A Service Function Chain Deployment Method Based on Network Flow Theory for Load Balance in Operator Networks

Network function virtualization technology makes the deployment and management of network service more flexible and elastic by decoupling network function from dedicated hardware. The service requests of network function virtualization are usually deployed in the form of a service function chain. In...

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Main Authors: Xiaoyang Han, Xiangru Meng, Zhenhua Yu, Qiaoyan Kang, Yu Zhao
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IEEE 2020-01-01
Series:IEEE Access
Subjects:
Online Access:https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9094249/
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author Xiaoyang Han
Xiangru Meng
Zhenhua Yu
Qiaoyan Kang
Yu Zhao
author_facet Xiaoyang Han
Xiangru Meng
Zhenhua Yu
Qiaoyan Kang
Yu Zhao
author_sort Xiaoyang Han
collection DOAJ
description Network function virtualization technology makes the deployment and management of network service more flexible and elastic by decoupling network function from dedicated hardware. The service requests of network function virtualization are usually deployed in the form of a service function chain. In order to solve the problems of load imbalance, unreasonable utilization of substrate resources, and the high delay of the service function chain deployment in operator networks, a service function chain deployment method based on the network flow theory is proposed in this paper. First, on the basis of perceiving the substrate network resources and topology with a software-defined network controller in real time, a candidate node set is determined according to the resource constraints and the locations of ingress/egress switch nodes that service flow flows in/out. Second, the candidate node set, the ingress/egress switch nodes and the connection between them are used to form a directed network, and the service function chain deployment problem is transformed into an optimal path selection problem. Then, a node disassembling method is used to transform the directed network into a capacity-flow-cost network. Finally, a minimum-cost maximum-flow algorithm is used to find the optimal deployment path and complete the service function chain deployment. Experiments show that the method proposed in this paper can guarantee the load balance of operator networks, reduce the average transmission delay of service flow, and make the utilization of substrate resources more reasonable.
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spelling doaj.art-e7340c16c7874dcc8bfda6307af415c82022-12-21T22:54:46ZengIEEEIEEE Access2169-35362020-01-018931879319910.1109/ACCESS.2020.29949129094249A Service Function Chain Deployment Method Based on Network Flow Theory for Load Balance in Operator NetworksXiaoyang Han0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7126-2962Xiangru Meng1Zhenhua Yu2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7204-3654Qiaoyan Kang3Yu Zhao4College of Information and Navigation, Air Force Engineering University, Xi’an, ChinaCollege of Information and Navigation, Air Force Engineering University, Xi’an, ChinaCollege of Computer Science and Technology, Xi’an University of Science and Technology, Xi’an, ChinaCollege of Information and Navigation, Air Force Engineering University, Xi’an, ChinaCollege of Air and Missile Defense, Air Force Engineering University, Xi’an, ChinaNetwork function virtualization technology makes the deployment and management of network service more flexible and elastic by decoupling network function from dedicated hardware. The service requests of network function virtualization are usually deployed in the form of a service function chain. In order to solve the problems of load imbalance, unreasonable utilization of substrate resources, and the high delay of the service function chain deployment in operator networks, a service function chain deployment method based on the network flow theory is proposed in this paper. First, on the basis of perceiving the substrate network resources and topology with a software-defined network controller in real time, a candidate node set is determined according to the resource constraints and the locations of ingress/egress switch nodes that service flow flows in/out. Second, the candidate node set, the ingress/egress switch nodes and the connection between them are used to form a directed network, and the service function chain deployment problem is transformed into an optimal path selection problem. Then, a node disassembling method is used to transform the directed network into a capacity-flow-cost network. Finally, a minimum-cost maximum-flow algorithm is used to find the optimal deployment path and complete the service function chain deployment. Experiments show that the method proposed in this paper can guarantee the load balance of operator networks, reduce the average transmission delay of service flow, and make the utilization of substrate resources more reasonable.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9094249/Network function virtualizationservice function chainnode disassembling methodvirtual network functions combinationminimum-cost maximum-flow
spellingShingle Xiaoyang Han
Xiangru Meng
Zhenhua Yu
Qiaoyan Kang
Yu Zhao
A Service Function Chain Deployment Method Based on Network Flow Theory for Load Balance in Operator Networks
IEEE Access
Network function virtualization
service function chain
node disassembling method
virtual network functions combination
minimum-cost maximum-flow
title A Service Function Chain Deployment Method Based on Network Flow Theory for Load Balance in Operator Networks
title_full A Service Function Chain Deployment Method Based on Network Flow Theory for Load Balance in Operator Networks
title_fullStr A Service Function Chain Deployment Method Based on Network Flow Theory for Load Balance in Operator Networks
title_full_unstemmed A Service Function Chain Deployment Method Based on Network Flow Theory for Load Balance in Operator Networks
title_short A Service Function Chain Deployment Method Based on Network Flow Theory for Load Balance in Operator Networks
title_sort service function chain deployment method based on network flow theory for load balance in operator networks
topic Network function virtualization
service function chain
node disassembling method
virtual network functions combination
minimum-cost maximum-flow
url https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9094249/
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