Clustering of virtual network function instances oriented to compatibility in 5G network

Abstract

Network functions virtualization (NFV) increases network flexibility and scalability by virtualizing network functions running on the general servers and opens the network innovations by outsourcing VNF instances in 5G networks. However, it leads to the incompatibility issue among different VNF instances, which makes operators difficult to determine which VNF instances to select for Service Function Chains (SFCs). In this paper, we divide VNF instances with high compatibility into clusters used for combining VNF instances in 5G networks. Firstly, we define compatibility among different VNF instances. Secondly, aiming to maximize compatibility of each cluster, we propose a novel hypergraph clustering model that divides the VNF instances into multiple clusters. Then, the hypergraph clustering model is transformed to an evolutionary game. Thus, the cluster establishing is transformed to the game equilibrium searching. Furthermore, we propose a discrete time high order replicator dynamic algorithm to find the game equilibrium. Finally, the simulation results show that the proposed approach can improve the quality of SFCs.