PONE-D-24-41605An Integrated Model of Threshold-based Scaling and Fractional Admission Controlling to Improve Resource Utilization Efficiency in 5G Core NetworksPLOS ONE

Dear Dr. Dang,

Thank you for submitting your manuscript to PLOS ONE. After careful consideration, we feel that it has merit but does not fully meet PLOS ONE’s publication criteria as it currently stands. Therefore, we invite you to submit a revised version of the manuscript that addresses the points raised during the review process.

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We look forward to receiving your revised manuscript.

Kind regards,

Dhanamjayulu C, Ph.D & Post.Doc

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

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Additional Editor Comments:

The reviewers recommend reconsideration the manuscript with revision and modification. I invite the authors to resubmit the manuscript after addressing the comments raised by the reviewers.

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Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

1. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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2. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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3. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available?

The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified.

Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: Yes

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4. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?

PLOS ONE does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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5. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #1: The manuscript successfully addresses resource optimization in 5G core networks by integrating threshold-based scaling and fractional admission control. The methodology is sound, and the results are validated through theoretical and experimental alignment. For improvement, I suggest the following:

1. Explicitly address how this model can adapt to varying traffic loads and user behaviors in heterogeneous environments.

2. There is no explicit mention of data repositories or links for external data availability, which may be necessary for full compliance with PLOS data policies. Then you have to include raw simulation data or repository links for transparency and replication.

3. Review for minor grammatical errors and consistency in technical terminology. For example, standardize terms like "UPF instance" and "Pod" where necessary.

4. Enhancing figure captions with detailed descriptions would improve their standalone interpretability. So add Figures' captions.

Reviewer #2: I have reviewed the manuscript titled "An Integrated Model of Threshold-based Scaling and Fractional Admission Controlling to Improve Resource Utilization Efficiency in 5G Core Networks." The study presents a novel integration of fractional admission control (FAC) and threshold-based scaling to optimize resource utilization in 5G core networks. By implementing the proposed TSUPF-FAC algorithm and validating it using Kubernetes-based Open5GS, the paper demonstrates significant improvements in resource efficiency and system performance. Below, I offer feedback for further improvement:

Content and Structure: The manuscript is well-structured, with a clear presentation of the problem, methodology, and experimental evaluation. However, the introduction could benefit from additional context on the broader implications of resource optimization in 5G networks, such as its impact on service quality and cost reduction for service providers. Expanding the discussion section to include potential scalability challenges and real-world deployment scenarios would also strengthen the manuscript.

Literature Review and Citations: The literature review includes relevant references but could be further enriched with recent studies on optimization and machine learning in resource management for 5G networks. I recommend incorporating the following references to align the manuscript with current advancements in the field:

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eswa.2023.122147

https://doi.org/10.21608/jaiep.2024.386693

https://doi.org/10.54216/JAIM.080103

These citations will enhance the manuscript's contextual relevance and support the discussion on optimization and system performance.

Technical Clarifications and Suggestions: While the proposed model and results are promising, additional details in the following areas would improve clarity and reproducibility:

FAC Threshold Selection: Elaborate on the criteria for selecting H1 and H2 thresholds and their impact on system performance.

Computational Efficiency: Discuss the computational complexity of the TSUPF-FAC algorithm, particularly in large-scale deployments with high traffic loads.

Real-World Applicability: Provide insights into how the proposed model could be integrated into existing 5G networks and its adaptability to future 6G architectures.

Comparative Analysis: Expand the discussion on how the proposed model outperforms other state-of-the-art scaling and admission control techniques in terms of efficiency and scalability.

I hope these suggestions assist in refining your manuscript. The integration of FAC with threshold-based scaling represents a significant advancement in resource optimization for 5G core networks, and with these revisions, the study could make a substantial contribution to the field of network management and optimization.

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Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: No

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PONE-D-24-41605R1An Integrated Model of Threshold-based Scaling and Fractional Admission Controlling to Improve Resource Utilization Efficiency in 5G Core NetworksPLOS ONE

Dear Dr. Dang,

Thank you for submitting your manuscript to PLOS ONE. After careful consideration, we feel that it has merit but does not fully meet PLOS ONE’s publication criteria as it currently stands. Therefore, we invite you to submit a revised version of the manuscript that addresses the points raised during the review process.

