Network Slicing in 5G: Survey and Challenges

5G is envisioned to be a multi-service network supporting a wide range of verticals with a diverse set of performance and service requirements. Slicing a single physical network into multiple isolated logical networks has emerged as a key to realizing this vision. This article is meant to act as a survey, the first to the authors’ knowledge, on this topic of prime interest. We begin by reviewing the state of the art on 5G network slicing and we present a framework for bringing together and discussing existing work in a holistic manner. Using this framework, we evaluate the maturity of current proposals and identify a number of open research questions.