Enforcing Resource Allocation and VNF Embedding in RAN Slicing

Going beyond the one-type-fits-all design philosophy, the future SG radio access network (RAN) with network slicing methodology is employed to support widely diverse applications ov er the same physical network. RAN slicing aims to logically split an infrastructure into a set of self-contained programmable RAN slices in which each slice built on top of the underlying physical RAN (substrate) is a separate logical mobile network and delivers a set of services with similar characteristics. Each RAN slice is constituted by various virtual network functions (VNFs) distributed geographically in numerous substrate nodes. A RAN configuration scheme for the network is imperative to embed VNFs in substrate nodes. In this paper, we propose to design new algorithms to enhance the stability of RAN slicing by addressing the resources allocation and VNF embedding problem, referred to as RS-configuration. Specifically, we establish the theoretical foundation for using RS-conliguration to construct a VNF mapping plan for all VNFs with two efficient algorithms, including Group-based Algorithm (GBA) and Group-Connectivity-based Algorithm (GCBA). Through rigorous analysis and experimentation, we demonstrate that the proposed algorithms perform well within reasonable bounds of computational complexity.