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What is Network Slicing and How to Manage it?

Dec 09. 2021

  • Kibeom Nam

    Head of Management S/W R&D Group, Networks Business, Samsung Electronics

As of today, 5G has commercialized in over 70 countries and as 5G services continue to expand, mobile operators are looking to advance their 5G networks to power more diverse and new use cases. This has fueled the need for an efficient approach to enhance operators’ network capabilities, being able to high quality of services more swiftly.

 

One way to support this would be to use an advanced technology called network slicing, which enables a mobile operator to create multiple logical networks on an existing network infrastructure, while guaranteeing diverse characteristics, including enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), Ultra-Reliable Low-Latency Communications (URLLC) and massive Machine-Type Communications (mMTC).     

 

In this blog, we will explore network slicing. 

 

What is Network Slicing?

 

Network slicing, defined in 3GPP Release 16, allows operators to offer different network capabilities and services on the same physical infrastructure. Network slicing takes a physical 5G network and divides it into multiple logical or virtual networks. This way, a slice gets a part of the network, from the core to the edge, with resources and services specifically targeted to meet the needs of its users.

 

A slice can comprehensively combine network attributes, such as data throughput and latency. Furthermore, network slices operate independently from one another, simplifying network operations and increasing security.

What are the Benefits of Network Slicing?


Network slicing can help operators generate new revenue streams. With this advanced technology, mobile operators can dynamically introduce new 5G services, effectively expanding their traditional business base to include even more enterprises, municipals, retailers and others.

 

In addition, network slicing helps operators save on deployment costs with its ability to create distinctive, virtual slices in the same network, eliminating the need to deploy additional networks. Network slicing also allows operators to introduce new use cases promptly while maintaining existing service levels, reducing time-to-market and improving operational efficiency. 

 

From the customer's point of view, allocation of a network slice is equivalent to having their own dedicated network, designed to meet their particular demands, without the complexity of deploying additional 5G network solutions.

 

Managing Network Slicing

 

While mobile operators actively expand their business services, more than hundreds or even thousands of network slices can be created, making it more difficult to manually manage. This placed higher importance on the need for comprehensive management solutions, such as the orchestrator. An orchestrator supports the entire network slicing lifecycle from designing to maintaining of multiple slices simultaneously. With this orchestrator, mobile operators can automate the management and operation of network slices in real time and dynamically switch slices according to the customer’s needs.

 

End-to-End Network Slicing with Samsung’s 5G Solutions

 

In order to achieve end-to-end network slicing, the entire 5G infrastructure from the Core and to edge need the ability to support the technology. Samsung Networks has a complete set of 5G commercial solutions, including Radio Access Network (RAN), Core, and analytics as well as the orchestrator, all capable of supporting network slicing.

 

Among these comprehensive 5G solutions, Samsung Cloud Orchestrator(SCO), which is an integrated automation platform for the operation of complete network domains, enables the automated management of the entire networks and network slicing. With SCO, mobile operators can create an automated cycle of provisioning, operation and optimization, resulting in a more speedy and convenient operation, moving towards zero-touch. The orchestrator can be introduced to any network environment to provide accelerated onboarding and provisioning of physical, virtualized and containerized network functions and enable continuous new deployment of such network functions. This entire process can be monitored through a centralized portal, where users can assess the radio, transport and core networks in a single view. Complete automation of network management will help operators increase cost efficiency and accelerate time-to-market of new services.

 

SCO is part of the company’s effort to support mobile operators to further enhance their 5G networks and thrive in 5G transformation. Through this innovative transformation, we will help mobile operators to open a new chapter.

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