5G envisages a “hyper-connected society,” where an enormous number of devices are inter-connected anywhere and at any time. Cloud-enabled radio access networks (RANs) where intelligence is placed in conjunction with the radio heads at the proximity of end users are a promising solution to fulfill the 5G expectations of sub-millisecond latency, huge traffic volumes, and higher data rates. Network functions virtualization (NFV) and software-defined networking (SDN) developments enable end users to access advanced features, such as configurability, automation, scalability, improved resource utilization, and multi tenancy over the cloud-enabled RANs. Management and orchestration techniques are the ultimate factor that determines the effectiveness of the novel SDN/NFV features being introduced. Our focus in this letter is the resource allocation in a realistic cloud-enabled RAN, taking into account the dynamics of ~100,000 persons movement in a crowded event, i.e., a football match. The proposed solution jointly orchestrates NFV and bandwidth resources, as one resource affects the other. Simulation results clearly verify the benefits of the proposed solution over traditional disjoint schemes.

5G technologies promise to bring new network and service capacities and are expected to introduce significant architectural and service deployment transformations. The Cloud-Radio Access Networks (C-RAN) architecture, enabled by the combination of Software Defined Networking (SDN), Network Function Virtualization (NFV) and Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) technologies, play a key role in the development of 5G. In this context, this paper addresses the problems of Virtual Network Functions (VNF) provisioning (VNF-placement and service chain allocation) in a 5G network. In order to solve that problem, we propose a genetic algorithm that, considering both computing resources and optical network capacity, minimizes both the service blocking rate and CPU usage. In addition, we present an algorithm extension that adds a learning stage and evaluate the algorithm performance benefits in those scenarios where VNF allocations can be reconfigured. Results reveal and quantify the advantages of reconfiguring the VNF mapping depending on the current demands. Our methods outperform previous proposals in the literature, reducing the service blocking ratio while saving energy by reducing the number of active core CPUs.

The H2020 METRO-HAUL European project has architected a latency-aware, cost-effective, agile, and programmable optical metro network. This includes the design of semidisaggregated metro nodes with compute and storage capabilities, which interface effectively with both 5G access and multi-Tbit/s elastic optical networks in the core. In this paper, we report the automated deployment of 5G services, in particular, a public safety video surveillance use case employing low-latency object detection and tracking using on-camera and on-the-edge analytics. The demonstration features flexible deployment of network slice instances, implemented in terms of European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) network function virtualization network services. We summarize the key findings in a detailed analysis of end-to-end quality of service, service setup time, and soft-failure detection time. The results show that the round-trip time over an 80 km link is under 800 µs and the service deployment time is under 180 s.

Fifth generation mobile communication (5G) networks promise lower latency, higher traffic volume and data rates compared to what we see nowadays. Among all technologies, Network Function Virtualization (NFV) and Software Defined Networking (SDN) techniques over the cloud-enabled radio systems play an important role to enable resource pooling, scalability, layer interworking and spectral efficiency. Despite the potential benefits, there is always an additional challenge on assuring quality of service and user experience, especially on real life scenarios targeted by 5G. In this paper, we initially frame the dynamic QoS/QoE assurance problem; then with the help of simulation on a real life scenario, where ~100,000 persons get in and out of the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona, we demonstrate the efficiency of our proposed QoS/QoE assurance algorithm.

The software-defined networking (SDN) paradigm brings unprecedented agility and flexibility to network operators. The usage of centralized software-based controllers simplifies operation and management and enables innovation in the control plane through network programmability. Besides, a controller may be operated via third-party applications using the so-called northbound application programming interfaces (APIs). In this paper, we report our preliminary work on the interaction between the northbound interface of the open-source industry-supported OpenDaylight controller and our Net2Plan tool. Net2Plan is an open-source network planning tool that is able to execute user-made algorithms. By connecting Net2Plan to OpenDaylight, users would be able to easily orchestrate their networks, e.g. defining flow routing, making use of built-in or user-defined algorithms, implemented in the Net2Plan framework. In this paper, we present some illustrative experiments, and discuss future challenges.

Novel end-to-end services are expected to emerge with the advent of 5G. In order to satisfy QoS/QoE requirements (e.g., lower latency, higher traffic volume and dynamicity, or availability) of those services, major changes on the network architecture are required. Technologies such as SDN and NFV, in conjunction with the edge-computing paradigm facilitate this transition, enabling the presence of cloud-enabled systems on mobile radio access networks. In this paper, we present a novel approach to handle Service Chaining handover, leveraging a joint orchestration between NFV and RAN domains.