networksRadio resource slicingCore networksComputing and transmission resource slicingBeyond 5G networksAI-assisted network slicingQoSE2E delay

5G networks represent a paradigm shift from their 4G predecessors, engineered to cater to the burgeoning demands of densely populated areas and the high data throughput requirements of the Internet of Things (IoT) and smart city infrastructures. Beyond enhancing fundamental network attributes such as reliability, availability, and security, 5G introduces architectural innovations to accommodate these advanced needs. This paper delves into the architectural nuances of 5G, focusing primarily on the Standalone (SA) deployment method, distinguished by its utilization of network slicing. This approach leverages cutting-edge virtual network technologies, including Software-Defined Networking (SDN) and Network Function Virtualization (NFV), to forge virtual network slices tailored to diverse consumer needs. Such customization is imperative for meeting the expansive and varied connectivity demands characteristic of 5G networks.To navigate the complexities of 5G architecture, this study advocates for the adoption of Reference Architectures (RAs), which provide a high-level abstraction framework for dissecting and understanding intricate systems. By proposing a model that outlines the standalone architecture of 5G networks, our research lays the groundwork for evolving this model into a comprehensive RA for 5G. This foundational work is instrumental in equipping system designers with the tools necessary for generalizing systems to manage design and deployment challenges effectively, as well as the heterogeneity inherent in system components. Additionally, our proposed model facilitates the establishment of a common vocabulary, promoting a coherent understanding of component interactions and offering a unified system perspective. Ultimately, this paper contributes a pivotal model that not only enhances our comprehension of 5G network architecture but also paves the way for future advancements in network design and deployment, promising to significantly impact the development of smart cities and IoT ecosystems.Keywords: 5G, 5G architecture, Reference architecture, patterns. Network slicing, Network Function Virtualization, Virtual Network Function.

In 5G networks, the deployment of network slices enabled by Software-Defined Networking (SDN) is becoming a critical component for delivering tailored services to meet diverse application needs. However, this introduces challenges in network management, particularly in efficiently allocating resources to ensure that each network slice meets its specific Quality of Service (QoS) and availability requirements. Simultaneously, it must optimize overall network performance and network operator’s profit, which is linked to the Quality of Experience (QoE) of the end-users. Existing works offer either an availability-based solution or a QoE-aware solution to this problem, but not both. This paper addresses the end-to-end network slice resource allocation problem by simultaneously considering QoS and availability requirements in slice placement, while employing a QoE-aware strategy for resource allocation. We propose a framework that optimizes the network operator profit i.e. the highest QoE with the least resource usage, and can be flexibly configured to model realistic scenarios. Arbitrary network slice requirements can be defined using slice-specific QoS/QoE mapping, resource requirements, end-to-end latency and availability. For solving the formulated problem a Mixed Integer Nonlinear Programming (MINLP) formulation and efficient heuristic methods are proposed. Our solution accounts for the non-linear QoS/QoE relationship, utilizes redundantly placed Service Function Chains (SFCs) to increase availability, and supports the sharing of Virtual Network Functions (VNFs) among SFCs to optimize resource usage. Through extensive simulations on realistic network topologies and slice requests, we demonstrate the framework’s effectiveness in offering flexible and efficient network slice placement and resource allocation, utilizing a baseline heuristic from related studies. The results indicate that while the exact method delivers an optimal solution, heuristic approaches are suitable for time-sensitive tasks, such as dynamic slice configuration.

Network slicing is a promising approach to meet the diverse requirements of the various use cases in the 5G networks. Hence, the mobile operators are moving forward to leveraging network slicing in order to measure up with the individual service expectations in their networks. Deploying different network slice types requires the global view of the network and the automated orchestration and management of the underlying resources. This is facilitated by utilizing software-defined networking and network function virtualization as the 5G key-enabler technologies. In this paper, we propose a practical network slicing resource management scheme which is comprised of a dynamic, priority-based resource allocation cooperating with an admission control unit. Adopting the proposed dynamic resource allocation would allow the admission control to comply with more NS requests while ensuring the desired requirements of the existing network slices. To validate the effectiveness of such a mechanism in a real environment, we take advantage of the features provided by OpenAirInterface and FlexRAN to efficiently manage multiple isolated network slices. In particular, we evaluate the significance of the network slicing, the isolation degree among created slices, and the effectiveness of the proposed scheme through several practical scenarios.

