Adapting priority schemes to achieve network slice isolation

Abstract

The variety of application types that will use 5G introduces a more variable set of traffic requirements. These requirements will be dependent on different Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) depending on application types. To cope with this variation, network slicing creates virtual networks on a set of infrastructures, each tailored to satisfy a specific need. Also, its isolation properties allow it to be used for infrastructure sharing or renting, where a set of network operators and service providers use the infrastructure as tenants. One of the possibilities to achieve isolation is through the MAC scheduler at the eNB/gNB. In this work, a slicing solution is proposed that allows a controlled preemption of low latency traffic while looking at the flexibility of traffic that requires a high throughput to establish a threshold over when should the preemption end. This allows the use of preemption while maintaining slice isolation, which is important due to Service Level Agreements (SLAs) made between tenants and infrastructure providers.