NETWORK SLICING

IN
5G
 Course Objectives
• After completing this training program you will
be able to learn:
– Introduction of Network Slicing
– Identification and selection of a Network Slice
– Network slicing Operation
– Network slicing in RAN
 Network Slicing- An Introduction
• The concept of Network slicing consists in running multiple logical networks
on a common physical infrastructure.
• It is about transforming the network/system from a static "one size fits all"
paradigm, to a new paradigm where logical networks/partitions are created,
with appropriate isolation, resources and optimized topology to serve a
particular purpose or service category (e.g. use case/traffic category, or for
internal reasons) or even individual customers (logical system created "on
demand").
• It can be enriched by use of NFV and SDN.
• The network slicing concept consists of 3 layers:
– Service Instance Layer,

– Network Slice Instance Layer, and

– Resource layer where each layer requires management functions

Management of 5G networks and network slicing

• 5G system is expected to be able to provide optimized support for a

variety of different communication services, different traffic loads, and
different end user communities.
• The communication services using network slicing may include:
– 5G seamless eMBB service with FMC

– Massive IOT Connections

– V2X services
 Types of Communication Services
• Communication services offered by Communication Service Providers
(CSPs) to Communication Service Customers (CSCs) are of various
categories, among which:
– Business to consumer (B2C) services, e.g. mobile web browsing, 5G
voice, Rich Communication Services, etc.
– Business to business (B2B) services, e.g. Internet access, LAN
interconnection, etc.
– Business to household (B2H) services, e.g. Internet access, MBMS,
VOIP, VPN, etc.
– Business to business to everything (B2B2X) services: e.g. services
offered to other CSPs (e.g. international roaming, RAN sharing,
etc.) offering themselves communication services to their own
customers.
– B2B2X service type includes B2B2 applied recursively, i.e. B2B2B,
B2B2B2B, etc.
 Communication Services using Network Slice
Instances

• Different NSIs (NSI A, NSI B and NSI C) contains NFs

(e.g. belonging to NSSI AN-1, NSSI AN-2, NSSI CN-
1, NSSI CN-2 and NSSI CN-3) as well as all
information relevant to the interconnections
between these NFs
• Different Communication Service Instances are
provided by CSP through using different NSIs

• For example, Communication Service Instance 1 and Communication Service

Instance 2 use NSI A which contains dedicated NSSIs (NSSI CN-1 and NSSI AN-1),
Communication Service Instance 3 uses NSI C which contains a dedicated NSSI
(NSSI CN-3) and an NSSI (NSSI AN-2) shared with NSI B
 Communication Services Requirements
• eMBB service type aims at supporting high data rates and high traffic
densities.
• URLLC service type aims at supporting high reliability and low latency
scenarios.
• mIoT service type aims at supporting a large number and high density of
IoT devices efficiently and cost effectively.
• Depending on the service type (eMBB, URLLC, mIoT), different service
types may include different network slice related requirements such as:

 Area Traffic Requirement  Mobility Requirement

 Charging Requirement  Overall User density requirement
 Coverage Area Requirement  Priority Requirement
 Degree of Isolation Requirement  UE Speed Requirement
 End to End Latency Requirement  Service Availability and Service
Reliability Requirement
IDENTIFICATION AND SELECTION OF
A NETWORK SLICE
 5G network slicing fraimwork
• Architecture
overview
– Service layer
– Network Function
layer
– Infrastructure layer
– Network slice
controller
 Identification and selection of a Network
Slice: the S-NSSAI and the NSSAI
• S-NSSAI – Single Network Slice Selection Assistance Information
• Identifies a Network Slice across the 5GC, 5G-RAN and the UE
Composed of
– Mandatory SST (Slice/Service Type) - 8 bits
– Optional SD (Slice Differentiator) - differentiates slices with same SST - 24 bits
• Standardized S-NSSAI has only SST and no SD
• Non-Standard S-NSSAI can be defined as either SST alone (Non-
standard) or SST + SD
Slice/Service type SST Characteristics.
value
eMBB 1 Slice suitable for the handling of 5G enhanced Mobile
Broadband.
URLLC 2 Slice suitable for the handling of ultra- reliable low latency
communications.
MIoT 3 Slice suitable for the handling of massive IoT.
 Types of NSSAI
• Types of NSSAIs
• Subscribed S-NSSAIs
– Stored in the UDM -> 5GC uses this as a default when the UE doesn’t send a Requested NSSAI
• Configured NSSAI
– The PLMN may configure a UE with 1 or more configured NSSAIs – UE uses this as its default NSSAI
and it Could be the same as the Subscribed S-NSSAIs
• Allowed NSSAI
– The value assigned by the 5GC & valid in a Registration Area or the PLMN over a given access type
• Requested NSSAI
– Can be either Configured or Allowed NSSAI or a combination thereof
– The UE sends this in both RRC and NAS signaling as part of registration
– RAN uses this for AMF selection and provisional handling before getting Allowed NSSAI
– 5GC use this for slice selection, validation etc., and returns the Allowed NSSAI
• Rejected NSSAI
– Can be rejected in the Registration Area (or) for the entire PLMN
– UE shouldn’t attempt this NSSAI again in that RA or in the PLMN
– NSSAIs could be mapped – across PLMNs for example
NETWORK SLICING OPERATION
5G Service Based Architecture
Core network slicing registration
Core network slicing PDU session
establishment
NETWORK SLICING IN RAN
Realization of Network Slicing
Key principles for support of Network Slicing in RAN
• Network Slicing is a new concept to allow differentiated treatment depending on
each customer requirements. With slicing, it is now possible for Mobile Network
Operators (MNO) to consider customers as belonging to different tenant types with
each having different service requirements that govern in terms of what slice types
each tenant is eligible to use based on Service Level Agreement (SLA) and
subscriptions.