The fifth generation (5G) networks are expected to support diverse business verticals (i.e., manufacturing, health care, etc.) with varying quality of service requirements. While today’s mobile networks are a one size fits all architecture, tomorrow’s 5G mobile networks are envisioned to encourage agility, programmability and elasticity through enabling a software-based architecture promoted by network slicing. Network slicing is a new paradigm consisting of partitioning the underlying network infrastructure into different logical network slices, each dedicated to address the requirements (i.e., ultra-low latency, ultra-reliability, etc.) of a group of services. Network Function Virtualization (NFV) and Software Defined Networking (SDN) technologies have been identified as main enablers of network slicing, facilitating the fulfillment of the aforementioned services’ requirements. In this paper, we study the Latency-Aware service scheduling (LASS) problem to solve the network function mapping, the traffic routing and the network service scheduling in the context of an ultra-low latency network slice to consider services with stringent deadlines. We propose the LASS-Game, a novel game-theoretic approach presenting a scalable solution for the LASS problem that accounts for the centralized aspect of the problem while leveraging a decentralized mapping, routing and scheduling decisions.

In order to meet the traffic demand from diverse next generation wireless network applications and exponentially increasing mobile subscriptions, various 5G network architectures are proposed by leveraging Software Defined Networking (SDN) and Network Function Virtualization (NFV) technologies. Network slicing will be one of the 5G technologies that would support next-generation wireless applications over a shared network infrastructure. However, improper network slicing may lead to either over-provisioning or under-utilization of the underlying network infrastructure resources, especially the 5G core network. Over-provisioning of data plane components such as Serving Gateway (SGW) and Packet Data Network Gateway (PGW) can lead to higher CAPEX and OPEX to mobile operators. In this paper, we propose a novel auto-scaling approach called Bit rate Aware Auto Scaling (BAAS) that maintains a precise UE bit rate requirement in the network slices without over-provisioning of data plane resources.

Network slicing is an architectural solution that enables the future 5G network to offer a high data traffic capacity and efficient network connectivity. Moreover, software defined network (SDN) and network functions virtualization (NFV) empower this architecture to visualize the physical network resources. The network slicing identified as a multiple logical network, where each network slice dedicates as an end-to-end network and works independently with other slices on a common physical network resources. Most user devices have more than one smart wireless interfaces to connect to different radio access technologies (RATs) such as WiFi and LTE, thereby network operators utilize this facility to offload mobile data traffic. Therefore, it is important to enable a network slicing to manage different RATs on the same logical network as a way to mitigate the spectrum scarcity problem and enables a slice to control its users' mobility across different access networks. In this paper, we propose a mobility management architecture based network slicing where each slice manages its users across heterogeneous radio access technologies such as WiFi, LTE and 5G networks. In this architecture, each slice has a different mobility demands and these demands are governed by a network slice configuration and service characteristics. Therefore, our mobility management architecture follows a modular approach where each slice has individual module to handle the mobility demands and enforce the slice policy for mobility management. The advantages of applying our proposed architecture include: i) Sharing network resources between different network slices; ii) creating logical platform to unify different RATs resources and allowing all slices to share them; iii) satisfying slice mobility demands.

Innovative technologies, such as Software-Defined Networking (SDN) and Network Functions Virtualization (NFV), are enabling the possibility of managing network infrastructures and their services for enhancing network flexibility, efficient resource control, and cost-efficiency. How to combine these technologies requires taking into account the requirements established by the scenarios being executed, which can change at any time due to their dynamism. Network Slicing appeared to this end. This new technique tailors the needs of a particular scenario whose requirements are extremely heterogeneous and complex. By using Network Slicing, SDN/NFV-enabled environments can be strengthened to manage network resources and services depending on those requirements. Nevertheless, Network Slicing approaches lack management mechanisms that consider the heterogeneity and dynamism provided by scenarios based on future mobile networks. This article presents a formal definition of the Network Slicing information model, where all elements interacting with the Network Slices life cycle are formally represented. Another important contribution is a mobility-aware architecture that combines NFV/SDN techniques and introduces innovative components responsible for managing and orchestrating the Network Slices. Finally, a systematic comparison is made between the existing architectures and the proposed one.

