Real-time orchestration of QoS-aware end-to-end slices across a converged Metro and Access network exploiting burst-mode technology

As we enter the B5G/6G era, the converged Access and Metro segments are facing multi-faceted challenges including the heterogeneity of technologies, an unprecedented density and scale for the interconnection patterns, dynamic traffic profiles, and the inefficiency associated with the overprovisioning of dedicated connectivity resources. Here we present a generic, yet comprehensive, architecture that addresses these challenges. Then, we report the principle of operation of a converged wireline–wireless Access and Metro testbed that exploits such an architecture where the wireline part is exclusively based on nondedicated connectivity resources. The wireline part of the testbed is constructed by means of standardized passive optical network (PON) data planes such as an XGS-PON and a GPON in the Metro and Access network segments, respectively. The converged testbed is controlled by means of an intelligent software-defined-networking-enabled slice manager that allows the creation of new types of quality-of-service (QoS)-aware end-to-end connectivity slices by adjusting in real time the configuration of the wireline technologies to the changing traffic parameters of a WiFi terminal. The end-to-end operation of this testbed is presented, and the specifics of this end-to-end slicing are detailed. The end-to-end QoS-aware slice creation is demonstrated by measuring the response time of the control plane, the corresponding service setup/recovery time, and the round-trip latency performance. A control-plane latency of <4.5s and a service recovery time of <8s are measured in all cases. Finally, the benefits of QoS-aware slices in the wireline part are quantified from the ability of the testbed to concurrently share bandwidth when needed, while maintaining an acceptable latency performance.