IETF Definition of Transport Slice
draft-nsdt-teas-transport-slice-definition-00
The information below is for an old version of the document.
| Document | Type | Active Internet-Draft (individual) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Authors | Reza Rokui , Shunsuke Homma , Kiran Makhijani | ||
| Last updated | 2019-11-03 | ||
| Replaced by | draft-nsdt-teas-ietf-network-slice-definition | ||
| Stream | (None) | ||
| Formats | plain text xml htmlized pdfized bibtex | ||
| Stream | Stream state | (No stream defined) | |
| Consensus boilerplate | Unknown | ||
| RFC Editor Note | (None) | ||
| IESG | IESG state | I-D Exists | |
| Telechat date | (None) | ||
| Responsible AD | (None) | ||
| Send notices to | (None) |
draft-nsdt-teas-transport-slice-definition-00
teas R. Rokui
Internet-Draft Nokia
Intended status: Informational S. Homma
Expires: May 5, 2020 NTT
K. Makhijani
Futurewei
November 2, 2019
IETF Definition of Transport Slice
draft-nsdt-teas-transport-slice-definition-00
Abstract
This document describes the definition of transport slice in IETF and
considerations on implementation (realization) of transport slice.
This work is part of work on TEAS WG network slicing Design Team.
Status of This Memo
This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the
provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.
Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering
Task Force (IETF). Note that other groups may also distribute
working documents as Internet-Drafts. The list of current Internet-
Drafts is at https://datatracker.ietf.org/drafts/current/.
Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months
and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any
time. It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference
material or to cite them other than as "work in progress."
This Internet-Draft will expire on May 5, 2020.
Copyright Notice
Copyright (c) 2019 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
document authors. All rights reserved.
This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
Provisions Relating to IETF Documents
(https://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of
publication of this document. Please review these documents
carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect
to this document. Code Components extracted from this document must
include Simplified BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of
Rokui, et al. Expires May 5, 2020 [Page 1]
Internet-Draft draft-nsdt-teas-transport-slice-definition November 2019
the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as
described in the Simplified BSD License.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2. High level architecture of end-to-end network slicing . . . . 3
3. IETF Definition of Transport slice . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3.1. Scenario-1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
3.2. Scenario-2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
3.3. Scenario-3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
4. Implementation (aka Realization) of Transport slice . . . . . 9
4.1. Implementation of Scenario-1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
4.2. Implementation of Scenario-2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
4.3. Implementation of Scenario-3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
5. Definition of SLA and Isolation levels . . . . . . . . . . . 15
6. Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Authors' Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
1. Introduction
Network slicing is an approach to provide separate virtual networks
depending on requirements of each service. Network slicing receives
attention due to factors such as diversity of services and devices,
and it is also a fundamental concept of the 5G for applying networks
to such various types of requirements (Ref [TS.23.501-3GPP]).
However there are other applications which might benefit from network
slicing. Following is a list of other applicaitons:
o 5G network slicig
o Wholesale business VPN
o Network sharing among operators
o NVVI connectivity (DCI)
A network slice is composed of several parts such as endpoints and
transport connecctivity between them. However, there is no concrete
definition of network slices established on transport and how to
realize them.
This document describes the definition of transport slice from IETF
aspect and considerations on their realization as well.
Rokui, et al. Expires May 5, 2020 [Page 2]
Internet-Draft draft-nsdt-teas-transport-slice-definition November 2019
2. High level architecture of end-to-end network slicing
To demonstrate IETF definition of both E2E network slice and
transport slice, consider a typical network shown in Figure 1 where
the network operator-Y has various networks of various technologies
(e.g. IP, MPLS, Optics, PON, Microwave, 5G RAN, 5G Core etc.). Each
network contains one or more nodes of (aka physical or virtual
network functions, PNFs or VNFs), which have various capabilities and
technologies such as:
o Routers
o Switches
o Application servers
o Firewalls
o 4G/5G RAN nodes
o 4G/5G Core nodes
o etc.
Each node (aka endpoint) in the network might support various
technologies such as IP, MPLS, Microwave, 5G RAN, 5G Core etc. For
example,
o Network-1 might contains multiple 5G gNBs connected to a few
routers as Cell Site Gateways (CSG).
o Network-3 might have one or more L2/L3 routers and switches which
are running on top on Optical network.
o Network-2 might have a few nodes of 5G RAN which are connected by
PON.
