An overview of 5G network slicing

architecture
Cite as: AIP Conference Proceedings 1967, 020004 (2018); https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5038976
Published Online: 23 May 2018

Qiang Chen, Xiaolei Wang, and Yingying Lv

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AIP Conference Proceedings 1967, 020004 (2018); https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5038976 1967, 020004

© 2018 Author(s).
 An overview of 5G network slicing architecture
Qiang Chen a), Xiaolei Wang, Yingying Lv

NDSC, zhengzhou, 450002, China

a)
[email protected]

Abstract. With the development of mobile communication technology, the traditional single network model has been
unable to meet the needs of users, and the demand for differentiated services is increasing. In order to solve this problem,
the fifth generation of mobile communication technology came into being, and as one of the key technologies of 5G,
network slice is the core technology of network virtualization and software defined network, enabling network slices to
flexibly provide one or more network services according to users' needs[1]. Each slice can independently tailor the network
functions according to the requirements of the business scene and the traffic model and manage the layout of the
corresponding network resources, to improve the flexibility of network services and the utilization of resources, and
enhance the robustness and reliability of the whole network [2].

Key words: 5G; network slicing; SDN; NFV.

INTRODUCTION
As one of the key technologies of 5G, network slice is the core technology of network virtualization and software
defined network, enabling network slices to flexibly provide one or more network services according to users' needs.
Each slice can independently tailor the network functions and arrange the corresponding network resources
independently according to the needs of the business scenarios and traffic models, improve the flexibility and resource
utilization of the network services, and enhance the robustness and reliability of the whole network. For the Internet
of things interconnection scenarios, 5G provides optimized signaling control capabilities with higher connection
density, supporting efficient access and management of large scale, low cost and low energy consumption IoT devices.
The network section which plays an important role in 5G, is from SDN, NFV and many other technologies to achieve
a variety of requirements of 5G, to ensure that the 5G network can respond to changing business needs, especially the
vertical industry business, end to end network section will provide the service assurance solutions [3]. Slice of the
management function contacts with organic series business operations, virtual resource platform and network
management system, for different sections of the demand side (such as vertical industry users, virtual operators and
other business users) special logic network to provide with secure isolation, highly controlled.

BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO NETWORK SLICING

Network slicing is to divide single physical network into multiple logical virtual networks, to achieve the right
resource allocation and process optimization, and to share network infrastructure with multiple network slices, so as
to improve the utilization rate of cyber source, to provide the best support for different users use different service. It
will form an end to end logical network, and flexibly provide one or more network services according to the demand
of slicing demand. It is a form of network sharing and a way of on-demand networking. For each network slice,
proprietary resources such as virtual servers, network bandwidth, and service quality are fully guaranteed. Because
the slices are isolated from each other, a slice of error or fault does not affect the communication of other slices.

6th International Conference on Computer-Aided Design, Manufacturing, Modeling and Simulation (CDMMS 2018)
AIP Conf. Proc. 1967, 020004-1–020004-7; https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5038976
Published by AIP Publishing. 978-0-7354-1672-7/$30.00

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 Network slicing is an important embodiment of the application of network function Virtualization (NFV) and
software defined network (SDN) to the 5G stage. So SDN and NFV are the key technical support for the
implementation of network slicing.

Software defined network (SDN)

Software defined network (SDN) as a new type of network architecture in the future, the network can be
programmable and control and forwarding separation two features into the Internet and mobile communications and
other fields, solving the problem existing in the network is not flexible and rigid, accelerate the new application in the
network deployment and online[4]. It can separate the forwarding plane and control plane of network devices, flexibly
schedule and control network traffic, and realize network automation and intelligence [5]. The existing SDN
architecture is mainly composed of three layers: Infrastructure Layer, which contains a large number of basic network
devices, and is responsible for the rule processing and data forwarding from the control layer. The control layer of the
layer is the core of the whole structure, responsible for data forwarding resource arrangement, network topology
control, information collection etc. The application layer, as its name implies, contains a large number of application
services that call resources through the northbound interface. The top layer is the application layer, the lower layer is
the infrastructure layer, and the middle control layer is connected with the application layer and the infrastructure
layer through the north interface and the South interface respectively. The three structures are shown in figure 1.

