A Network Slicing Algorithm for 5G Vehicular Networks

Fifth generation (5G) vehicular networks support various services with strict Quality of Service (QoS) constraints. Network access technologies such as the LTE Vehicle to Everything (LTE-V2X) and the IEEE 802.11ac/ax provide network access to users, while Software Defined Networking (SDN) provides centralized control of the heterogeneous network environment. In this environment, each vehicle could serve multiple passengers with multiple services. Therefore, the design of efficient resource allocation schemes for 5G vehicular infrastructures is needed. This paper describes a network slicing scheme for 5G systems that aims to optimize the performance of modern vehicular services. In particular, the throughput that each user obtains for his services is considered. If the available connection throughput is above a predefined service threshold, then the necessary telecommunication resources from the current Point of Access (PoA) are allocated to support the user’s services. On the contrary, if the available connection throughput is lower than the aforementioned threshold, additional resources from a Virtual Resource Pool (VRP) located at the SDN controller are committed by the PoA in order to satisfy the required services. Performance evaluation shows that the suggested method outperforms existing algorithms in terms of throughput, end to end delay, jitter and packet loss ratio.