Traffic Management of SDN/NFV-Based Smart 5G Networks Using Time Series Analysis

Introduction

Technology has changed the way devices are connected and communicate with each other. The rapidly evolving Internet and extensively used cloud services have caused an increase in wireless data traffic (Ghafoor et al., 2022). A new network technology called 5G has the potential to provide ultra-high speeds, low latency, and high-reliable smart services. 5G technology has increased bandwidth, allowing it to seamlessly transfer data, thus improving the connectivity among devices and overall user experience (El-Shorbagy, 2021), (Mendonça et al., 2022). For years, Internet service providers, cellular operators and global telecom operators have been planning to implement and use 5G technologies to have easy accessibility and feasible operations. 5G technology works faster on cellular devices than 4G and 4G LTE. 5G technology is the best option for connecting a wide range of gadgets, including drones and sensors.

There are numerous opportunities as 5G can facilitate the adoption of IoT in industries, helping them improve their productivity, streamline operations and other factors. As there is a wide range of user preferences with customers, the applications of 5G networks require services to be offered on demand in real-time. Handling emergencies and managing network traffic during peak hours is highly challenging and demanding due to the need for multiple services. High demand for services can lead to heavy traffic and restrict access to facilities owned by service providers. As 5G support multiple use cases with various integrated network applications, such as e-health, autonomous driving, the delivery of multimedia content, the Internet of Things (IoT), or machine-to-machine communication, generates a variety of needs that are difficult for a single technology to satisfy.

Therefore, the successful implementation of 5G networks depends on the architecture that can offer flexibility, automation, reconfigurability, and programmability to serve, with fine granularity, a broad and heterogeneous collection of 5G use cases. The key component to designing an efficient 5G network is to incorporate Software defined networking (SDN) (Silva et al., 2021). SDN aims to increase the flexibility and agility of networks by allowing network control to be programmed and abstraction of the underlying infrastructure for applications and network services (Hussain et al., 2021). The software defined infrastructure may boost the flexibility and responsiveness of service providers to user needs by enabling intelligent network services. A smart architecture for network programmability and the construction of different network hierarchies, in particular, will be made available by 5G SDN (Blanco et al., 2017). SDN based 5G networks support the necessary adaptability to change and adapt in response to the constantly shifting network situation.

The separation of the control plane from the data forwarding plane has been successfully implemented with Network Function Virtualization (NFV) by efficient isolation of the abstraction of capabilities from the hardware. NFV effectively extracts network activities and implements them in software. Hence NFV is a highly complementary technology to SDN. NFV enables network operations, such as routing choices, upgrades, resource allocation, etc. to be carried out in the cloud or remote servers and isolated from local devices. 5G networks have to manage dynamic traffic patterns, multi-tenancy, and heterogeneous and strict traffic needs. Network operators must manage Virtual Network Functions in 5G networks, which have different requirements and must dynamically adapt/ reconfigure in response to demand. SDN allows the network operators to handle all networking processes through reprogramming with increased flexibility and reduced deployment and operational costs.