Slicing in heterogeneous software-defined radio access networks

5G networks are envisioned to be a paradigm shift towards service-oriented networks. In this thesis, we investigate how to efficiently combine slicing and SD-RAN to provide the required level of flexibility and programmability in the RAN infrastructure to realize service-oriented multi-tenant networks. First, we devise an abstraction of a base station to represent logical base stations and describe a virtualized network service. Second, we propose a novel standard-compliant SD-RAN platform, named FlexRIC, in the form of a software development kit (SDK). Third, we provide a modular design for a slice-aware MAC scheduling framework to efficiently manage and control the radio resources in a multi-service environment with quality-of-service (QoS) support. Finally, we present a dynamic SD-RAN virtualization layer based on the FlexRIC SDK and MAC scheduling framework to flexibly compose a multi-service SD-RAN infrastructure and provide programmability for multiple SD-RAN controllers.