IETF Network Slice
Service BenchmarkingHuawei TechnologiesChinajie.dong@huawei.comTelefonicaSpainluismiguel.contrerasmurillo@telefonica.comNetwork slicing aims to provide assurance of specific network
performance objectives for network services which require both
connectivity and specific performance commitment. Such network services
are considered as network slice services. This document provides a
benchmarking methodology for network slicing, focusing on evaluating the
key functionalities of network slicing mechanisms and the performance of
network slice services. The network slicing functionalities includes the
data plane, control plane and management plane mechanisms for realizing
network slice service, and the performance of network slice service
includes the service level agreement (SLA) commitments (bandwidth,
delay, and jitter), path constraints and resource guarantee.The tests aim to demonstrate how network slicing can support
competing services in a shared network, ensuring that critical network
services in one network slice remain unaffected by congestion or
unexpected behavior of other traffic in the same network.The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
"SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this
document are to be interpreted as described in RFC 2119.Network slicing aims to provide assurance of specific network
performance objectives for network services which require both
connectivity and specific performance commitment. Such network services
are considered as network slice services.
describes the general framework for requesting and operating network
slices built from IETF technologies. also
introduces the concept of Network Resource Partition (NRP), which is a
subset of the buffer/queuing/scheduling resources and associated
policies on each of a connected set of links in the underlay network.
NRP can be created to support specific SLAs of one or a group of network
slice services. In a default deployment, the network resources are not
partitioned, which means all the network service are provisioned over
the underlay network with shared network resources. Depending on the
types of services carried in the network, this may or may not meet all
the service requirements. describes a framework for Enhanced Virtual
Private Networks (VPNs) based on Network Resource Partitions (NRPs) to
support the needs of applications with specific traffic performance
requirements (e.g., low latency, bounded jitter). NRP-based enhanced VPN
can be used to deliver network slice services.As outlined in , network slicing is crucial
for 5G services and beyond, where diverse service requirements demand
tailored performance guarantees. Benchmarking of network slicing is
essential to understand its effect on service assurance, particularly in
high-demand service environments. Evaluating performance aspects such as
resource guarantee and SLA adherence helps service providers to
understand different types of network slicing mechanisms and choose the
suitable one for their network scenarios and demands.This document provides benchmarking guidelines to evaluate the key
functionalities and effectiveness of network slicing, referencing for benchmarking principles. More specifically, it
focuses on the benchmarking of 1) Network Resource partitioning for
network slices; 2) Network Slice Topology Control; 3) SR Path with
Resource Guarantee 4) Service SLA assurance, including bandwidth,
latency etc..Network Slice: As defined in , An IETF
Network Slice enables connectivity between a set of SDPs with specific
Service Level Objectives (SLOs) and Service Level Expectations (SLEs)
over a common underlay network.Network Resource Partition (NRP): As defined in , an NRP is a subset of the buffer/queuing/scheduling
resources and associated policies on each of a connected set of links in
the underlay network.End-to-End SLA: A guaranteed level of service performance across an
entire network path.Benchmarking tests will be conducted in a controlled environment,
consisting of:Hardware: Network devices capable of supporting network
slicing.Software: Network slice control and management tools.Traffic Generator: Configured to simulate background and high-value
service traffic scenarios.Background Traffic: Continuous traffic aimed at saturating network
links to simulate congestion.High-Value Traffic: Critical service traffic which requires
guaranteed bandwidth, low latency etc., such as voice or video
streaming.Bandwidth of network slice service: The amount of bandwidth
consumed by a network slice service.Delay (Latency) of network slice service: Time taken for a data
packet to traverse the network via a network slice.Jitter of network slice service: Variation of packet arrival time
in a network slice, which can affect time-sensitive applications.Objective: Verify that whether the device supports the partitioning
of link resources to form an NRP.Procedure: Create an NRP instance, specify the set of links which belong
to the NRP.On each of the link of the NRP, configure the set of bandwidth
to be reserved for the NRP.Generate background traffic in the network.Generate test traffic with NRP Selector ID carried in data
