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GROUP REPORT
Next Generation Protocols (NGP);
E2E Network Slicing Reference Framework and
Information Model
Disclaimer
The present document has been produced and approved by the Next Generation Protocols (NGP) ETSI Industry Specification
Group (ISG) and represents the views of those members who participated in this ISG.
It does not necessarily represent the views of the entire ETSI membership.
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2 ETSI GR NGP 011 V1.1.1 (2018-09)
Reference
DGR/NGP-0011
Keywords
network, virtualisation
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3 ETSI GR NGP 011 V1.1.1 (2018-09)
Contents
Intellectual Property Rights . 5
Foreword . 5
Modal verbs terminology . 5
1 Scope . 6
2 References . 6
2.1 Normative references . 6
2.2 Informative references . 6
3 Definitions and abbreviations . 7
3.1 Definitions . 7
3.2 Abbreviations . 8
4 Network Slicing Architecture . 9
4.1 Overview . 9
4.2 Informative Background . 9
4.3 High level description . 10
4.4 Network slicing design principles . 11
4.4.1 Service Oriented Approach . 11
4.4.2 Network slice abstraction . 11
4.4.2.1 Motivation . 11
4.4.2.2 Service lifecycle abstraction. 11
4.4.2.3 Technology information abstraction . 11
4.4.2.4 Quality abstraction . 11
4.4.3 Loose coupling . 12
4.4.4 Network slice reusability . 12
4.4.5 Slice autonomy . 12
5 Information Model . 12
5.1 Reference Component Architecture . 12
5.2 Network service resource concept . 13
5.2.1 Types of resources . 13
5.2.2 Link resources . 13
5.2.3 Node resources . 13
5.3 Network slice managed objects . 13
5.3.1 General description . 13
5.3.2 Discovered objects . 14
5.3.2.1 Network slice subnet object . 14
5.3.2.2 NSP aggregated resource database . 15
5.3.3 Provisioned objects . 15
5.3.3.1 Ns service profile object . 15
5.3.4 Runtime objects . 15
5.3.4.1 NS service context object . 15
5.3.4.2 NS service operations . 16
5.3.4.3 NS subnet operations. 17
5.3.5 Network slice agent objects . 17
5.3.5.1 NS subnet resource broker . 17
5.3.5.2 NSA service segment . 18
5.3.6 NS interfaces . 18
6 High Level Functions . 18
6.1 Network slice functions . 18
6.2 Network slice subnet discovery function . 19
6.3 Network slice subnet augment function . 19
6.4 Network slice mapping function . 20
6.5 Resource computation function . 20
6.6 Network slice delegation function . 21
6.7 Report aggregation function . 21
6.8 Service assurance function . 22
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6.9 Tenant operated network service function . 22
6.9.1 Tenant operations overview . 22
6.9.2 Service endpoint attachment . 23
6.9.3 Interface to slice specific resources . 23
6.9.4 Tenant runtime OAM template . 23
7 Network Slice Enablement . 24
7.1 Mechanisms for service assurance . 24
7.1.1 Methods of assurance. 24
7.1.2 Quality of service . 24
7.1.3 Traffic Engineering relevance . 24
7.1.4 Path computation relevance . 24
7.2 Mechanisms for OAM . 25
7.3 Data path enablement . 25
7.3.1 Enabling approaches . 25
7.3.2 Existing IP based Infrastructure . 25
7.3.2.1 IP Based Modes . 25
7.3.2.2 End-to-end encapsulated mode . 26
7.3.2.3 Segmented encapsulated mode. 26
7.3.3 Next-Generation Sliced Infrastructure . 26
7.3.4 Network Slice Stitching Gateways . 26
8 Security Considerations . 27
8.1 NGMN security guidelines . 27
8.2 Protection and privacy of tenant data . 27
8.3 Tenant resource isolation . 27
8.4 Protection against impersonation attacks . 27
9 Integration Example . 28
9.1 Generic purpose service slice . 28
9.1.1 Scenario description . 28
9.1.2 Network slice bootstrap . 29
9.1.3 Network slice onboarding . 29
9.1.4 Slice operation and management . 29
Annex A: Authors & contributors . 30
Annex B: Bibliography . 31
Annex C: Change History . 32
History . 33
ETSI
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5 ETSI GR NGP 011 V1.1.1 (2018-09)
Intellectual Property Rights
Essential patents
IPRs essential or potentially essential to normative deliverables may have been declared to ETSI. The information
pertaining to these essential IPRs, if any, is publicly available for ETSI members and non-members, and can be found
in ETSI SR 000 314: "Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs); Essential, or potentially Essential, IPRs notified to ETSI in
respect of ETSI standards", which is available from the ETSI Secretariat. Latest updates are available on the ETSI Web
server (https://ipr.etsi.org/).
Pursuant to the ETSI IPR Policy, no investigation, including IPR searches, has been carried out by ETSI. No guarantee
can be given as to the existence of other IPRs not referenced in ETSI SR 000 314 (or the updates on the ETSI Web
server) which are, or may be, or may become, essential to the present document.
