A Smart Network Slicing Provisioning Framework for 5G-based IoT Networks

5G is driving change in the Internet of Things (IoT). It is a powerful technology for a new generation of use cases that leverage edge computing to make IoT more efficient and effective. This paper develops a new Smart Network Slicing Provisioning Framework (SNSPF) that uses the Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) method to rank and select the proper telecommunication service provider that runs at certain edge Points of Presence (EPoP) of the 5G-based IOT network for slice deployment. The proposed MCDM approach integrates the Hexagonal Fuzzy approach with the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) to address the shortcoming of the TOPSIS and to rank and select the proper EPoP that can host the network slice using numeric and fuzzy Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) such as the security, cost, and performance criteria. The experiment results depict that the average slice acceptance ratio of the SNSPF is higher than the current solutions such as GRU-DNN, VIKOR-CNSP, and T-S3RA by 28.2%, 10.13%, and 6.1%.