Network Slicing (NS) is a key enabler of the upcoming 5G and beyond system, leveraging on both Network Function Virtualization (NFV) and Software Defined Networking (SDN), NS will enable a flexible deployment of Network Functions (NFs) belonging to multiple Service Function Chains (SFC) over various administrative and technological domains. Our novel architecture addresses the complexities and heterogeneities of verticals targeted by 5G systems, whereby each slice consists of a set of SFCs, and each SFC handles specific traffic within the slice. In this paper, we propose and evaluate a MILP optimization model to solve the complexities that arise from this new environment. Our proposed model enables a cost-optimal deployment of network slices allowing a mobile network operator to efficiently allocate the underlying layer resources according to its users’ requirements. We also design a greedy-based heuristic to investigate the possible trade-offs between execution runtime and network slice deployment. For each network slice, the proposed solution guarantees the required delay and the bandwidth, while efficiently handling the use of both the VNF nodes and the physical nodes, reducing the service provider's Operating Expenditure (OPEX).

中文翻译：

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5G网络跨域网络切片优化模型

网络切片 (NS) 是即将到来的 5G 及更高系统的关键推动因素，利用网络功能虚拟化 (NFV) 和软件定义网络 (SDN)，NS 将能够灵活部署属于多个服务的网络功能 (NF)各种管理和技术领域的功能链 (SFC)。我们的新颖架构解决了 5G 系统所针对的垂直领域的复杂性和异构性，其中每个切片由一组 SFC 组成，每个 SFC 处理切片内的特定流量。在本文中，我们提出并评估了一个 MILP 优化模型，以解决这种新环境产生的复杂性。我们提出的模型实现了网络切片的成本优化部署，允许移动网络运营商根据其用户的要求有效地分配底层资源。我们还设计了一个基于贪婪的启发式方法来研究执行运行时和网络切片部署之间可能的权衡。对于每个网络切片，所提出的解决方案保证所需的延迟和带宽，同时有效地处理 VNF 节点和物理节点的使用，减少服务提供商的运营支出 (OPEX)。