==============================

ACADEMIC EDITOR: The reviewers recommend reconsideration the manuscript with revision and modification. I invite the authors to resubmit the manuscript after addressing the comments raised by the reviewers.

==============================

Please submit your revised manuscript by Feb 15 2025 11:59PM. If you will need more time than this to complete your revisions, please reply to this message or contact the journal office at plosone@plos.org. When you're ready to submit your revision, log on to https://www.editorialmanager.com/pone/ and select the 'Submissions Needing Revision' folder to locate your manuscript file.

Please include the following items when submitting your revised manuscript:

• A rebuttal letter that responds to each point raised by the academic editor and reviewer(s). You should upload this letter as a separate file labeled 'Response to Reviewers'.
• A marked-up copy of your manuscript that highlights changes made to the original version. You should upload this as a separate file labeled 'Revised Manuscript with Track Changes'.
• An unmarked version of your revised paper without tracked changes. You should upload this as a separate file labeled 'Manuscript'.

If you would like to make changes to your financial disclosure, please include your updated statement in your cover letter. Guidelines for resubmitting your figure files are available below the reviewer comments at the end of this letter.

If applicable, we recommend that you deposit your laboratory protocols in protocols.io to enhance the reproducibility of your results. Protocols.io assigns your protocol its own identifier (DOI) so that it can be cited independently in the future. For instructions see: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/s/submission-guidelines#loc-laboratory-protocols. Additionally, PLOS ONE offers an option for publishing peer-reviewed Lab Protocol articles, which describe protocols hosted on protocols.io. Read more information on sharing protocols at https://plos.org/protocols?utm_medium=editorial-email&utm_source=authorletters&utm_campaign=protocols.

We look forward to receiving your revised manuscript.

Kind regards,

Dhanamjayulu C, Ph.D & Post.Doc

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Journal Requirements:

Please review your reference list to ensure that it is complete and correct. If you have cited papers that have been retracted, please include the rationale for doing so in the manuscript text, or remove these references and replace them with relevant current references. Any changes to the reference list should be mentioned in the rebuttal letter that accompanies your revised manuscript. If you need to cite a retracted article, indicate the article’s retracted status in the References list and also include a citation and full reference for the retraction notice.

Additional Editor Comment:

The reviewers recommend reconsideration the manuscript with revision and modification. I invite the authors to resubmit the manuscript after addressing the comments raised by the reviewers.

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Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

1. If the authors have adequately addressed your comments raised in a previous round of review and you feel that this manuscript is now acceptable for publication, you may indicate that here to bypass the “Comments to the Author” section, enter your conflict of interest statement in the “Confidential to Editor” section, and submit your "Accept" recommendation.

Reviewer #1: (No Response)

Reviewer #2: All comments have been addressed

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2. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

3. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

4. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available?

The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

5. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?

PLOS ONE does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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6. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #1: While the manuscript mentions some practical considerations for real-world applications, a more detailed discussion of potential limitations (e.g., impact of network dynamics on performance) would strengthen the paper and provide insights into areas for future improvement.

Reviewer #2: (No Response)

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7. PLOS authors have the option to publish the peer review history of their article (what does this mean?). If published, this will include your full peer review and any attached files.

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Do you want your identity to be public for this peer review? For information about this choice, including consent withdrawal, please see our Privacy Policy.

Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: Yes: Abdelaziz Abdelmoniem Abdelhamid

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PONE-D-24-41605R2An Integrated Model of Threshold-based Scaling and Fractional Admission Controlling to Improve Resource Utilization Efficiency in 5G Core NetworksPLOS ONE

Dear Dr. Dang,

Thank you for submitting your manuscript to PLOS ONE. After careful consideration, we feel that it has merit but does not fully meet PLOS ONE’s publication criteria as it currently stands. Therefore, we invite you to submit a revised version of the manuscript that addresses the points raised during the review process.

==============================

ACADEMIC EDITOR: The reviewers recommend reconsideration the manuscript with revision and modification. I invite the authors to resubmit the manuscript after addressing the comments raised by the reviewers.

