Interworking of Softwarized Infrastructures for Enabling 5G Multi-Site Slice Orchestration

摘要

5G is the next step in the evolution of operational networks, happening after the successful introduction of past generations like 3G or 4G. However, different with previous evolutions, in the case of 5G there is a confluence of novel technologies at different levels, ranging from the radio access to the virtualization technologies. Building, running and operating all of these new innovations is extremely challenging because of the novelty and the lack of previous experience on integrating them altogether. The base that sustains these new capabilities is the emergence of softwarized networks enabling automation, programmability and virtualization. The paper addresses the case of deploying 5G service slices by describing an architecture design for enabling orchestration in a multi-site environment, formed by 5G end-to-end facilities offered to vertical industries for experimentation, providing realistic situations for all the stakeholders on such multi-site environments (i.e., customers, providers, manufacturers, integrators, etc).