Resource Allocation for Network Slices in 5G with Network Resource Pricing

End-to-end network slicing has been viewed as a key enabler for the next generation mobile network (5G), where a Slice Provider (SP) creates various network slices for Slice Customers (SCs) to accommodate diverse services. Due to resource isolation, effective resource allocation for coexisted multiple network slices, i. e. network slice dimensioning, is essential to maximize network resource efficiency. From the perspective of operators, both SP and SC pursue a profit-earning business model. However, the relationship between resource efficiency and profit maximization is not clear so far. In this paper, we study network slice dimensioning with resource pricing policy, by exploring this relationship. We first develop an optimization framework for network slice dimensioning, in which the Slice Customer's Problem (SCP) maximizes the SC's profit and the Slice Provider's Problem (SPP) maximizes net social welfare (resource efficiency). We find that maximization of net social welfare and SP's profit are two consistent objectives when resources are scarce; otherwise, there is a tradeoff. Based on this finding, we propose a low-complexity distributed algorithm to achieve near-optimal net social welfare with profit guarantee for SP/SCs. Simulations and numerical results verify the effectiveness of our proposed slice dimensioning strategy, which can help fully exploiting the capability of network slicing.