NESSMA: Network Slice Subnet Management Framework

Network Slicing is becoming a mature technology in recent years due to the continuous efforts conducted by the standards organizations, academic units and operators. However, current Network Slice (NS) demonstrations are not fully aligned with the ongoing standardization activities, particularly with the Network Slice Subnet Management Function (NSSMF) defined by 3GPP. This paper provides a novel Framework for NS Subnet Management, called NESSMA, that satisfies a list of requirements derived from an exhaustive analysis of up-to-date NS standards. The Framework is designed to jointly manage NS Subnets and their supported services having in mind its integration with NFV-MANO.