The discovery process of OPC Unified Architecture (OPC-UA) is well defined but lacks flexibility when implemented in large networks. While the standard provides concepts for local and global discovery services, the core assumption is that all clients and servers are aware of the discovery server(s) in the network. This dependency is a barrier for Plug-and-Play installations and is overcome by self announces via the multicast Domain Name System (mDNS), however, this scales badly with an increasing number of network nodes and deployed servers. We propose a discovery approach based on Software-Defined Networking (SDN) and Network Function Virtualization (NFV), that installs a plug-and-play mechanism for global OPC-UA discovery in modern virtualized networks.

The goal of 5G wireless networks is to address the growing need for network services among users. User equipment has progressed to the point where users now expect diverse services from the network. The latency, reliability, and bandwidth requirements of users can all be classified. To fulfil the different needs of users in an economical manner, while guaranteeing network resources are resourcefully assigned to consumers, 5G systems plan to leverage technologies like Software Defined Networks, Network Function Virtualization, and Network Slicing. For the purpose of ensuring continuous handover among network slices, while catering to the advent of varied 5G application scenarios, new mobility management techniques must be adopted in Sliced 5G networks. Users want to travel from one region of coverage to another region without any fading in their network connection. Different network slices can coexist in 5G networks, with every slice offering services customized to various QoS demands. As a result, when customers travel from one region of coverage to another, the call can be transferred to a slice that caters to similar or slightly different requirements. The goal of this study was to develop an intra- and inter-slice algorithm for determining handover decisions in sliced 5G networks and to assess performance by comparing intra- and inter-slice handovers. The proposed work shows that an inter-slice handover algorithm offers superior quality of service when compared to an intra-slice algorithm.

Network slicing is a key technology in fifth-generation (5G) mobile networks. Slicing divides a physical network into multiple dedicated logical networks to meet the requirements of diverse use cases. Efficient slice deployment algorithms are critical in reducing network operators' costs and energy consumption and in providing users better service. Many researchers have focused on static deployment when investigating network slices, effectively ignoring network operators' requirements for the dynamic deployment and expansion of such slices. In this paper, we first construct a joint optimization problem of cost and energy consumption. Then, we propose a prediction-assisted adaptive network slice expansion algorithm to deploy network slices dynamically. The proposed algorithm consists of three parts. First, we devise a Holt-Winters (HW) prediction algorithm to determine traffic demand for network slices. This method is intended to avoid frequent changes in network topology. Second, we propose a virtual network function (VNF) adaptive scaling strategy to reasonably determine the number of VNFs and resources required for network slices to avoid resource wastage. Finally, we develop a proactive online algorithm to deploy network slices. This method deploys network slices reasonably via the VNF deployment algorithm and link-routing algorithm to ensure slices' service requirements. Resource capacity and delay requirements are also considered in our evaluation to ensure that network costs and energy consumption are minimized. We then perform a series of simulation experiments to compare the proposed method's performance to state-of-the-art dynamic network slicing technologies. Ultimately, our solution is deemed a suitable candidate for dynamic deployment of 5G network slices; the solution demonstrates advantages of high resource utilization, low deployment costs, and low energy consumption.