==============================

Please submit your revised manuscript by Jul 18 2025 11:59PM. If you will need more time than this to complete your revisions, please reply to this message or contact the journal office at plosone@plos.org. When you're ready to submit your revision, log on to https://www.editorialmanager.com/pone/ and select the 'Submissions Needing Revision' folder to locate your manuscript file.

Please include the following items when submitting your revised manuscript:

• A rebuttal letter that responds to each point raised by the academic editor and reviewer(s). You should upload this letter as a separate file labeled 'Response to Reviewers'.
• A marked-up copy of your manuscript that highlights changes made to the original version. You should upload this as a separate file labeled 'Revised Manuscript with Track Changes'.
• An unmarked version of your revised paper without tracked changes. You should upload this as a separate file labeled 'Manuscript'.

If you would like to make changes to your financial disclosure, please include your updated statement in your cover letter. Guidelines for resubmitting your figure files are available below the reviewer comments at the end of this letter.

If applicable, we recommend that you deposit your laboratory protocols in protocols.io to enhance the reproducibility of your results. Protocols.io assigns your protocol its own identifier (DOI) so that it can be cited independently in the future. For instructions see: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/s/submission-guidelines#loc-laboratory-protocols. Additionally, PLOS ONE offers an option for publishing peer-reviewed Lab Protocol articles, which describe protocols hosted on protocols.io. Read more information on sharing protocols at https://plos.org/protocols?utm_medium=editorial-email&utm_source=authorletters&utm_campaign=protocols.

We look forward to receiving your revised manuscript.

Kind regards,

Dhanamjayulu C, Ph.D & Post.Doc

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Journal Requirements:

Please review your reference list to ensure that it is complete and correct. If you have cited papers that have been retracted, please include the rationale for doing so in the manuscript text, or remove these references and replace them with relevant current references. Any changes to the reference list should be mentioned in the rebuttal letter that accompanies your revised manuscript. If you need to cite a retracted article, indicate the article’s retracted status in the References list and also include a citation and full reference for the retraction notice.

Additional Editor Comments:

The reviewers recommend reconsideration the manuscript with revision and modification. I invite the authors to resubmit the manuscript after addressing the comments raised by the reviewers.

[Note: HTML markup is below. Please do not edit.]

Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

1. If the authors have adequately addressed your comments raised in a previous round of review and you feel that this manuscript is now acceptable for publication, you may indicate that here to bypass the “Comments to the Author” section, enter your conflict of interest statement in the “Confidential to Editor” section, and submit your "Accept" recommendation.

Reviewer #3: (No Response)

Reviewer #4: All comments have been addressed

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2. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented.

Reviewer #3: Partly

Reviewer #4: Yes

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3. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #3: Yes

Reviewer #4: Yes

**********

4. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available?

The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified.

Reviewer #3: Yes

Reviewer #4: (No Response)

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5. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?

PLOS ONE does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here.

Reviewer #3: Yes

Reviewer #4: Yes

**********

6. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #3: On lines 33 – 140 there is information about the use of a model based on a Poission distribution of session arrivals. This has already been risen in the previous comments by other reviewers, but I think the response added to the paper is not sufficient. The references to the literature or an analysis should be provided showing if the session arrivals in 5G have a Poisson distribution or how far from the Poisson distribution they are.

The figures 5 and 6 don’t add much to the paper. They show that the simulation results are consistent for different seeds, which is good, but this could be shown more clearly by adding the confidence intervals on the plots or listing them in the table in the paper. Instead of comparing the simulations to simulations, the model should be validated by comparison of results from Open5GS testbed with the results obtained using Markov chain model. Has such validation for the Q-TSUPF-FAC been made?

It would be more clear to use the name of the metric in the figures caption, namely the utilization of radio resources instead just U, or the average number of idle instances instead of Vid.

The figures 7 and 8 are supposed to compare the Q-TSUPF-FAC and Q-TSUPF algorithms, but it’s very hard to understand from the plots what is the difference. Especially on figure 8, the metric U remains unchanged, regarding the parameters used. Does it mean that the utilization remains the same for both algorithms? Why then the number of idle instances is different?