Trademarks
The present document may include trademarks and/or tradenames which are asserted and/or registered by their owners.
ETSI claims no ownership of these except for any which are indicated as being the property of ETSI, and conveys no
right to use or reproduce any trademark and/or tradename. Mention of those trademarks in the present document does
not constitute an endorsement by ETSI of products, services or organizations associated with those trademarks.
Foreword
This Group Report (GR) has been produced by ETSI Industry Specification Group (ISG) Next Generation Protocols
(NGP).
Modal verbs terminology
In the present document "should", "should not", "may", "need not", "will", "will not", "can" and "cannot" are to be
interpreted as described in clause 3.2 of the ETSI Drafting Rules (Verbal forms for the expression of provisions).
"must" and "must not" are NOT allowed in ETSI deliverables except when used in direct citation.
ETSI
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6 ETSI GR NGP 011 V1.1.1 (2018-09)
1 Scope
The present document describes an information specification of resources used by services in network slices to provide
true resource-assured multi-tenancy across multiple administrative and technology domains. It does not, cover the data
plane or hardware aspects of traffic associated with a slice, nor does it alter the core control plane functionality of
physical network infrastructure and domains. Any specific language to describe a network slice is out of scope as well.
As such, the topic of network slices encompasses the combination of virtualization, cloud centric, NFV and SDN
technologies the primary gap identified is a lack of normalized resource information flow over a plurality of provider
administration planes (or domains). Resource requirement of a given network slice can be satisfied in different networks
using different technologies; the goal of the present document is to provide a simple manageable and operable network
through a common interface while hiding infrastructure complexities. The present document defines how several of
those technologies may be used in coordination to offer description and monitoring of services in a network slice.
Please note that the scope does not try to formally define a network slice, instead it relies on background material for
the purpose.
2 References
2.1 Normative references
Normative references are not applicable in the present document.
2.2 Informative references
References are either specific (identified by date of publication and/or edition number or version number) or
non-specific. For specific references, only the cited version applies. For non-specific references, the latest version of the
referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
NOTE: While any hyperlinks included in this clause were valid at the time of publication, ETSI cannot guarantee
their long term validity.
The following referenced documents are not necessary for the application of the present document but they assist the
user with regard to a particular subject area.
[i.1] NGMN Alliance: "5G White Paper V1.0".
NOTE: Available at
https://www.ngmn.org/fileadmin/ngmn/content/downloads/Technical/2015/NGMN_5G_White_Paper_V
1_0.pdf.
[i.2] NGMN Alliance (V1.0): "Description of Network Slicing Concept".
NOTE: Available at https://www.ngmn.org/fileadmin/user_upload/160113_Network_Slicing_v1_0.pdf.
[i.3] IETF RFC 5440: "Path Computation Element (PCE) Communication Protocol (PCEP)".
[i.4] ETSI GS NGP 001: "Next Generation Protocol (NGP); Scenario Definitions".
[i.5] IETF RFC 7665: "Service Function Chaining (SFC) Architecture".
[i.6] IANA: "Path Computation Element Protocol (PCEP) Numbers".
NOTE: Available at https://www.iana.org/assignments/pcep/pcep.xhtml.
[i.7] IETF RFC 2998: "A Framework for Integrated Services Operation over Diffserv Networks".
[i.8] IETF Traffic Engineering Architecture and Signaling (teas) Working Group.
NOTE: Available at https://datatracker.ietf.org/wg/teas/.
[i.9] NGMN White Paper on Security for Network Slicing.
ETSI
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NOTE: Available at
https://www.ngmn.org/fileadmin/user_upload/160429_NGMN_5G_Security_Network_Slicing_v1_0.pdf.
[i.10] Recommendation ITU-T Y.3110/3111: "IMT-2020 network management and orchestration
requirements & framework".
[i.11] Recommendation ITU-T Y.3112: "Framework for the support of Multiple Network Slicing".
[i.12] Recommendation ITU-T Y.3150: "High-level technical characteristics of network softwarization
for IMT-2020".
[i.13] ETSI TS 123 502: "5G; Procedures for the 5G System (3GPP TS 23.502)".
[i.14] 3GPP TR 28.801: "3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Services
and System Aspects: Telecom Management (SA5) - Study on management and orchestration of
network slicing/Network slice management".
[i.15] 3GPP TS 28.531: "Provisioning of network slicing for 5G networks and services: Detailed
specification of network slice provisioning/Network slice management".
[i.16] 3GPP TS 28.541: "Management and orchestration of networks and network slicing; NR and NG-
RAN Network Resource Model (NRM); Stage 2 and stage 3".
[i.17] IETF draft-netslices-usecases-02: "Network Slicing Use Cases: Network Customization and
Differentiated Services".
NOTE: Available at https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-netslices-usecases.
[i.18] draft-ietf-spring-segment-routing-14: "Segment Routing Architecture".
NOTE: Available at https://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-ietf-spring-segment-routing-14.
[i.19] IETF: "Deterministic Networking (detnet)".
NOTE: Available at https://datatracker.ietf.org/wg/detnet/.