Rokui, et al. Expires May 5, 2020 [Page 3]
Internet-Draft draft-nsdt-teas-transport-slice-definition November 2019
<========================= E2E NS =====================>
<-OS1-> <-TS1-> <-TS2-> <-OS2-> ... <-TSn-> <-OSm->
.--. .--. .--.
( )--. ( )--. ( )--.
.' ' .' ' .' '
[EU-x] ( Network-1 ) ( Network-2 ) ... ( Network-p ) [EU-y]
`-----------' `-----------' `----------'
Legends
E2E NS: End-2-end network slice
TSy: Transport Slice y
OSx: Other Slice x
EU-x: End User-x
Figure 1: E2E network slice
To further clarify the concept of the E2E network slice, consider the
network operator-Y has various customers (tenants). One of its
customers, needs to have a separate independent E2E logical network
for specific service (e.g. CCTV, autonomous driving, HD map etc) for
specific SLA requirement (e.g. high secure connection with Latency
less than 5ms) from End User-x (EU-x) from one side of the network to
End User-y (EU-y) to the other side. This E2E logical network is
call an "E2E network slice". A typical example of EU-x in 5G is the
User equipment such as infotainment unit in the car, CCTV, Car for
autonomous driving etc. and a typical example of EU-y in 5G is 5G
application server, IMS etc.
As shown in Figure 1 we use the term "E2E network slice" to show this
logical i ndependent network from EU-X to EU-Y. It is important to
consider that an "E2E network slice" is associated to a customer
(tenant) and a service type (e.g. CCTV, autonomous driving etc.).
Also there is only one E2E context between EU-x and EU-y. Anything
else is not E2E.
For example, customer "City of NY" would like to connect all its CCTV
cameras for entire city together. To do so, it asks Operator-Y who
has coverage in NY to create a new separate independent logical
network with SLA requirement of B/W greater than 10Mbps. In this
case, a single E2E network slice (with NS ID 10) will be created by
Operator-Y for Customer "City of NY", service type of CCT and SLA of
10Mbps.
It is also possible that customer and service type associate to an
E2E network slice to be a wild card. For instance, in above example,
Rokui, et al. Expires May 5, 2020 [Page 4]
Internet-Draft draft-nsdt-teas-transport-slice-definition November 2019
the E2E network slice 10, can be associated not only to service type
CCTV but another service "Public Safety", i.e. NS ID 10 is used for
two services for City of NY.
3. IETF Definition of Transport slice
The IETF definition of a transport slice is as follows:
A Transport Slice is an abstract network topology connecting
different endpoints with appropriate isolation and specific Service
Level Agreement (SLA) described in terms of shared or dedicated
network resources, level of isolation etc.
In other words, a transport slice is a group of connections which
connecting various endpointss in the network to achieve specific SLA
for a customer as shown in Figure 2. Examples of the endpoints are
any physical or virtual network functions (PNF/VNF) or any network
services.
<------- Transport slice -------->
.--. .--.
[EP11] ( )- . ( )- . [EP21]
.' ' .' '
[EP12] ( Network-1 ) ... ( Network-p ) [EP22]
: `-----------' `-----------' :
[EP1m] [EP2n]
Legend
EP: Endpoint
Figure 2: Transport slice
Referring to Figure 1, when operator-Y would like to create a
specific E2E network slice, it should create one or more of two types
of artefacts:
o Transport slice (aka Transport sub-slices or Transport sub-nets)
o Other slice (aka Other sub-slices or other sub-nets)
As shown in Figure 1, an E2E network slice might have one or more of
"Transport Slices" and one or more of "Other Slices" of any
combinations. One of the critical parts of an E2E network slice is
"Transport Slices" which provides various connections with certain
SLA between various nodes (aka endpoints).
Rokui, et al. Expires May 5, 2020 [Page 5]
Internet-Draft draft-nsdt-teas-transport-slice-definition November 2019
"The Other Slices" is out-of-scope of current work but in summary
they contain various context or personality in the network to support
a specific e2e network slice, i.e. The "Other Slices" are referred to
as slices created by networks or components where IETF protocols do
not strictly apply and operator can choose any method for defining
them. For instance, in 5G, the prime example of these slices are:
o 5G RAN slice (aka RAN sub-slice, RAN sub-net or RAN-NNSI):
Contains the context or personality on various 5G RAN network
functions (e.g. gNB, eNB, CU, DU etc) in support of specific e2e
network slice with certain SLA
o 5G Core slice (aka Core sub-slice, Core sub-net or Core-NNSI):
Contains the context or personality on various 5G Core network
functions (e.g UPF, SMF, AMF, etc) in support of specific e2e
network slice with certain SLA
Figure 2 demonstrates the definition of a Transport Slice where a
single Transport slice provides connectivity between "m" endpoints on
left hand side to "n" endpoints on right hand side with specific
characteristic for Service Level Agreement (SLA).