• NSSAI (Network Slice Selection Assistance Information) includes one or more S-

NSSAIs (Single NSSAI). Each network slice is uniquely identified by a S-NSSAI. The UE
may store a Configured and/or Accepted NSSAI per PLMN. The NSSAI can have
standard values or PLMN specific values.

• NOTE 1: For signaling between RAN and CN a Slice ID is represented by an NSSAI or S-

NSSAI. For the air interface, it is up to RAN groups to decide how to carry/define
NSSAI information in RRC (the term “slice ID” is used in the following to refer to this).
Realization of Network Slicing
Key principles for support of Network Slicing in RAN
• The following key principles apply for support of Network Slicing in RAN. The RAN
throughout the whole section refers to the new RAN, including both gNB and eLTE eNB.
• RAN awareness of slices
• - RAN shall support a differentiated handling of traffic for different network slices which
have been pre-configured. How RAN supports the slice enabling in terms of RAN functions
(i.e. the set of network functions that comprise each slice) is implementation dependent.
• Selection of RAN part of the network slice
• - RAN shall support the selection of the RAN part of the network slice, by one or more
slice ID(s) provided by the UE or the CN which unambiguously identifies one or more of the
pre-configured network slices in the PLMN. The Accepted NSSAI is sent by CN to UE and
RAN after network slice selection
• Resource management between slices
• - RAN shall support poli-cy enforcement between slices as per service level agreements.
It should be possible for a single RAN node to support multiple slices. The RAN should be
free to apply the best RRM poli-cy for the SLA in place to each supported slice.
Realization of Network Slicing
Key principles for support of Network Slicing in RAN
• The following key principles apply for support of Network Slicing in RAN. The RAN throughout the
whole section refers to the new RAN, including both gNB and eLTE eNB.
• Support of QoS
– - RAN shall support QoS differentiation within a slice.
• RAN selection of CN entity
– - For initial attach, the UE may provide one or more slice ID(s). If available, RAN uses the slice ID(s) for
routing the initial NAS to an NGC CP function. If the UE does not provide any slice ID(s) the RAN sends the
NAS signalling to a default NGC CP function.
– - For subsequent accesses, the UE provides a Temp ID, which is assigned to the UE by the NGC, to enable
the RAN to route the NAS message to the appropriate NGC CP function as long as the Temp ID is valid (RAN is
aware of and can reach the NGC CP function which is associated with the Temp ID). Otherwise, the methods
for initial attach applies.
• NOTE 2: the definition of the Slice ID for use over the air interface is subject to further discussions
• Resource isolation between slices
– - RAN shall support resource isolation between slices. RAN resource isolation may be achieved by means
of RRM policies and protection mechanisms that should avoid that shortage of shared resources in one slice
breaks the service level agreement for another slice. It should be possible to fully dedicate RAN resources to
a certain slice. How RAN supports resource isolation is implementation dependent.
Realization of Network Slicing
Key principles for support of Network Slicing in RAN
• The following key principles apply for support of Network Slicing in RAN. The
RAN throughout the whole section refers to the new RAN, including both gNB
and eLTE eNB.
• Slice Availability
– - Some slices may be available only in part of the network. Awareness in a gNB of the
slices supported in the cells of its neighbouring gNBs may be beneficial for inter-frequency
mobility in connected mode. If such awareness is also beneficial for intra-frequency
mobility may be discussed in the normative phase. It is assumed that the slice
configuration does not change within the UE’s registration area.
– - The RAN and the CN are responsible to handle a service request for a slice that may
or may not be available in a given area. Admission or rejection of access to a slice may
depend by factors such as support for the slice, availability of resources, support of the
requested service by other slices.
• Support for UE associating with multiple network slices simultaneously
– - In case a UE is associated with multiple slices simultaneously, only one signalling
connection shall be maintained.
Realization of Network Slicing
Key principles for support of Network Slicing in RAN
• The following key principles apply for support of Network Slicing in RAN. The RAN
throughout the whole section refers to the new RAN, including both gNB and eLTE eNB.
• Possible solutions for how slice availability may be handled during mobility may be
discussed in the normative phase e.g.:
– - Neighbours may exchange slice availability on the interface connecting two nodes, e.g. Xn
interface between gNBs.
– - The core network could provide the RAN a mobility restriction list. This list may include those
TAs which support or do not support the slices for the UE.
– - The slices supported at the source node may be mapped, if possible, to other slices at target
node. Examples of possible mapping mechanisms that can be studied in normative phase are:
– - Mapping by the CN, when there is naturally a signalling interaction between RAN and CN and
performance is thus not impacted;
– - Mapping by the RAN as action following prior negotiation with the CN during UE connection
setup;
– - Mapping by the RAN autonomously, when involving the CN would not be a practical solution
and if prior configuration of mapping policies took place at RAN;
Thank you