Multi-tenancy for Virtualized Network Functions

The proliferation of cloud computing techniques has created a multitude of applications for network services deployments, enabled by the adoption of Software Defined Networks (SDN) and Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) paradigms. Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) also have the opportunity to leverage these technologies to enable the delivery of traditional networking functionality making use of cloud technologies. The benefit is cost reduction in the CAPEX and OPEX of the network infrastructure. Furthermore, multiple MNOs could share Virtualized Network Functions (VNFs) while maintaining separate logical data and control planes. This work investigates how those VNFs, in particular the Evolved Packet Core (EPC) Network Service (NS), can be shared using Virtual Tenant Networks (VTN) techniques. VTN provides a logical separation between data and control plane in virtualized networks. The design, implementation, and preliminary evaluations of such deployments are showcased in this paper, using open-source tools and readily available research playgrounds.