Harmonizing 3GPP and NFV Description Models: Providing Customized RAN Slices in 5G Networks

The standardization of radio access networks (RANs) in mobile networks has traditionally been led by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). However, the emergence of RAN slicing has introduced new aspects that fall outside the 3GPP scope. Among them, network virtualization enables the particularization of multiple behaviors over a common physical infrastructure. Using virtualized network functions (VNFs) that comprise customized radio functionalities, each virtualized RAN (i.e., RAN slice) could meet its specific requirements. Although the 3GPP specifies the description model to manage RAN slices, it can neither particularize the behavior of a RAN slice nor leverage the network function virtualization (NFV) descriptors to define how its VNFs can accommodate its spatial and temporal traffic demands. In this article, we propose a description model that harmonizes 3GPP and the European Telecommunication Standard Institute (ETSI)-NFV Group viewpoints to manage RAN slices. The proposed model enables the translation of RAN slice requirements into customized, virtualized radio functionalities defined through NFV descriptors. To clarify this proposal, we provide an example describing three RAN slices with disruptive requirements following our solution.