The gain on the better utilization of Q-TSUPF-FAC shown on the figure 12 is very small – it is smaller than 1 percent point. There is too little comment in the paper, why the authors propose to complicate the algorithm for such a small increase of efficiency?

The conclusions seems to not correctly reflect the content of the paper. It is stated in line 368 that the advantage of the algorithm is the ease of implementation. In my understanding, the proposed method is a slight modification of the previously developed by the same authors Q-TSUPF algorithm. The previous algorithm is less complicated and easier to implement, while the currently proposed Q-TSUPF-FAC offers a slightly better utilization of resources at the cost of using more threshold for the scaling of the load. This should be clearly stated in the conclusions. Additionally, the fact that the model can be applied in 6G networks is both true for the current algorithm and for the previous one.

There is no analysis of the probability of not allocating the sufficient number of UPF instances. I understand that this is caused by the simplification made in the model that the allocation time is equal 0. In such a case the optimal strategy is to allocate the UPF instance as late as possible. A trivial strategy to configure the two thresholds used in the Q-TSUPF algorithm to the maximum possible values should be optimal in such a scenario. Is this a case and why then complicate the algorithm instead of selecting the right thresholds for the already existing method?

Reviewer #4: The authors significantly address all the reviewers' comments, and this version of the manuscript is technically acceptable for publication.

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7. PLOS authors have the option to publish the peer review history of their article (what does this mean?). If published, this will include your full peer review and any attached files.

If you choose “no”, your identity will remain anonymous but your review may still be made public.

Do you want your identity to be public for this peer review? For information about this choice, including consent withdrawal, please see our Privacy Policy.

Reviewer #3: No

Reviewer #4: No

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[NOTE: If reviewer comments were submitted as an attachment file, they will be attached to this email and accessible via the submission site. Please log into your account, locate the manuscript record, and check for the action link "View Attachments". If this link does not appear, there are no attachment files.]

While revising your submission, please upload your figure files to the Preflight Analysis and Conversion Engine (PACE) digital diagnostic tool, https://pacev2.apexcovantage.com/. PACE helps ensure that figures meet PLOS requirements. To use PACE, you must first register as a user. Registration is free. Then, login and navigate to the UPLOAD tab, where you will find detailed instructions on how to use the tool. If you encounter any issues or have any questions when using PACE, please email PLOS at figures@plos.org. Please note that Supporting Information files do not need this step.

An Integrated Model of Threshold-based Scaling and Fractional Admission Controlling to Improve Resource Utilization Efficiency in 5G Core Networks

PONE-D-24-41605R3

Dear Dr. Chuong Thanh Dang,

We’re pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been judged scientifically suitable for publication and will be formally accepted for publication once it meets all outstanding technical requirements.

Within one week, you’ll receive an e-mail detailing the required amendments. When these have been addressed, you’ll receive a formal acceptance letter and your manuscript will be scheduled for publication.

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Kind regards,

Dhanamjayulu C, Ph.D & Post.Doc

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Additional Editor Comments (optional):

The authors have addressed the reviewers’ comments properly

The article can be accepted for the publication in present form

Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

1. If the authors have adequately addressed your comments raised in a previous round of review and you feel that this manuscript is now acceptable for publication, you may indicate that here to bypass the “Comments to the Author” section, enter your conflict of interest statement in the “Confidential to Editor” section, and submit your "Accept" recommendation.

Reviewer #4: All comments have been addressed

Reviewer #5: All comments have been addressed

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2. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented.

Reviewer #4: Yes

Reviewer #5: Yes

**********

3. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #4: Yes

Reviewer #5: Yes

**********

4. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available?

The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified.

Reviewer #4: Yes

Reviewer #5: Yes

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5. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?

PLOS ONE does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here.

Reviewer #4: Yes

Reviewer #5: Yes

**********

6. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #4: The author significantly addresses all the reviewers comments. This revised version of the paper has now technically eligible for the publication.

Reviewer #5: The authors revised the manuscript as per the suggestions given by the reviewers and hence the manuscript can be accepted for publication, after english corrections

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Reviewer #4: No

Reviewer #5: Yes: Dr.Suresh Muthusamy

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