5G NORMA: System Architecture for Programmable & Multi-Tenant 5G Mobile Networks

This paper describes the status of the 5G NORMA architecture after the second design iteration. It integrates the control and data layer functions developed in the project into a harmonized mobile network architecture, applying the paradigms of adaptive (de-) composition and allocation of network functions (NFs), programmable network control, and end-to-end network slicing. The paper depicts the design of a multi-service management & orchestration layer with dedicated interfaces for mobile network tenants. The security threats arising in virtualized multitenant networks are discussed and novel security solutions are presented. The architecture verification applies a methodology with three evaluation cases and the generic 5G services (eMBB, mMTC, and URLLC) to analyze to what extent the current architecture design meets the different requirements as defined in 5G NORMA and the overall ecosystem, including the 5G-PPP initiative and 3GPP.