The overarching reason for 5G technology is to create new markets and services in industry verticals and in the government. 5G Network slicing brings the concept of compute virtualization to the telco industry and enables it to build out of end to end business services tailored to different use cases. The main categories 5G use cases depend on network slicing as a foundation https://www.vamsitalkstech.com/cloud/the-three-key-use-case-areas-for-5g/
Network Slicing in 5G
A Network Slice can be defined as an independent, secure and end-to-end (logical) network that runs on a shared physical 5G infrastructure. The slice provides a pre-negotiated QoS (Quality of Service) and an SLA(Service Level Agreement) to business customers. SDN and NFV technologies are used to provide this capability. The feasibility of using NFV and SDN for slicing has been recently studied.
(Image Credit: ITU News)
Similar to how a cloud provider works, Network slicing enables 5G service providers to partition their networks (NFs, physical hardware, etc) so that end-customer applications and services can use or lease them for their specific purposes, in isolation from other customers. It enables operators to monetize their 5G investments and enter into business agreements based on policies, tiers that provide value-added services such as monitoring, security, etc on the basic slice. For instance, applications that use machine-to-machine communication (e.g. logistics) will benefit from low latency as opposed to faster speeds. In other use cases such as AR/VR, access to certain types of edge functions (such as AI/ML) may be of higher importance. By customizing each network slice to the requirement of the industry, the 5G operator can provide tailored services.
A Network Slice is a complete logical network including Radio Access Network (RAN) and Core Network (CN). It provides telecommunication services and network capabilities, which may vary (or not) from slice to slice. Distinct RAN and Core Network Slices will exist. A device may access multiple Network Slices simultaneously through a single RAN.
While it has been present for decades in the software industry, the concept of partitioning the underlying physical network into multiple underlying portions that can be shared among customers is new to 5G.
The Three main components employed by network slicing are –
- NFs (Network functions): Every slice includes specific or general network functions which provide the service offered to the customer
- Network Virtualization: an abstraction that allows the decoupling of the network function instance from the hardware that it runs on
- Network Orchestration: Orchestration coordinates the placement, deployment of the different network components that make up each network slice. While SDN is used to create a flexible network configuration, one way to design a slice orchestrator would be an application that can intake needed service blueprints, communicate with an SDN controller and then instantiate the slice and deploys it on the physical network
The vision for Network Slicing ultimately is to be composed of all resources needed for end-to-end service delivery. Whether these resources are physical, or virtual, logical, or shared by means of a profile. Logical implying that NFs, management and orchestration capabilities, etc. Some of these resources can also be shared across slices, consumed by means of purchase or lease from other entities (such as hyperscalers, cloud infrastructure software providers, etc). However, the first few versions of Network slices may be fairly status such as VLANs, etc. But they will evolve to handle industry and vertical scenarios such as Connected Car, Industrial Manufacturing, Advanced Analytics, AR/VR streaming etc. Each of these use cases will offer levels of service based on QoS based on business requirements and the complexity of the underlying networking.
Conclusion
Network slicing should be thought of as true business-level virtualization for 5G networks. Operators will be able to share the same 5G physical infrastructure among many multiple tenants – 5G service operators, enterprises and consumers. Network slicing over 5G enables CAPEX reduction as well as OPEX reduction and efficiencies. Expect to find hundreds of use cases ranging from Smart Cities to Manufacturing to Financial Services to Utilities to leverage network slicing over the next decade. The next blogpost will discuss the benefits of slicing to both Operators and Customers.
Featured Image credit: Chad Montano at Unsplash