Amdocs 5G Slice Manager

Network slices will span across the RAN, Transport and Core networks and will utilize virtual, containerized and physical network functions that will be deployed to each network slice instance, depending on the specific service it serves. To gain maximum agility, these NFs can then be scaled on demand with changes in service and performance requirements. In this multi domain virtualized network, there is a need for a 5G slicing management entity that will coordinate the coexistence of network slices, and guarantee that the required resources are available for each one. Amdocs 5G Slice Manager fulfils this exact role. Amdocs 5G Slice Manager is responsible for network slice lifecycle management and is hierarchically positioned at the top of the network management architecture to coordinate the RAN, Transport and Core network slice subnet operations and services, across the network siloed operational domains.

Figure 3. Amdocs 5G Slice Manager

5G requires adaptive, automated and real-time systems/processes that can tune the network to business needs. Amdocs 5G Manager enables the automation of logical network segmentation with slice customization, logical network isolation and quality of service control in real time.

The 5G Slice Manager also serves as a charging triggering function that passes information about a slice’s activation, utilization and performance to the charging function. This enables CSPs to revolutionize their monetization and business models possibilities, as they will be able to not only generate a subscriber- or session-based charging report, but much more comprehensive slice level reports, which include the slice or service, as well as its associated network resources, utilization and performance.

In the following sections we will review the various stages of managing the 5G network slice lifecycle using the Amdocs 5G Slice Manager