[i.20] draft-ietf-ippm-ioam-data-02: "Data Fields for In-situ OAM".
NOTE: Available at https://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-ietf-ippm-ioam-data-02.
[i.21] BBF SD-406: "End-to-End Network Slicing".
NOTE: Available at https://wiki.broadband-forum.org/pages/viewpage.action?spaceKey=BBF&title=SD-
406+End-to-End+Network+Slicing.
[i.22] Generic Network Slice Template Version 0.1.
NOTE: Available at
https://infocentre2.gsma.com/gp/pr/FNW/NEST/WorkingDocuments/GST%20document%20baselines/G
ST_Baseline_v0.8_20180712_clean.docx
3 Definitions and abbreviations
3.1 Definitions
For the purposes of the present document, the following terms and definitions apply:
Network Slice (NS): network slice is a description of a service aware logical network that is composed of different
physical or virtual network elements, resources and functions
Network Slice Agent (NSA): entity that has complete view and control of its network infrastructure
NOTE: An agent can be a logical component of controller that performs special functions relating to network
slices and exports them to network slice provider.
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Network Slice Instance (NSI): instance of a type of network slice that has resources allocated to it from underlying
network infrastructure and is independently managed and monitored by the tenant
Network Slice Provider (NSP): entity that provides access to network slice instance and resources associated with it
NOTE: Network slice providers coordinate and aggregate network resources from multi-domain, multi-
technology networks.
Network Slice Subnet (NSS): subnet represents single or multiple networks under the control of an agent
NOTE: A complete network slice is inter-connection of subnets.
Network Slice Service Profile (NSSP): structure high-level format in which a network slice is described
slice: simplified text to represent 'network slice' in the context of the present document only
tenant: entity that consumes a network slice instance from network slice providers
NOTE: Such tenants do not care about implementation and technology details of the physical networks.
3.2 Abbreviations
For the purposes of the present document, the following abbreviations apply:
5GC 5G Core
API Application Programming Interface
BBF BroadBand Forum
DB DataBase
Diffserv Differentiated services
EVC Ethernet Virtual Circuit
FIB Forwarding Information Base
GSM Global System for Mobile
GSMA GSM Alliance
GST Generic Slice Template
IETF Internet Engineering Task Force
Intserv Integrated services
IP Internet Protocol
IPPM IP Performance Measurement
MANO MANagement and Orchestration (of NFV framework)
MPLS Multi-Protocol Layer Switching
NEST NEtwork Slice Template
NS Network Slice
NFV Network Function Virtualization
NG Next Generation
NGMN Next Generation Mobile Networks
NGNS Next Generation Network Slice
NS Network Slice
NSA Network Slice Agent
NSI Network Slice Instance
NSP Network Slice Provider
NSS Network Slice Subnet
NSSP Network Slice Service Profile
OAM Operations, Administration and Maintenance
PCE Path Computation Element
PCEP Path Computation Element Protocol
QoS Quality Of Service
RAN Radio Access Network
RSVP Resource Reservation Protocol
SDN Software Defined Networking
SDO Standards Developing Organization
SFC Service Function Chaining
SLA Service Level Agreement
TCAM Ternary Content-Addressable Memory
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TE Traffic Engineering
TEAS Traffic Engineering Architecture and Signaling
TED Traffic Engineering Database
UCL University College Of London
VDI Virtual Device Interface
VM Virtual Machine
VPN Virtual Private Network
VXLAN Virtual eXtensible Local Area Networks
WG Work Group
4 Network Slicing Architecture
4.1 Overview
Network slicing concept allows support of logical networks that are tailored for a specific service or set of services over
a shared common network infrastructure for the purpose of efficient utilization of network resources. NGMN white
paper [i.1] states that "the intention of a 5G slice is to provide only the traffic treatment that is necessary for the use case
and avoid all other unnecessary functionality". In this regard network slice is a framework aimed at providing flexible
on-boarding of newer verticals as a consequence of higher definition broadband, machine to machine communication,
industrial automation, advanced emergency services and so on [i.17]. These verticals cannot be served cost-effectively
by traditional network architectures because of the diversity of requirements. Network slicing techniques abstract
several infrastructures and provide a communication framework for verticals to build their own services.
There are several aspects that need to be resolved in terms of efficient resource scheduling, reservation and placement
mechanisms at the lower layers. Many of those aspects are either hardware or particular technology related. However, a
technology independent generalized reference framework for network slicing is very much needed to demonstrate how
information flows for the purpose of alignment of applications and data over dissimilar communication infrastructures.
The Next-gen network slicing (NGNS) framework defined here is a generalized architecture that would allow different
network service providers to coordinate and concurrently operate different services as active network slices.
4.2 Informative Background
Network slicing is an end to end paradigm initially discussed in the context of 5G to support new kind of applications
that need absolute resource guarantees in terms of latencies, bandwidth, jitter, reliability and privacy. The goal is an
ability to use common end to end infrastructure that is capable of delivering diverse services with their corresponding
assurance. Network slicing will be expensive, due to its inherently stringent resource assurance demands. Therefore,
network slices will be used to implement specific vertical markets and it d
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