Tailor-made 5G connectivity: Customised at its core

5G integrates many modern technologies and concepts that are highly relevant for industrial users, including elements of network virtualisation. Network slicing also falls into this area. This involves splitting a physical network into various virtual networks, with interesting effects.

To understand this, it helps to take a look at the basic advantages of 5G data transmission. They are usually described in terms of three functions, each with specific characteristics:

• enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB): High data transmission rates and wide data channels
• Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communications (URLLC): High reliability and extremely low latency
• massive Machine Type Communications (mMTC): High numbers of subscribers in a small area and low energy consumption

The challenge is that a network cannot be optimised for all three functions simultaneously. This is precisely where network slicing comes into play. This is because it allows several virtual 5G networks to be set up as required, each with different characteristics and therefore able to optimally serve different applications.

Applications in industry and media

For example, a "slice" can ensure the connection to an army of sensors in a large factory site, such as a chemical plant with numerous pumps, valves, pipes etc. that need to be controlled and monitored. Another slice can be used to control autonomous transport vehicles, where reliable connections are essential. And a third slice can be used to transmit images from security cameras whose broadband signals should not interfere with other applications.

Last but not least, industrial customers can also benefit in terms of security if access from outside is routed to a separate network with limited information content. For example, machine manufacturers can provide external condition monitoring and remote troubleshooting by granting access to pertinent machine data. Meanwhile, valuable company expertise, such as innovative procedures, is directed through an independent slice. This ensures that, in the event of a cyberattack via the external service provider, the data cannot be accessed merely by expanding access rights.

The 3GPP standardisation committee also expands the options for authentication and authorisation in network slices with each new release of the 5G standard in order to further improve IT security: https://www.3gpp.org/technologies/slicing-security

Network slicing in 5G has demonstrated its effectiveness beyond industrial settings, such as at sporting events. In these scenarios, hundreds of thousands of spectators can access the Internet, while simultaneously ensuring that TV broadcasts featuring multiple 4K video streams operate seamlessly without image interference or interruptions. This is achieved by running a separate virtual network with guaranteed bandwidth.

Slicing vs. QoS

It could be argued that something similar is already known in the network world with the QoS concept (Quality of Service). This is based on Differentiated Services according to IETF RFC 2475, published in 1998.

One important difference: QoS only concerns the handling of the data stream in the core network. With 5G network slicing, however, QoS extends into the area of the radio access network (RAN). This results in a crucial difference: while Quality of Service (QoS) mainly discerns between various types of data, slicing technology has the capability to treat similar data from distinct clients in a differentiated manner.

There are also differences in how the corresponding functions are set up. The treatment of data traffic in a company network from a QoS perspective is a difficult endeavour. All major network manufacturers support IT administrators with tools to make this complex task manageable. One example is Junos OS Class of Service (CoS) from Juniper Networks, which is designed to enable settings at a granular level.

Network slicing, a virtualisation technology closely related to Software Defined Networking (SDN) and Network Functions Virtualisation (NFV), goes even further. Software-controlled settings make it easier to set up and even enable automated reactions when unusual events occur. In addition, the respective slices can be defined completely independently. Changes to one of the virtual networks have no influence on the other slices.

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