On end to end network slicing for 5G communication systems.

The heterogeneity in use cases and the need to support diverse requirements from vertical markets are the main drivers for new design principles of 5G communication systems. In this paper, we review the notion of plastic architecture and propose an end to end network slicing concept to serve new 5G capabilities and features in a flexible and efficient manner. Besides the concept definition, we address in particular the key issue of how 5G devices may be enabled to discover, select and access the most appropriate E2E network slices. To solve the issue, we developed a novel Device Triggered Network Control mechanism and evaluated its performance and implementation cost with respect to alternative available schemes, where the slicing concept was applied only to the core network domain of the communication system. Simulation results showed two digits gains in terms of attachment delay and signalling overhead. Copyright (C) 2016 JohnWiley & Sons, Ltd.