Cost of Network Slice Collaboration: Edge Network Slicing for In-Flight Connectivity

Network edge environments like in-flight or in-train communications utilize satellite-terrestrial integrated networks. These networks however suffer from limited backhaul and cache resources, leading to sustainability issues due to increasing traffic demands. The problem becomes more challenging for 5G ecosystems, where applications have distinct requirements, rendering the management and orchestration of conventional satellite-terrestrial networks harder. Therefore, software-defined networking and edge network slicing are envisioned to enhance resource management and increase flexibility of resource allocation. However, the complexity of management and orchestration increases in cases where service providers, allocated to a slice, do not share information about their users with the infrastructure providers, due to privacy or other concerns. To incorporate the aspect of slice collaboration, we define network slices with respect to their willingness of sharing user traffic statistics with the infrastructure provider. Taking in-flight entertainment and connectivity services (IFECS) as an interesting 5G use-case, we introduce a system model mimicking the practical deployment of slicing for aircrafts using satellites. We propose a mixed integer non linear program that aims at maximizing the number of slices served. Utilizing our model we evaluate the deployment cost of slices with respect to cache and backhaul resources. Our results show that uncooperative slices have a lower selection probability. Nonetheless, we demonstrate that if the slice cost is paid by slice owners, uncooperative slices increase their chances of being served by 33%. Overall, cooperative slicing can revolutionize the IFECS system as it accommodates 200% more slices compared to uncooperative slicing.