Network slices: the best thing since sliced bread

As the industry works tirelessly to define what 5G will be like, one thing seems to be certain: virtualization and network slicing will enable one ubiquitous network to deliver on a myriad of often contrasting requirements such as those brought by the connected car.

We expect the Networked Society to be in full swing with commercial 5G deployments by 2020. Though still five years away, it does not seem so distant to us, perhaps because so many of the innovations that will make the Networked Society possible are already in the works. From the radio access point of view, industry collaborations such as METIS are already working hard to shape what 5G will be like and what sort of requirements it needs to satisfy. From the core point of view though, things are even more interesting because we are already witnessing the innovations and advances that will see 5G coming into place. Virtualization delivered by technologies which are already beyond concepts, such as software defined networking (SDN) and Network Functions Virtualization (NFV), will make it possible for one network to deliver on a seemingly disparate number of requirements, something that was implausible until not so long ago.

The network for the Networked Society, where billions of devices will be connected will need to carry fast speeds and provide ultra-high capacity, but at the same time, often it will have to deliver very low latencies and connect a legion of devices with very low power consumption requirements. How can a single network deliver on such different demands?

An approach that might solve this dilemma in a very compelling way is the concept of “Network Slicing”: by dividing one physical network into multiple “slices” that can be allocated to different services, we will see efficiencies as never before. One good example of how this might work is the “connected car”, a self-driving car or a car that is continuously reporting back to the network on road conditions, hazards, and incidents will need to have a very reliable and secure connection, with very low latency and high availability so it can make decisions in milliseconds. That same car can, at the same time, have a high-speed mobile broadband connection for its on-board entertainment system that will enable HD Video and music streaming services. Another slice of the network could be collecting other measurements from different devices inside the car that do not require constant supervision, such as servicing parameters that need to be transmitted back to the service center by the car’s service date, perhaps once a year.

Nevertheless, the car industry is only one of many that will benefit from network slicing. Mining, public safety, health care, the list goes on — they will all embrace the possibilities that the Networked Society will bring. For service providers, transformation toward a virtualized world can seem challenging, but the benefits will far outweigh the difficulties as people, businesses, and society prepare to reap the benefits from an all connected world.

This post was first published on the Ericsson Cloud Evolution Blog.