Worst-Case Delay Slicing for Time-Sensitive Applications in Softwarized Industrial Networks

The pervasiveness of network softwarization has drawn keen interest from industrial domain as network convergence becomes increasingly desirable amongst industrial operators. Coupled with the concept of network slicing, operators will be able to tailor resources to applications regardless of the contrast in application requirements. However, while the concept of slicing is prevalent in industrial network circles, the realization of the concept in practical deployment scenarios is rarely emphasized. This paper provides a step-by-step analysis for the creation of dynamic network slices to guarantee real-time deterministic requirements of periodic industrial applications. The objective of the paper is achieved by the design and integration of worst-case delay models in the virtual network embedding problem with a focus on the behavior of time-sensitive forwarding mechanisms introduced in standard Ethernet bridges. The result shows that the approach is able to guarantee delay requirements irrespective of the arrival order of slices.