A Cloud Native Approach to 5G Network Slicing

5G networks will have to support a set of very diverse and often extreme requirements. Network slicing offers an effective way to unlock the full potential of 5G networks and meet those requirements on a shared network infrastructure. This paper presents a cloud native approach to network slicing. The cloud native approach advances a fundamental rethinking of the mobile network to shift from the current network-of-entities architecture to a network-of-capabilities architecture and from the current network-for-connectivity model to a network-for-services model. The approach supports the design, deployment, customization, and optimization of different network slices running on a common network infrastructure. We provide an overview of the cloud native approach to network slicing and describe a proof-of-concept instantiation of the approach that demonstrates some of its key principles.