Deploymentof network slicing enables the operationof multiple logical networks over a single physical infrastruc-ture in order to reduce total cost, decrease energy consump- tion, and simplify network functionsin comparison to one network for differentuse-cases/business scenarios. In a slice- based network, each slice should be provided with its own specific characteristics and will be considered as a single logical network. In this way, the infrastructure utilization and resource allocation will be much more energy and cost efficient in comparison to traditional network.Implementation of network slicing over 5G communi-cation system arises many technical challenges, which are expected to be solved.
There are also some business and economic issues (e.g. total cost, revenue, etc.) that need for significant optimization and re-designing in order to cope with new network architecture. On the other hand, the demand for broadband multimedia services has been increasing explosively, with this ongoing trend, the revenue of mobile network operators will soon be exceeded byCapital Expenditure (CAPEX) and Operating Expenditure (OPEX) required to operate the infrastructure. Therefore, total cost, expected revenue, and resourceallocation in the context of networkslicing are seemed to be very interestingresearch topics, which need for further discovery.
In this paper, we provide a comprehensive discussion on conceptand system architecture of network slicing withparticular focus on its business aspect and profit modeling. We throughly discuss two differentdimensions of profit modeling i.e.
own-sliceimplementation and resource leasingfor outsourced slices. We further address challenges and open research directions in order to add new contributionsand provide realistic solutions to existing problems in the field of network slicing implementation of 5G system. Thereminder of this paper is structured as of following: Sec. IIreviews state-of-the art in the field of network slicing.
In Sec. III, we discuss concept and system architecture of network slicingfor 5G mobile communication system. Sec. IV presents business aspect and two dimensions of profit modeling. Following that, we provide future research directions in Sec. V.
Finally, a summary of thiswork is given in Sec. VI.
