An SDN/NFV based framework for management and deployment of service based 5G core network

The traffic explosion and the rising of diverse requirements lead to many challenges for traditional mobile network architecture on flexibility, scalability, and deployability. To meet new requirements in the 5G era, service based architecture is introduced into mobile networks. The monolithic network elements (e.g., MME, PGW, etc.) are split into smaller network functions to provide customized services. However, the management and deployment of network functions in service based 5G core network are still big challenges. In this paper, we propose a novel management architecture for 5G service based core network based on NFV and SDN. Combined with SDN, NFV and edge computing, the proposed framework can provide distributed and on-demand deployment of network functions, service guaranteed network slicing, flexible orchestration of network functions and optimal workload allocation. Simulations are conducted to show that the proposed framework and algorithm are effective in terms of reducing network operating cost.