In this Modern era, Software Defined Network (SDN), Network Function Virtualization (NFV), and cloud computing participating of Fifth Generation (5G) network emergence. This paper presents a robust security scheme to provide fortification against major threats along with user privacy in 5G network, two additional entities are introduced. For mobile users, initial authentication is provided at access points by an inventive Highly Secured Authentication and Handover Mechanism (HS-AOHM) scheme which minimizes handover latency without loss of user privacy. Then the authorized user packets are arrived at dispatcher in which a novel Tree Based Switch Assignment (TBSA) algorithm is incorporated. TBSA mitigates the flow table overloading attack by assigning packets to underloaded switches. In controller, DDoS attack is detected with the assist of entropy analysis. Then the suspicious packets are redirected to scrubbing Virtual Network Function (sVNF) in cloud. In sVNF, suspicious packets are classified into normal packets and malicious packets by using Hybrid Fuzzy with Artificial Neural Network (HF-ANN) classifier based on packet features. Normal packets are allowed to access applications whereas malicious packets are dropped at sVNF. Extensive simulation shows security improvement in 5G network in terms of handover latency, holding time, switch failure rate, detection accuracy, and delay.

Introduction The design of a mobile network architecture aims at defining network elements (e.g. Base Stations [BSs], switches, routers, user devices) and their interaction in order to ensure a consistent system operation. This chapter discusses basic considerations and provides an overview of current research activities. Network architecture can be considered from different angles that are needed in order to fulfill objectives like integration of technical components into an overall system, proper interworking of multi-vendor equipment and efficient design of physical networks from cost and performance point of view. As 5G systems have to integrate a plethora of partly contradicting requirements, enablers such as Network Function Virtualization (NFV) and Software Defined Networking (SDN) are to be applied in order to provide the needed flexibility of future networks, especially for the core network. Applying these tools may require a rethinking of some traditional aspects of network architecture design. This chapter will give the reader an impression of the most important topics influencing architecture design of future networks. NFV and SDN Today's operator networks include a large and increasing variety of hardware appliances. Launching new services often requires integration of complex hardware dedicated to the service including costly procedure design and is associated with lengthy time to market. On the other hand, hardware life cycles become shorter as technology and service innovation accelerates. At the end of 2012, network operators have started an initiative on NFV [1]. NFV aims at consolidating the variety of network equipment onto industry-standard high-volume servers. These servers can be located at the different network nodes as well as end-user premises. In this context, NFV relies upon but differs from traditional server virtualization. Unlike server virtualization, Virtualized Network Functions (VNF) may consist of one or more virtual machines running different software and processes in order to replace custom hardware appliances (Figure 3.1). As a rule, multiple VNFs are to be used in sequence in order to provide meaningful services to the customer. NFV requires an orchestration framework that enables proper instantiation, monitoring and operation of VNFs and Network Functions (NFs) (e.g. modulation, coding, multiple access, ciphering, etc.).

It is our great pleasure to welcome you to the 2018 ACM International Workshop on Security in Software Defined Networks & Network Function Virtualization - SDN-NFV Security'18. SDN-NFV Security'18 offers a unique opportunity by bringing together researchers from academic, industry, as well as government agencies to discuss security challenges faced by two emerging networking paradigms, Software-Defined Networking (SDN) and Network Function Virtualization (NFV). SDN-NFV Security'18 solicits the submission of original unpublished ideas in 6-page long papers and 4-page short papers that address the latest practices, experiences, and lessons learned on SDN and NFV security. The call for papers attracted submissions from Europe and the United States. SDN-NFV Security'18 accepted 3 full papers be presented in this workshop, after a rigorous review process (at least 4 reviews for each paper) and discussion phase. In addition, we have invited 8 papers (5 full papers and 3 short papers) from domain experts to be presented in the workshop.

In this era wireless technology gaining more popularity, people prefer wireless communication over wired communication due to mobility, scalability and ease of access. However, the traditional wireless network is complex, vendor dependent and inadequate feasibility to incorporate new services, protocols, and APIs. The rapid growth in wireless network raises many thoughtful challenges for network and telecom operators. On such grounds, Innovation of Software Defined Network (SDN) and network function virtualization (NFV) for mobile network opens a new arena of research. This research article presents future mobile Internet architecture (FMIA) with the integration of twin technologies, SDN and NFV that enable rapid access to Internet services. Moreover, the network manager can control services provided by ISPs through proposed architecture.