On the Rollout of Network Slicing in Carrier Networks: A Technology Radar
Metadatos
Mostrar el registro completo del ítemAutor
Ordoñez Lucena, José; Ameigeiras Gutiérrez, Pablo José; Contreras, Luis M.; Folgueira Chavarría, Jesús; López, Diego R.Editorial
MDPI
Materia
End-to-end network slicing 5G Smart networks and services Multi-domain orchestration Technology radar Roll-out plan
Fecha
2021Referencia bibliográfica
Ordonez-Lucena, J.; Ameigeiras, P.; Contreras, L.M.; Folgueira, J.; López, D.R. On the Rollout of Network Slicing in Carrier Networks: A Technology Radar. Sensors 2021, 21, 8094. https:// doi.org/10.3390/s21238094
Patrocinador
H2020 European Projects 5G-VINNI (grant agreement No. 815279) and 5G-CLARITY (grant agreement No. 871428); Spanish national project TRUE-5G (PID2019-108713RB-C53)Resumen
Network slicing is a powerful paradigm for network operators to support use cases with
widely diverse requirements atop a common infrastructure. As 5G standards are completed, and
commercial solutions mature, operators need to start thinking about how to integrate network slicing
capabilities in their assets, so that customer-facing solutions can be made available in their portfolio.
This integration is, however, not an easy task, due to the heterogeneity of assets that typically exist
in carrier networks. In this regard, 5G commercial networks may consist of a number of domains,
each with a different technological pace, and built out of products from multiple vendors, including
legacy network devices and functions. These multi-technology, multi-vendor and brownfield features
constitute a challenge for the operator, which is required to deploy and operate slices across all these
domains in order to satisfy the end-to-end nature of the services hosted by these slices. In this context,
the only realistic option for operators is to introduce slicing capabilities progressively, following a
phased approach in their roll-out. The purpose of this paper is to precisely help designing this kind
of plan, by means of a technology radar. The radar identifies a set of solutions enabling network
slicing on the individual domains, and classifies these solutions into four rings, each corresponding
to a different timeline: (i) as-is ring, covering today’s slicing solutions; (ii) deploy ring, corresponding
to solutions available in the short term; (iii) test ring, considering medium-term solutions; and
(iv) explore ring, with solutions expected in the long run. This classification is done based on the
technical availability of the solutions, together with the foreseen market demands. The value of this
radar lies in its ability to provide a complete view of the slicing landscape with one single snapshot,
by linking solutions to information that operators may use for decision making in their individual
go-to-market strategies.