@article{3189182,
    title = "Network slicing - enabled RAN management for 5G: Cross layer control
based on SDN and SDR",
    author = "Barmpounakis, Sokratis and Maroulis, Nikolaos and Papadakis, Michael and and Tsiatsios, George and Soukaras, Dimitrios and Alonistioti, Nancy",
    journal = "Computer Networks",
    year = "2020",
    volume = "166",
    publisher = "Elsevier",
    issn = "1389-1286",
    doi = "10.1016/j.comnet.2019.106987",
    keywords = "5G; Software defined networking; Network Slicing",
    abstract = "Having already entered the initial phase of the 5th generation networks
(5G) era, the network ecosystems have already begun comprising a
plethora of coexisting 3GPP and non-3GGP Radio Access Technologies
(RATs). Deployment scenarios envision a multi-layer use of macro, micro
and femto-cells, where multi mode end devices, supporting different
applications, are served by heterogeneous access technologies. At the
same time, this heterogeneous environment results in an abstract pool of
resources, moving away from the traditional cell concept and exposing
the network administrator with the collective resources in time,
frequency, and space. An imperative need is thus created, to obtain an
overview of the network and radio conditions in order to respond in an
optimal way. The concepts of Software Defined Networking (SDN) and
Software Defined Radio (SDR), when applied in a coordinated and
sophisticated manner, may prove of utmost importance towards addressing
the aforementioned challenges. The concept of network slicing-that
enables the creation of several virtual networks with diverse
characteristics, on top of common infrastructure-further reinforces the
flexibility and dynamicity of the network. To this end, we present and
evaluate a Cross Layer Controller (CLC), which acts on top of
well-established SDN and SDR technologies, and monitors in real-time the
conditions in the radio environment, as well as the transport network
traffic, in a unified way; based on this dynamic input, CLC enforces
sophisticated, end-to-end resource allocation policies and pairing
mechanisms between network slices from different network segments,
highlighting thus, the feature of cross layer resource management and
dynamic adaptation. The experimentation results demonstrate the
considerable gains acquired from the proposed solution. (C) 2019
Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved."
}