Each transport slice has main characteristics:
o Transport slice definition: Technology agnostic to address a set
of connections between various endpoints with certain SLA
o Transport slice Implementation (aka realization): In addition to
its definition, a Transport Slice has an implementation (aka
realization) in the operator's network. Unlike transport slice
definition, its implementation (aka realization) might be
technology specific.
A few examples below demonstrate the idea of transport slice in
various scenarios.
3.1. Scenario-1
Figure 3 depicts an example of transport slice connecting two 5G RAN
nodes (gNB) to three 5G Core user plan function nodes (UPF). In this
case a transport slice 20 is created with SLA of latency 10 [msec] or
better between 5G endpoints gNBs and UPFs.
Rokui, et al. Expires May 5, 2020 [Page 6]
Internet-Draft draft-nsdt-teas-transport-slice-definition November 2019
<--- Transport slice(TS ID:20) --->
with SLA of latency, less
than 10[msec]
.--. .--.
[gNB1] ( )--. ( )--. [UPF1]
.'Network ' .' Network '
( Midhaul ) ( Backhaul ) [UPF2]
[gNB2] `----------' `-----------'
[UPF3]
Figure 3: Example of Transport Slice 20 connecting gNBs to 5G Core
UPF
3.2. Scenario-2
Figure 4 depicts another example where transport slice 30 is created
to connect router ER1 to two firewall endpoints with SLA of 10 [Mbps]
or higher bandwidth.
<--- Transport slice(TS ID:30) --->
with SLA B/W 5Mbps
.----.
( )----.
.---' '----. [FW1]
[ER1] ( Network )
`-----------------------' [FW2]
Legends
ER: Edge Router
FW: Firewall
Figure 4: Example of Transport Slice connecting Router to two
firewalls
3.3. Scenario-3
Another example of transport slice is SFC case as shown in Figure 5
and Figure 6 which depict an example with SF1 and SF2 (e.g. DPI,
Firewall, WAF, video optimizer, content cache server, NAT/CGN, Load
balancer) and the transport slice between ER1 and ER2 traverses these
SFs. There are two approaches:
Rokui, et al. Expires May 5, 2020 [Page 7]
Internet-Draft draft-nsdt-teas-transport-slice-definition November 2019
o Approach-1 shown in Figure 5 where Transport slice 40 chains
router ER1, SF1, SF2, and router ER2. Transport slice 40 needs
lower than 30 ms delay. However, endpoints SF1 and SF2 are
implicitly identified during the transport slice implementation.
In this case, a single transport slice is created between ER1 and
ER2.
o Approach-2 shown in Figure 6 where the transport slice 40 can be
broken into transport slices 41, 42, 43. In this case SF1 and SF2
are explicityly identified and as a results three transport slides
between following endpoints will be realized:
* Between endpoints ER1 and SF1
* Between endpoints SF1 and SF2
* Between endpoints SF2 and ER2
<--- Transport slice(TS ID:40) --->
with SLA of latency 30ms
+-----+
| SF1 |
+ *** + .----.
* * ( )--.
* * ( )
* * --' Network '--.
[ER1]******** *********** *************[ER2]
`-------------*-*--------'
* *
+ *** +
| SF2 |
+-----+
Figure 5: Approach-1: Example of Transport Slice connecting Edge
Routers ER1 and ER2 with SFC
Rokui, et al. Expires May 5, 2020 [Page 8]
Internet-Draft draft-nsdt-teas-transport-slice-definition November 2019
<-- Transport slice (TS ID:40) -->
with SLA latency 30ms
<- TS41 -> <- TS42 -> <- TS43 -->
SLA SLA SLA
5[ms] 20[ms] 5[ms]
+-----+
| SF1 |
+ *** + .----.
* * ( )--.
* * ( )
* * --' Network '--.
