Multiple Infrastructure Providers Research Articles

Virtual Resource Allocation for Wireless Virtualized Heterogeneous Network With Hybrid Energy Supply

In this work, two novel virtual user association and resource allocation algorithms are introduced for a wireless virtualized heterogeneous network with hybrid energy supply. In the considered system, macro base stations (MBSs) are supplied by the grid power and small base stations (SBSs) have the energy harvesting capability in addition to the grid power supplement. Multiple infrastructure providers (InPs) own the physical resources, i.e., BSs and radio resources. The Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) are able to recent these resources from the InPs and operate the virtualized resources for providing services to different users. In particular, aiming to maximize the overall utility for the MVNOs, a joint resource (spectrum and power) allocation and user association problem is presented. First, we present an alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM)-based algorithm solution to find the near-optimal solution in a static manner. Moreover, we also utilize deep reinforcement learning to design the optimal policy without knowing a priori knowledge of the dynamic nature of networks. We have conducted extensive simulation and the performance evaluation demonstrate the advantages and effectiveness of the proposed schemes.

Distributed Radio Slice Allocation in Wireless Network Virtualization: Matching Theory Meets Auctions

Wireless network virtualization has been introduced to satisfy the ever-increasing user requirements through resource sharing, and it can reduce operating costs for the network. Virtualized resources of an infrastructure provider can be allocated as slices to mobile virtual network operators to satisfy their users' demands. Thus, an efficient resource allocation method is needed. Furthermore, existing works have mostly considered resource allocation methods using one infrastructure provider in the system model. However, in realistic and practical environments, multiple infrastructure providers should be considered so that the mobile virtual network operator can choose the appropriate infrastructure provider to maximize its revenue. Therefore, in this paper, a new approach based on matching theory and auctions is proposed for slice allocation for a system with multiple infrastructure providers. Moreover, a matching algorithm and an auction are utilized to work as the distributed methods for solving the user association problem and slice allocation problem, respectively. To connect these two problems, the user association result is used as an input of the auction model so that the mobile virtual network operator can decide on the appropriate infrastructure provider to submit the bidding value. Simulation results show that the developed solutions achieve stable matching and maximize the social welfare of all bidders.

Incentive Mechanism for Resource Allocation in Wireless Virtualized Networks with Multiple Infrastructure Providers

To accommodate the explosively growing demands for mobile traffic service, wireless network virtualization is proposed as the main evolution towards 5G. In this work, a novel contract theoretic incentive mechanism is proposed to study how to manage the resources and provide services to the users in the wireless virtualized networks. We consider that the infrastructure providers (InPs) own the physical networks and the mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) has the service information of the users and needs to lease the physical radio resources for providing services. In particular, we utilize the contract theoretic approach to model the resource trading process between the MVNO and multiple InPs. Two scenarios are considered according to whether the information (such as the radio resource they can provide) of the InPs are globally known. Subsequently, the corresponding optimal contracts regarding the user association and transmit power allocation are derived to maximize the payoff of the MVNOs while maintaining the requirements of the InPs in the trading process. To evaluate the proposed scheme, extensive simulation studies are conducted. It can be observed that the proposed contract theoretic approach can effectively stimulate InPs’ participation, improve the payoff of the MVNO, and outperform other schemes.

Latency- and capacity-aware placement of chained Virtual Network Functions in FMC metro networks

Most of today's cloud applications are delivered by Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) on top of a physical network managed by one or multiple Infrastructure Providers (InPs). This new way of delivering services is impacting InPs' revenues, as InPs are only responsible for transporting data to users. Network Function Virtualization (NFV) was proposed to help InPs gain more flexibility in provisioning new services over their networks, hence achieving lower capital and operational costs, keeping stable revenue margins, and resisting the competition of CSPs (e.g., the “Over-The-Top”players). NFV aims at moving from the traditional approach of network functions running over dedicated hardware (e.g., firewall, NAT, etc.) into virtualized software modules running on top of Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) equipment. However, deploying NFV in an operational network requires addressing two fundamental problems. The first consists on determining the locations where Virtual Network Functions (VNFs) will be hosted (i.e., VNF placement) and the second on how to properly steer network traffic to traverse the required VNFs in the right order (i.e, routing), thus provisioning network services in the form of Service Function Chains (SFCs). In this work we try to solve both problems focusing our analysis on a metro-regional scenario, where link bandwidth and COTS node processing capacity is inherently limited and where the current trend consists on moving towards a Fixed and Mobile Convergence (FMC) network infrastructure. We propose and compare different heuristic strategies for SFC provisioning, characterized by latency and/or capacity awareness (i.e., able to best exploit latency of links and/or processing capacity of COTS nodes for an effective placement of VNFs) and by the adoption of a load balancing policy for traffic routing, with the aim of maximally consolidating VNFs. We assess the benefits of our strategies against a state-of-the-art algorithm, both in terms of number of required COTS nodes in the metro/access network and of SFC acceptance ratio. Our findings indicate that combining latency and capacity awareness in the VNF placement process with a load-balancing routing strategy brings high benefits in terms of VNF consolidation and SFC acceptance ratio.

