A framework of resource provisioning and customized energy-efficiency optimization in virtualized small cell networks

The continuous increase in the cost of energy production and concerns for environmental sustainability are leading research communities, governments and industries to amass efforts to reduce energy consumption and global CO ₂ footprint. Players in the information and communication industry are keen on reducing the operational expenditures (OpEx) and maintaining the profitability of cellular networks. Meanwhile, network virtualization has been proposed in this regard as the main enabler for 5G mobile cellular networks. In this paper, we propose a generic framework of slice resource provisioning and customized physical resource allocation for energy-efficiency and quality of service optimization. In resource slicing, we consider user demand and population resources provisioning scheme aiming to satisfy quality of service (QoS). In customized physical resource allocation, we formulate this problem with an integer non-linear programming model, which is solved by a heuristic algorithm based on minimum vertex coverage. The proposed algorithm is compared with the existing approaches, without consideration of slice resource constraints via system-level simulations. From the perspective of infrastructure providers, traffic is scheduled over a limited number of active small-cell base stations (sc-BSs) that significantly reduce the system energy consumption and improve the system’s spectral efficiency. From the perspective of virtual network operators and mobile users, the proposed approach can guarantee QoS for mobile users and improve user satisfaction.