ONETS: Online Network Slice Broker from Theory to Practice

Abstract

Virtualization and network slicing offer an unprecedented opportunity to mobile network operators: open their physical network infrastructure platform to the concurrent deployment of multiple logical self-contained networks, namely network slices. In this paper, we propose and analyze ONETS, an Online NETwork Slicing solution that $\textbf {i}$ ) builds on the budgeted lock-up multi-armed bandit mathematical model and properties, $\textbf {ii}$ ) derives its analytical bounds in our proposed extension for network slicing, $\textbf {iii}$ ) seamlessly integrates into the 3GPP architecture, $\textbf {iv}$ ) proves its feasibility through a proof-of-concept implementation on commercial hardware considering three network slices and $\textbf {v}$ ) allows for the design of a low-complexity online network slice brokering solution that maximizes multiplexing gains.