Brokerless inter-domain virtual network embedding: A blockchain-based approach

Abstract The blockchain technology enables entities to query and alter information without trusting a middle party while providing a secure data storage in a decentralized manner. In this paper, we focus on an IT data supply chain scenario, where multiple actors negotiate a tenancy agreement for virtualized network resources. This process consists of service providers (SPs) requesting the embedding of specified virtual networks across multiple infrastructure providers (InPs). Since InPs are typically not willing to disclose detailed internal network information, this is a major deal breaker that hampers the efficiency of the service negotiation process. After reviewing the related work on centralized and decentralized virtual network embedding (VNE) approaches, we briefly discuss the reasons for a blockchain approach for this problem. Our approach comprises of a brokerless blockchain based system, that uses smart contracts and a VN partitioning algorithm based on the Vickrey auction model. Finally, we investigate the feasibility of our approach, by first analyzing the behavior of the introduced auction model in adverse conditions and by secondly evaluating the blockchain performance given different consensus protocols.

A model for virtual network embedding using Artificial Bee Colony

SummaryIn a network virtualization environment, a significant research problem is that of virtual network embedding. As the network virtualization system is distributed in nature, an effective solution on how to optimally embed a dynamically generated virtual network request on the substrate networks that are owned and managed by multiple infrastructure providers needs proper attention. The problem is computationally hard, and therefore, many approaches, implying heuristics/meta‐heuristics, have been applied for the same. A meta‐heuristic, Artificial Bee Colony algorithm is getting popular due to its robustness toward complex problem solving. A novel approach based on Artificial Bee Colony to address the dynamic virtual network embedding problem in a multiple infrastructure provider scenario is proposed in this work. Bee population is initialized by using a greedy heuristic in which the number of substrate networks together with virtual network requests constructs a bee. Generated solution, in the population, is improvised by using greedy selection that explores a local search method adopted by the bees. In greedy selection, the new candidate source is memorized by the bee if its fitness is better than the fitness of the existing source. The performance study of the proposed model is done by simulation over various metrics such as embedding cost, embedding time, and acceptance ratio. A comparative study is conducted with other nature‐inspired virtual network embedding algorithms on these metrics. The findings affirm that the proposed virtual network embedding approach performs well and produces better results.

On-Demand Cooperation Among Multiple Infrastructure Networks for Multi-Tenant Slicing: a Complex Network Perspective

Network slicing is a promising technology for wireless networks to provide various services using limited resources of infrastructure networks. In order to decrease capital expenditure and operational expenditure, multi-tenant slicing provides resource sharing mechanisms among multiple infrastructure providers (InPs). However, one of the main challenges for cooperation among InPs is to meet the diverse demands of various services considering the different structural characteristics of each InP. In this paper, we investigate on-demand cooperation among multiple infrastructure networks from a perspective of the complex network. Four typical network topologies are used to imitate different practical infrastructure networks. The proposed cooperation strategy contains two stages, the selection of connectors and the creation of interconnections. We adopt the complex network theory to obtain the topological information of infrastructure networks. With the topological information, connectors are selected with selection fitness, and interconnections between connectors are created using the two-sided matching. Finally, extensive simulations are conducted, and the effects of variables in the two stages are analyzed. The simulation results illustrate that the proposed strategy performs better in terms of meeting the demand.

Double Auction Based Multi-Flow Transmission in Software-Defined and Virtualized Wireless Networks

The explosively growing demands for mobile traffic services bring both challenges and opportunities to wireless networks. Wireless network virtualization is proposed as the main evolution path toward the forthcoming fifth generation (5G) cellular networks. In this paper, we propose a software defined and virtualized (SDV) wireless network architecture for enabling multi-flow transmission with multiple infrastructure providers (InPs) and multiple mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs). In order to ensure the heterogeneity, we formulate the virtual resource allocation problem with diverse QoS requirements as a social welfare maximization problem with distance-related transaction cost. Due to hidden information of InPs and MVNOs for the auctioneer, we introduce a shadow price for ensuring desirable economic properties and total welfare for the system. Simulations are conducted with different system configurations to show the effectiveness and the energy efficiency performance of the proposed SDV wireless network framework and iterative double auction mechanism.

