Cell-Orch: Towards End-to-End Orchestration of Multi-domain 5G Networks

Network operators are architecting fifth generation (5G) mobile communication networks with the promises of delivering faster, safer, and smarter wireless services. 5G network architectures embrace current trends in virtualization and software-defined infrastructure (SDI). The 5G Public Private Partnership (5GPPP) proposed a multi-domain architecture for end-to-end service orchestration in multi-operator environments, however, cellular network operators are a natural competitors. Although the scientific community has demonstrated that multi-operator federated systems are possible in practice, the adoption of this type of architecture for cellular network operators will be slower. In this paper we propose Cell-Orch, an architecture for end-to-end service orchestration in multi-operator environments that leverages SDI and allows stakeholders to verify whether their configurations have been effectively provisioned. We discuss how SDI will promote agile programmability of cellular networks, general transparency, and transparency of inter-domain transactions all while enabling end-to-end configuration verification. Furthermore, Cell-Orch provides additional functionalities to allow cellular network operators to build more resilient infrastructures in the same way the Cloud provided analogous capabilities to enterprise IT.