Cross-domain Slice Orchestration for Advanced Vertical Trials in a Multi-Vendor 5G Facility

摘要

As 5G standards are completed and technical development of 5G products matures, the pressure for mobile operators to launch commercial networks with advanced capabilities (e.g. network slicing) increases. Despite that, industry forecasts suggest that adoption rates of next-generation networks will be slower compared to previous evolutions. Indeed, unlike 4G, in case of 5G there is i) a novel set of customers, i.e. the verticals, which may bring innovative use cases with unprecedented KPIs, and ii) a confluence of novel technologies, developed across different layers and provided by different vendors. 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. 5G-VINNI project, based on the provisioning of end-to-end network slices for advanced vertical experimentation using a multi-domain 5G facility infrastructure, has born to explore these novelties. This paper addresses the problem of cross-domain slice orchestration, proposing a federated-oriented, standards-based solution to allow transparent interoperability and interworking between different domains, each using a distinct orchestration solution.