Enabling Dynamic Resource Sharing for Slice Customization in 5G Networks

Network slicing is one of the main novelty of 5G systems and it is expected to radically change the approach of network operators to the support of vertical applications managed by tenants with specific and stringent performance requirements. Static allocation of resources to slices is a straightforward approach to meet Service Level Agreements (SLAs), but it may lead to dramatic inefficiencies and high costs. On the other side, dynamic sharing can greatly improve resource utilization, but it requires a strict control of performance parameters so as to guarantee small congestion probability and smoothed degradation when it occurs. In this paper, we propose a utility-based approach that can properly map the slice customization strategies that tenants can have to address the different requirements of their traffic and their specific policies in service management. We define resource scheduling mechanisms that allow differentiation among slices and service prioritization through negotiable slice parameters. We model resource allocation as a mathematical programming problem and present numerical results that show the viability of the proposed approach.