FIGURE 1. SDN three layer architecture diagram

Network function Virtualization (NFV)

Network function Virtualization (NFV) is a technology based on the concept of control / data forwarding separation,
virtualization, SDN controller, and data center. Its main function is to create the dynamics of the network element and
provide virtual resources to decouple the hardware and software of the traditional telecommunication equipment. The
functions of network devices no longer rely on special hardware, and can be abstracted into virtual resources
corresponding to physical resources by virtualization technology, so that they can be used for upper level applications
to achieve the purpose of virtualization of network functions. The IT resources needed can be fully and flexibly shared,
so as to realize the rapid development and deployment of new businesses, and achieve automatic deployment, elastic
expansion, fault isolation and healing according to actual business needs [6]. The main idea is to install the equipment
in the corresponding virtual machine software, which constitutes a virtual network device, as long as the virtual
machine is assigned to the IT resource and the real ability of the same hardware, network equipment and network
performance of virtual entity is the same. In accordance with the previously established network topology, the virtual

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network element is connected to form a virtual network. The main function of NFV is to realize virtual network
elements and virtual networks, and the network construction and organization form have changed, but the performance
of the network is not changed. The architecture diagram is shown in figure 2.

FIGURE 2. NFV architecture diagram

The evolutionary value of SDN and NFV for network slicing architectures
A SDN achieves the control and forwarding separation, and puts control functions to the SDN controller, and A
SDN controller is formed to control the situation of multiple forwarding devices simultaneously, centralized control
simplifies the infrastructure requirements, to enhance the network by using intelligent centralized control. Among
them, the top API interface in SDN architecture has the characteristics of openness, enabling operators or application
APP to flexibly increase and delete business according to their needs, and allow users to customize or develop two
times.

ARCHITECTURE ANALYSIS OF NETWORK SLICE

The network is the mainstream architecture section presents two main technology of SDN, based on NFV, which
includes five main parts, operations and business support system management module, scheduling module, SDN
controller module, NFV module, hardware virtualization layer resource layer module [7]. The architecture of the
concrete slice is a proper combination of SDN and NFV schema diagrams.

Operation and Business support system module (OSS/BSS)

As the top OSS/BSS system, it mainly controls the functional modules of the whole network, including the static
configuration of the infrastructure and function of the network, while limiting the network service resources. It is the
core control module of the whole network. Operations and business support system module by operators or service
providers and three party requests for each module network virtualization layer in providing customized strategy,

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management and configuration of SDN controller, management arrangement module, hardware resources module,
configuration information and timely updates of customized strategies and corresponding module, real time the
command to adjust SDN controller, SDN controller to maintain the operating environment.

Management and Orchestration (MANO)

MANO is NFV's management orchestration module, mainly composed of three entities: virtualized infrastructure
manager (VIM), virtual network function management (VNFM) and orchestrator. It is mainly responsible for the
dynamic configuration of the infrastructure and functions of the entire network. To complete the virtualization layer,
the hardware resource layer management and layout, is responsible for the mapping between virtual network and
hardware resources and OSS / BSS implementation of business resource processes. The slice management layout
consists of three phases:

Design stage

In this stage, the demand side section provided by section management function template and editing tools,
parameters setting section, including network topology, function module and interaction protocol, performance index
and hardware requirements etc. OSS/BSS generates the relevant NS use cases based on the service requirements. The
NS use case contains the network functions needed for the service, the interfaces between the network elements, the
network elements, and the network resources needed by the network elements.

Example

The slice management function sends the slice description file to the NFV MANO function to instantiate the slice
and sends the connectivity test through the network element configuration through the interface with the slice to finally
finish the migration of the slice to the running state.

Operation and Management

At run-time, the owner can slice on slices of the real-time monitoring and dynamic maintenance by slicing
management function of contraction, expansion and dynamic adjustment of the distribution mainly include cyber
source, add, delete and update the section function, alarm processing and fault release in the life cycle of off network
slicing, dynamic change of real-time response services and networks, to ensure efficient cyber source utilization and
good user experience.

SDN controller module

The SDN controller is a logical control entity that can be centralized or dispersed. It mainly monitors the
forwarding equipment status in the management area, and determines the forwarding path and processing strategy of
each service flow, so as to ensure the corresponding service quality guarantee for each service. In the SDN control
plane, through the dynamic allocation and software arrangement of the computing hardware, storage hardware and
network hardware resources, the connection between hardware resources and programming capability is realized. In
the data plane, through the operation behavior of the virtual layer abstraction, the interface between the virtual function
layer networks customized using a high-level language, so as to achieve the goal of optimizing the allocation of
resources for the performance requirements and application. At the same time, SDN is also responsible for scheduling
strategy mapping between virtual and real cyber source of cyber source, as the network architecture in section
conversion unit and the conversion unit can automatically adjust the mapping strategy, this can be a greater degree of
utilization of resources and meet the needs of users [8]. The SDN controller is connected with the NFV virtualization
layer, the hardware resources, plays a key role in connecting the characteristics of programmable SDN controller,
which makes the whole sections of the structure become more flexible and elastic, can adapt to the various network
configuration of virtual scene.

