Realization of Composite IETF Network Slices
draft-li-teas-composite-network-slices-01

Abstract

Network slicing can be used to meet the connectivity and performance requirement of different applications or customers in a shared network. An IETF network slice may be used for 5G or other network scenarios. In the context of 5G, a 5G end-to-end network slice consists of three different types of network technology segments: Radio Access Network (RAN), Transport Network (TN) and Core Network (CN). The transport segments of the 5G end-to-end network slice can be provided using IETF network slices. In some scenarios, IETF network slices may span multiple network domains, and IETF network slices may be composed hierarchically, which means a network slice may itself be further sliced. This document first describes the possible use cases of composite IETF network slices, then it provides considerations about the realization of composite IETF network slices. For the interaction between IETF network slices with 5G network slices, the identifiers of the 5G network slices may be introduced into IETF networks. For the multi-domain IETF network slices, the Inter-Domain Network Resource Partition Identifier (Inter-domain NRP ID) is introduced. For the hierarchical IETF network slices, the structure of the NRP ID is discussed. These network slice-related identifiers may be used in the data plane, control plane and management plane of the network for the instantiation and management of composite IETF network slices. This document also describes the management considerations of composite network slices.

Authors

Zhenbin Li
Jie Dong
Ran Pang
Yongqing Zhu
Luis M. Contreras

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