Intent-based networking for 5G mobile networks.

Summary Mobile networks currently use an imperative approach to network service delivery and service lifecycle management. The technology leaps that come with 5G will attract millions of new users and huge volumes of data. Network infrastructure will reach such complexity that imperative mode management will not be able to keep up with the expected increase in service demands. Software Defined Networking (SDN) and Network Function Virtualization (NFV) technologies are paving the way for programmability, flexibility and scalability of mobile networks. Both technologies offer a significant advantage to Network Operators (NOs) in terms of network management and service delivery, and expand their market to third-party providers such as Virtual Network Operators (VNOs) and Over-The-Top (OTT) application providers. However, these technologies still rely on imperative approaches to network service management and delivery. A declarative approach to network service management is required to manage their network growth in a seamless manner, which is provided by an intent-based networking (IBN) approach. IBN involves organizing and abstracting complex sets of network management and configuration instructions to expose them to network tenants in the form of a simple and unambiguous service request called an Intent. The Intent describes WHAT is requested while the network manages HOW to respond. This thesis proposes an Intent-based processing framework for vertical market request processing. The study focuses on the provisioning of application-dedicated 5G network slices. The framework helps both operators and network tenants to express their intent in a 4th generation language close to human language and in transformation language (source-to-source).