The upcoming 5G ecosystem is envisioned to build business-driven network slices to accommodate the different needs of divergent service types, applications, and services in support of vertical industries. In this article, we describe the network slicing concept by unveiling a novel network slicing architecture for integrated 5G communications. Further, we demonstrate its realization for the case of evolved LTE using state-of-the-art technologies. Finally, we elaborate on the LTE-specific requirements toward 5G, and point out existing challenges and open issues.
In this work, we present how programmable dataplane technology (software routers) offers an easy-to-apply mechanism to create virtual wireless networks and support buffering and scheduling decisions. Furthermore, we present a feedbackbased buffering mechanism that is able to provide throughput ratio guarantees per virtual network, without requiring any modifications in the 802.11 driver and without relying on statistical knowledge of the workload per virtual network or knowledge regarding the channel conditions. We implement the proposed mechanism in a software router in a 802.11 Access Point and we evaluate its performance in a wireless testbed environment. The methodology and the mechanics developed are generic and with some modifications can be applied to differentiating services for other types of guarantees like delay.
A great part of research activities, which are related to network and system integration towards a holistic 5G system, is still ahead of us. The reason is that despite the unprecedented advancements in the wireless link capacity, the actual 5G ecosystem contains numerous diverse software and hardware technologies including a multitude of components for different radio access networks. Moreover, the combination of various services requires complex functionality of the system. All these factors have immediate impact on the final performance and actual future modifications of 5G production systems. From the Telecom provider perspective, extreme pressure is put on the existing infrastructure. Traffic demand has dramatically increased, therefore preserving appropriate communications quality, responding to massive traffic volumes, and supporting a number of diverse use cases is a great challenge for future communication networks.
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