packet, test the NRP throughput on each link .Expected Results: The NRP instance is created successfully.On each of the links in the NRP, the bandwidth resource is
reserved successfully.The throughput of test traffic is the same as the reserved
bandwidth of the NRP.Objective: Verify the mechanism to control the topology of an NRP,
so that network slice traffic will only be forwarded along the paths
within the NRP topology.Procedure: Create an NRP instance, reserve link bandwidth on each link of
the NRP.Define a logical topology which aligns with the NRP topology
using either Flexible-Algorithm or
Multi-Topology with Segment Routing.Generate background traffic in the network.Generate test traffic with Algorithm/Topology -specific SR SID
and NRP Selector ID carried in the packet, check the packet
forwarding path and throughput.Expected Results:The NRP instance is created successfully, and the link
resources for the NRP are reserved successfully.The Flex-Algo or Multi-topology is created successfully, and
aligns with the topology of NRP.The test traffic is sent along the paths within the specified
Flex-Algorithm or MT, no traffic goes to links out side the
topology of NRP.The throughput of test traffic is the same as the reserved
bandwidth on the set of links of the NRP.Objective: Verify that an SR Policy can be associated with an NRP
to provide guaranteed performance for network slice serviceProcedure: Provision an SR Policy with one or
multiple candidate paths, each consists of one or multiple segment
lists.Create an NRP instance, reserve link bandwidth on each link of
the NRP. The topology of the NRP covers all the candidate paths
and segment lists of the SR Policy.Associate the SR Policy with the NRP for resource
guarantee.Generate background traffic in the network.Generate test traffic with the SID list and NRP Selector ID
carried in the packet, check the packet forwarding path and
throughput.Expected Results: The NRP instance is created successfully, and the link
resources for the NRP are reserved successfully.The SR Policy is created successfully, and is associated with
the NRP.The test traffic is sent along the paths specified by the SID
list of the SR Policy.The throughput of test traffic is the same as the reserved
bandwidth on the set of links of the NRP.Objective: Verify that the bandwidth required by a network slice
service can be guaranteed.Procedure: Provision an L3VPN or EVPN service with the requirement on high
bandwidth.Provision an SR Policy with one or multiple candidate paths,
each consists of one or multiple SID lists according to the
connectivity and bandwidth requirement of the L3VPN or EVPN
service.Create an NRP instance, reserve link bandwidth on each link of
the NRP to meet the bandwidth requirement of the network slice
service. The topology of the NRP covers all the candidate paths of
the SR Policy.Associate the SR Policy with the NRP for bandwidth
guarantee.Generate background traffic in the network, make the network
congested.Generate test traffic of the VPN service, steer the VPN service
into the SR Policy. Check the packet forwarding path and
throughput.Expected Results: The VPN service is provisioned successfully.The NRP instance is created successfully, and the link
resources for the NRP are reserved successfully.The SR Policy is created successfully, and is associated with
the NRP.The VPN service test traffic is sent along the paths specified
by the SID list of the SR Policy, and the packet is encapsulated
with the NRP Selector ID.The throughput of test VPN traffic is the same as the required
bandwidth of the service.Objective: Verify that the latency required by a network slice
service can be guaranteed.Procedure: Provision an L3VPN or EVPN service with specific requirement on
bandwidth and latency.Provision an SR Policy with one or multiple candidate paths,
each consists of one or multiple SID lists which can meet the
latency requirement of the L3VPN or EVPN service.Create an NRP instance, reserve link bandwidth on each link of
the NRP to meet the SLA requirement of the network slice service.
The topology of the NRP covers all the candidate paths of the SR
Policy.Associate the SR Policy with the NRP for latency guarantee.Generate background traffic in the network, make the network
congested.Generate test traffic of the VPN service, steer the VPN service
into the SR Policy. Check the packet forwarding path, throughput
and latency.Expected Results: The VPN service is provisioned successfully.The NRP instance is created successfully, and the link
resources for the NRP are reserved successfully.The SR Policy is created successfully, and is associated with
the NRP.The VPN service test traffic is sent along the paths specified
by the SID list of the SR Policy, and the packet is encapsulated
with the NRP Selector ID.The throughput of test VPN traffic is the same as the required
bandwidth of the service, the latency of the traffic meet the
required latency of the service.This document makes no request of IANA.Note to RFC Editor: this section may be removed on publication as an
RFC.TBDThe authors would like to thank Xuesong Geng for the review and
valuable suggestions.