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 NFV virtualization layer module
NFV virtualization layer is mainly related to access network and core network related virtual network control, and
its structure is somewhat like the traditional network. At the same time, according to the OSS/BSS or core network
virtual network control module feedback instructions, information creation and release operations [9]. The OSS/BSS
system transmits the corresponding identifier to the user, and the user can correctly access the corresponding access
network element and the core network element according to the identification of the corresponding identifier so as to
establish a communication connection with the operator.

Hardware resource layer module

The hardware resource layer includes three parts: the computing hardware, the storage hardware and the network
hardware. Mainly responsible for the entire slice of the most basic hardware resource allocation, support for the entire
communication network of the underlying hardware pool of resources, such as servers, operating systems, switches
and so on.

INSTANTIATION PROCESS OF NETWORK SLICE

The process of network segment instantiation is mainly divided into four parts: design, creation, deployment, and
offline. At the time of instantiation, the network slice can adjust the resource on demand according to the dynamic
demand of the business and the user, and improve the flexibility of the network [10]. The whole process is closely
related to the Network Slice Management (System), and the network slicing Manager (NSM) structure is shown in
figure 3.

Design
The design phase involves the design and provision of commercial products related to network slicing, and the
development of service level agreements based on the type of service and the tenant's needs. Slice Support System
(SSS) plays a crucial role in the design of web slices. The SSS mainly includes two function blocks: Network Slice
Template Designer and Cross-Domain Slice Manager. One of the network slice template designers is to design the
corresponding slice template according to the service type, the network capabilities of each technical field of
generating the network slice templates, and the function and performance requirements of the tenants. The domain
slice manager (DSM) in DSS is responsible for designing the provision of network slices for subnets in a single
technology domain, runtime SLA guarantee and slice off-line. DSS ensures a real-time guarantee of the ability to
decompose SLAs in real time in each domain.

Establish
During the creation of a network slice, relevant network elements in the network firstly adapt the slice for the
service and then allocate dedicated resources according to their service requirements and current network resource
conditions, and configure them on the premise of not affecting the performance of other slices Share resource.

Deployment
After the successful purchase, the product deployment is triggered by BSS. Operators' Business Support Systems
(BSSs) are tenant-oriented and operators use BSS to provide tenants with their abstract network capabilities. Network
slicing completes the deployment through SDN / NFV, has provided the diversified and personalized network service.

Offline
A network slice is a deletion operation on a slice of a BSS that is found at the end of the life cycle of the slice after
viewing the tenant's operation.

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 FIGURE 3. Network slicing Manager (NSM) structure

SUMMARY AND PROSPECT OF NETWORK SLICING

Summary
Network slicing has become one of the most representative network service capabilities in 5G networks. SDN and
NFV have become the main technical support network section, through business scene demand for network
customized cutting and realizing network flexibility, and optimize business processes and data routing, makes use of
cyber source to achieve the optimization [12]. At the same time, it can also meet the dynamic needs of users, so that
the network has the ability to dynamically allocate resources, and more flexibly adapt to the real-time business needs
of users. Although network slicing has great potential, the problems we face are still much larger.

Prospect
Network slicing technology will be an important means for future operators and OTT companies to cooperate with
each other. It will be the key technology for operators to realize new profit models. In order to support the network
section of the ultimate experience, efficiency and performance of the challenge, grasp the new opportunities for the
future development of the information industry, to realize the integrated information service platform to make strategic
transformation, the network service needs and business section more closely set, to further enhance the service ability
of system [13].

CONCLUDING REMARK
5G will be a revolutionary innovation in mobile communications technology that meets people's needs for quality
of life and delivers ubiquitous low latency, low power, and high-security networks [14]. The 5G network slicing is
precisely the 5G multiplex structure indispensable method. As technologies such as software-defined networking and
virtualization continue to evolve, the value and implications of web-based slicing are emerging. Although many
achievements have been made in the research and work of network slicing, the implementation of network slicing is
still faced with many challenges in network slicing, partial scenes and functional requirements. Further research is
needed.

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