Zero Touch Networks to Realize Virtualization: Opportunities, Challenges, and Future Prospects

• Published in: IEEE network Vol. 36; no. 6; pp. 251 - 259
• Main Authors: Ashraf, Imran, Zikria, Yousaf Bin, Garg, Sahil, Park, Yongwan, Kaddoum, Georges, Singh, Satinder
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York IEEE 01-11-2022; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Autonomy; Complexity; Complexity theory; Customer services; Heterogeneity; Internet of Things; Network slicing; Optimization; Quality of experience; R&D; Research & development; Research and development; Security; Virtual networks; Virtualization
• ISSN: 0890-8044; 1558-156X
• DOI: 10.1109/MNET.001.2200029

The heterogeneity and growing complexity from the evolution of 5G and beyond networks and the development of future IoT networks necessitate the automatic management of these networks. The exacerbated growth of IoT devices and foreseen network complexity deem manual management impractical. Zero touch networks (ZTNs) seems the practical solution to utilize the potential of virtualization by incorporating autonomous services and infrastructure to meet customer needs automatically. The ZTN is envisioned to achieve operation autonomy by enabling configuration, monitoring, optimization, and healing without human intervention. However, the openness of the ZTN framework, network heterogeneity and complexity, diverse and vertical industries, dynamicity, and so on complicate automation. It requires extensive research and development efforts to accomplish this goal. This study discusses the challenges of ZTNs to obtain the full potential of virtualization and highlights future trends in this regard.