[ER1]******** *********** *************[ER2]
`-------------*-*--------'
* *
+ *** +
| SF2 |
+-----+
Figure 6: Approach-2: Example of Transport Slice connecting Edge
Routers ER1 and ER2 with SFC
4. Implementation (aka Realization) of Transport slice
In addition to its definition, a Transport Slice has another
characteristic which is its implementation (aka realization) in the
operator's network. Unlike transport slice definition, which is
technology agnostics, its implementation (aka realization) is
technology specific. To clarify the concept of transport slice
implementation, in following section the implementation of scenarios
described above will be described.
4.1. Implementation of Scenario-1
Figure 7 depicts the implementation (realization) of the transport
slice 20 of Figure 3. Operator's transport slice controller receives
an abstract API to create a transport slice between 5G endpoints gNB1
and gNB2 to 5G Core endpoints UPF1, UPF2 and UPF3 with SLA of 10
[ms].
Since in most cases neither 5G RAN endpoints nor the 5G Core
endpoints can support any IP/MPLS/Optics services, the endpoints to
implement the transport slice 20 will not be the endpoints passed in.
This is one of the most important aspects to consider when
implementing the transport slices.
Rokui, et al. Expires May 5, 2020 [Page 9]
Internet-Draft draft-nsdt-teas-transport-slice-definition November 2019
As shown in Figure 7, the implementation of transport slice 20
required the transport slice controller to find out the "best"
endpoints which support the realization of transport slice 20 in the
network, i.e. endpoints ER1, ER2 and ER3. After that, the
implementation of the transport slice 20 will be initiated by
creation of various services/tunnels/paths between edge routers ER1,
ER2 and ER3. The type of Services/Tunnels/Paths depends on the
supported technologies of endpoints ER1, ER2 and ER3.
In this scenario, the end points of transport slice implementation
are not those endpoints passed in, i.e.
o Definition of transport slice is between gNB1 and gNB2 to UPF1,
UPF2, and UPF3
o Implementation of transport slice is between edge routers ER1, ER2
and ER3
| Create Transport slice 20 between gNB1 & gNB2
| to UPF1 & UPF2 & UPF3 with SLA latency
| 10 ms or better
v
+-------------------------------------+
|Operator-Y Transport Slice Controller|
+-------------------------------------+
| Implement (aka Realize) transport slice 20
| between ER1, ER2 and ER3 with SLA latency
| 10 ms or better
v +----+
.----. +UPF1|
[gNB1] +----+ ( )---. /+--=-+
\ | |===========================[ER2]+
\| ER1| ( Network ) +----+
/| |===========================[ER3]+-|UPF2|
/ +----+ `----------------' + +----+
[gNB2] \
\+----+
+UPF3|
+----+
Legends
=== : Tunnels & Services
ER: Edge Router
Figure 7: Implementation (aka Realization) of Transport slice 20 of
Figure-3
Rokui, et al. Expires May 5, 2020 [Page 10]
Internet-Draft draft-nsdt-teas-transport-slice-definition November 2019
4.2. Implementation of Scenario-2
Figure 8 depicts the realization of transport slice 30 of Figure-4.
Operator's Transport Slice Controller receives a request to create a
transport slice between network functions R1 and firewalls FW1 and
FW2 with SLA of 5 [Mbps]. Depends on the underlying network
topology, Operator's transport slice controller will implement (aka
realize) the transport slice. For example, if both network functions
(i.e. R1, FW1, FW2) and network supports segment routing, two
Tunnels/Services of type SR can be created (or used) in the network
between R1, FW1 and FW2 to realise the transport slice 30. However,
if the network just supports RSVP, two tunnels/services of type RSVP
can be used to realize this transport slice.
Note that since the network functions ER1, FW1 and FW2 support
segment routing, the endpoints of the tunnels in this example are
those endpointss passed in, i.e. the endpoints of the both transport
slice definiton and its implementation are R1, FW1 and FW2:
o Definition of transport slice is between network functions R1 to
FW1 and FW2
o Implementation of transport slice is between network functions R1
to FW1 and FW2
We will see in next example that in some scenarios this is not the
case and the endpoints of Transport Slice definition might be
different from endpoints of its implementation (aka realization of
transport slices).
It is very clear that regardless of how transport slice is realized
in the network (i.e. using tunnels of type RSVP or SR), the
definition of transport slice 30 does not change at all but rather
its implementation.
Rokui, et al. Expires May 5, 2020 [Page 11]
Internet-Draft draft-nsdt-teas-transport-slice-definition November 2019
| Create Transport slice 30 between
| ER1 and FW1 and FW2 with SLA 5 Mbps
v
+---------------------------------------+
| Operator-Y Transport Slice Controller |
+---------------------------------------+
| Implement (aka Realize) transport
| slice 30 between R1 and FW1 & FW2
| with SLA 5 Mbps
v
.----.
