On the Demonstration and Evaluation of Service-Based Slices in 5G Test Network using NFV

Abstract

This paper demonstrates the realization of different network services, 5G Test Network (5GTN) as a mobile network operator at the University of Oulu provides based on an open access network availability for research and innovation. A network platform with use case and service dedicated slicing is designed on the fundamental principles of ETSI compliant NFV Management and Network Orchestration (MANO) framework. The slicing is done primarily on the Core Networks (CN) with evolved packet core and ip multimedia subsystem functionalities in different slices. The virtual network function instances are instantiated in OpenStack and VMWare cloud environments using an NFV Orchestrator. The virtual instances and the required resources can be instantiated, terminated and scaled in a slice according to the requirements of the end user and nature of the use case. Focusing on different service demands, the paper demonstrates three test cases utilizing different slices from the components in the CN for each case. It also provides an overview on radio spectrum sharing possibility between two operators on a specified service level agreement with each operator having own CN infrastructure.