Novel QoE monitoring and management architecture with eTOM for SDN-based 5G networks

The 5th Generation (5G) network design is still under exploration and will require an innovative approach to network monitoring and management with a relentless focus on customer needs. Among the recent technologies, software-defined networking (SDN) and network functions virtualization (NFV), which are already offering network programmability and automation, have been proposed to improve resource management in 5G systems. Furthermore, the enhanced telecom operations map (eTOM) can be used to manage both End-to-End (E2E) service and end-customer experience. In this paper, we illustrate a novel SDN-based architecture for 5G networks that will be able to enhance quality-of-experience (QoE) monitoring and management by integrating SDN and eTOM. This architecture is deployed and evaluated by simulations of a service-level agreement (SLA) verification scenario. As a result, the implemented platform is capable of identifying SLA violation and can successfully enforce suitable mechanisms to dynamically adjust network parameters, thereby satisfying the SLA constraints.