+----+ .----( )----.
| |=============================[FW1]
| ER | ( Network )
| |=============================[FW2]
+----+ `----------------'
Legends
=== : Tunnels & Services of type SR
or RSVP with SLA 5 Mbps
Figure 8: Implementation (aka Realization) of Transport slice 30 of
Figure-4
4.3. Implementation of Scenario-3
Figure 9 depicts the implementation (realization) of the transport
slice 40 of Figure 5 where a transport slice needed between network
functions R1 and R2 across SF1 and SF2. However, the location of SF1
and SF2 are decided internally with a logic in Transport Slice
Controller. For example, when SLA requires the high secure transport
slice between ER1 and ER2 which in turn results on adding SF2 and SF2
to the implementation of transport slice 40 implicitly by transport
slice controller.
Figure 10 shows the implementation (realization) of the transport
slice 40 of Figure 6. In this case the location of SF1 and SF2 has
been explicitly decided by higher level logic. In this case three
transport slices 41, 42 and 43 will be created separately and
eventually bind together to form a single transport slice 40 to meet
the SLA that delay is lower than 30 ms.
Rokui, et al. Expires May 5, 2020 [Page 12]
Internet-Draft draft-nsdt-teas-transport-slice-definition November 2019
| Create transport slice between ER1
| and ER2 with latency 30 [msec]
v
+------------------+ +-----------+
| Transport slice |<------------>| SF |
| controller | | Manager |
+------------------+ +-----------+
| Implementation transport slice 40
| between ER1 & ER2 traversing SF1 and SF2
| with SLA of latency 30 [msec]
V
<----------------- TS 40 ------------------->
+-----+
| SF1 |
+ === + .----.
# # ( )--.
# # ( )
# # --' Network '--.
[ER1]========= ========= ===================[ER2]
`-------------- # # --------'
# #
+ == +
| SF2 |
+-----+
Legends
===== : Tunnels & Services
Figure 9: Implementation (aka Realization) of Transport slice 40 of
Figure-5
Rokui, et al. Expires May 5, 2020 [Page 13]
Internet-Draft draft-nsdt-teas-transport-slice-definition November 2019
| Requirements on communication
| between ER1 and ER2
v
+-----------------+ +-----------+
| Orchestrator | <--------> | SF Manager|
+-----------------+ +-----------+
| Create transport slice between ER1 and SF1,
| with latency 5 [msec]
| Create transport slice between SF1 and SF2,
| with latency 20 [msec]
| Create transport slice between SF2 and ER2,
| with latency 5 [msec]
v
+-------------------+
| Transport slice |
| manager/controller|
+-------------------+
| | | Realize TS 41 between ER and
| | | SF1 with latency 5 msec
+------+ | +-------+ Realize TS 42 between SF1 and
| | | SF2 with latency 20 msec
| | | Realize TS 43 between SF2 and
| | | ER2 with latency 5 msec
v v v
<--TS 41--> <--TS 42--> <--TS 43 -->
<---------------- TS 40 ---------------->
+-----+
#=| SF1 |
# +-----+ .----.
# # ( )--.
# .---#' Network '--.
[ER1]=====#( #==========# )#=====[ER2]
`--------------#------' #
# #
+-----+ #
| SF2 |====#
+-----+
Legend
=== : Tunnels & Services
Figure 10: Implementation (aka Realization) of Transport slice 40 of
Figure-6
Rokui, et al. Expires May 5, 2020 [Page 14]
Internet-Draft draft-nsdt-teas-transport-slice-definition November 2019
5. Definition of SLA and Isolation levels
TBD
6. Informative References
[TS.23.501-3GPP]
3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), "3GPP TS 23.501
(V16.2.0): System Architecture for the 5G System (5GS);
Stage 2 (Release 16)", September 2019,
<http://www.3gpp.org/ftp//Specs/
archive/23_series/23.501/23501-g20.zip>.
Authors' Addresses
Reza Rokui
Nokia
Canada
Email: reza.rokui@nokia.com
Shunsuke Homma
NTT
Japan
Email: shunsuke.homma.fp@hco.ntt.co.jp
Kiran Makhijani
Futurewei
USA
Email: kiranm@futurewei.com
Rokui, et al. Expires May 5, 2020 [Page 15]