网络切片 - Network Slicing

Definition

For the most general definition, a slice can be considered as a set of flows belonging to different end users (mobile clients of the wireless service in our case). Then, a slice supports flows of multiple end users, but at the same time, an end user can participate in multiple slices. A flow (stream of packets) is an atomic entity in this approach, it can have specific QoS requirements and is a member of a single slice. For example, a flow in an IP network could be defined by the tuple composed by source and destination IP addresses and ports.

Furthermore, a slice can be defined as a subset of network resources allocated to a tenant (virtual operator or service provider), with complete control over those resources. An important aspect of the slicing design approach is the delivery of customization and programmability tools to the tenant.

Examples

Examples of slices can be: all the flows whose source or destination is a given type of device such as sensors; or all the flows from a VoIP service; or, all the flows with source or destination the end user of a given operator. Depending on the specification of a slice, an end user can participate on different slices but, slices are always independent between each other. In the context of wireless networks, we envision two big scenarios for using slices:

• Quality of Service Slicing: the idea is to create slices to offer different services and assure some type of QoS within the slice. For example, a slice can be created to give service to a specific group of devices with the same requirements (sensors or smartphones) or by type of application (e.g., a slice for multimedia services).

• Infrastructure Sharing Slicing: this is the traditional idea of network virtualization applied to the wireless domain. There is a tenant (e.g., Mobile Virtual Network Operator), which is given a slice of the network. The tenant has complete control over the network infrastructure and functions within the slice.

参考文献：

[1] Richart M, Baliosian J, Serrat J, et al. Resource slicing in virtual wireless networks: A survey[J]. IEEE Transactions on Network and Service Management, 2016, 13(3): 462-476.