MDPI Future Internet Special Issue 2019 : Special Issue on Vertical-Oriented Network Services over SDN/NFV towards 5G

Dear Colleagues,

5G will not only be an evolution of mobile broadband networks, it will bring new unique network and service capabilities by integrating networking, computing and storage resources into one programmable and unified infrastructure while serving a multitude of distributed smart devices and applications (e.g., robots, drones, smart vehicles), in turn being part of the infrastructure itself. Moreover, new radio capabilities will foster significantly higher throughput and lower latencies that will enable new applications in several domains, e.g., verticals, such as automotive, cloud robotics, smart cities, health, just to mention a few. This multi-facet technology evolution promises tremendous commercial opportunities for service providers provided that they enhance their network capabilities and operations toward higher scalability and flexibility to address stringent requirements of many different vertical services.

Technologies, such as Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) and Software-Defined Networking (SDN), play a prominent role in the strategic blueprint for service providers, enabling the scalable and flexible network operation demanded by vertical applications. Indeed, SDN allows for programmable network control and elastic allocation of the network resources. On the other hand, NFV enables software-based network functions while leveraging scalability of cloud technologies. Another correlated trend is the deployment of distributed micro-clouds located at the network edge (e.g., Edge/Fog Computing) providing service platforms to vertical applications that need a tighter interaction with users and low latency.

A scenario can be envisioned where (telco) service providers may offer not only communication services, but also provide complete virtual networks along with distributed virtualized computing and storage resources by elastically slicing the infrastructure into partitions (i.e., network slices) customized for specific verticals. These slices will elastically deliver a composition of both network functions (e.g., security, traffic optimization, virtual radio network) and application services (e.g., machine learning, data analytics) specialized for the vertical application.

To address a new set of more stringent requirements while considering the peculiarities of each vertical industry, 5G networks have to be deployed through intelligent control and management platforms leveraging orchestration to encompass with heterogeneous resource pools (i.e., network, compute and storage) and to cope with a dynamic context of users, services and resources. An end-to-end vision is mandatory where applications and network services are dynamically composed and flexibly provisioned across virtualized infrastructures and leveraging distributed service delivery platforms serving end-users and smart devices/terminals.

This Special Issue calls for conceptual, theoretical and experimental contributions discussing and treating challenges that derive from such emerging scenario where systems, processes, and workflows used in both computing and communications domains are converging. The special issue welcomes contributions from both computing and network-oriented research communities, with the aim of presenting interdisciplinary approaches, innovative solutions and best practices toward a real programmatic use of virtualized infrastructures toward addressing peculiar vertical service platforms requirements. We invite researchers and practitioners from academia, industry, network operators, and service providers to submit papers describing original, previously unpublished work, not currently under review by another conference, workshop, or journal.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

5G network slice management
orchestration of distributed clouds (including fog/edge computing environments)
integrated network and computing resource control, management and orchestration
multi-domain and multi-tenant orchestration issues
control, abstraction and orchestration of heterogeneous resources in 5G networks
abstraction, interface and protocols for vertical-oriented resource orchestration QoS/QoE in SDN/NFV addressing vertical service requirements
vertical-oriented network slice management
software engineering and operating systems techniques applied to orchestration for 5G services
AI techniques for network orchestration and automation
testbed experiments on orchestrations for 5G, vertical services and slicing
optimal orchestration algorithms
dynamic service composition and delivery
functional architectures of orchestrating elements
standardization issues in orchestration and slice management
run-time orchestration for vertical-oriented slice deployments
studies and experiments of vertical services (e.g., smart cities, automotive, health, Internet of Things, etc.) leveraging 5G SDN/NFV infrastructures

Prof. Barbara Martini
Dr. Federica Paganelli
Guest Editors