Fault Tolerant Algorithms for Multiple Infrastructure Provider Cooperation in Network Virtualization Environment Based on Auctioning

The multiple infrastructure provider network virtualization system is a self-governing system that independently figures out the appropriate number of infrastructure providers and selects the most suitable infrastructure providers in the group to map the virtual network request. This work applies a fault tolerant market-based strategy for efficient working of a network virtualization environment by cooperation of multiple infrastructure providers while dealing with restricted or absolute failures of infrastructure providers during embedding in an unknown, random and dynamic virtual network system. The approach uses auctioning mechanism to decide on the infrastructure provider to serve the virtual network requests, sent by the service providers. A request can be mapped either by a single infrastructure provider or cooperatively by multiple infrastructure providers, depending on the requirements of the service provider’s request and the network resources available with the infrastructure provider. The infrastructure provider that matches best the demands of the service provider is chosen by the system. The feasibility of the proposed methodology is tested by implementing the approach on a group of multiple infrastructure providers that participate in the auctioning mechanism to serve multiple service providers’ virtual network requests.

A model for virtual network embedding across multiple infrastructure providers using genetic algorithm

Network virtualization is an important aspect in cloud computing, where network is assumed to be consisting of infinite amount of nodes and links. The substrate network (physical network), has limited capacity and so virtual network embedding on the substrate network becomes a problem. Virtual network embedding is a computationally hard problem, considering various constraints on nodes and links. The proposed work applies Genetic Algorithm for the virtual network embedding problem for mapping multiple virtual network requests on infrastructure providers managing multiple substrate networks. Performance evaluation, through simulations, indicates that the proposed model preforms better for the performance metrics such as infrastructure provider revenue, acceptance ratio and node and link utilization in comparison to few other contemporary mapping models.

5G wireless network: MyNET and SONAC

Future 5G wireless networks will face new challenges, including increasing demand on network capacity to support a large number of devices running applications requiring high data rates and always-on connectivity; immensely diverse service requirements and characteristics; and supporting the emerging business models in the wireless network market requiring networks to be more open. New challenges drive new solutions and require different strategies in the network deployment, management, and operation of future 5G wireless networks compared to those of current wireless networks. One of the key objectives of future 5G wireless networks is to flexibly provide service-customized networks to a wide variety of services using the integrated cloud resource and wireless/wired network resources, which may be offered by multiple infrastructure providers and/or operators. In this article, we describe a novel wireless network architecture, MyNET, and one of the key enabling techniques called SONAC. In MyNET, basic logical functions are identified for both the control plane and the data plane. These basic functions include existing network functions, with some extensions/enhancements, as well as new network functions. SONAC selects and deploys a subset of these functions to provide customized network services.

Multi-Provider Virtual Network Embedding With Limited Information Disclosure

The ever-increasing need to diversify the Internet has recently revived the interest in network virtualization. Wide-area virtual network (VN) deployment raises the need for VN embedding (VNE) across multiple Infrastructure Providers (InPs), due to the InP's limited geographic footprint. Multi-provider VNE, in turn, requires a layer of indirection, interposed between the Service Providers and the InPs. Such brokers, usually known as VN Providers, are expected to have very limited knowledge of the physical infrastructure, since InPs will not be willing to disclose detailed information about their network topology and resource availability to third parties. Such information disclosure policies entail significant implications on resource discovery and allocation. In this paper, we study the challenging problem of multi-provider VNE with limited information disclosure (LID). In this context, we initially investigate the visibility of VN Providers on substrate network resources and question the suitability of topology-based requests for VNE. Subsequently, we present linear programming formulations for: (i) the partitioning of traffic matrix based VN requests into segments mappable to InPs, and (ii) the mapping of VN segments into substrate network topologies. VN request partitioning is carried out under LID, i.e., VN Providers access only information which is not deemed confidential by InPs. We further investigate the suboptimality of LID on VNE against a “best-case” scenario where the complete network topology and resource availability information is available to VN Providers.

A non-cooperative game-theoretic framework for resource allocation in network virtualization

Network virtualization is a new technology that aims at allowing multiple virtual networks (VNs) to coexist in the same equipment and to hide the heterogeneity of network infrastructure. The critical issue for a given infrastructure provider (InP), is how to provide customized and on demand resources for multiple service providers (SPs) with different Quality of Service (QoS) requirements. The should also fairly distribute the network physical resources, such as bandwidth of each physical link, buffer spaces, and processing cycles at each node. In this paper, we propose a new framework based on game theory, for both link and node dynamic allocation between multiple infrastructure providers (InPs) and service providers (SPs). Our approach focuses on provisioning and managing the physical resources in a virtualized network infrastructure. We propose a two-stage approach based on non-cooperative games. The first one is the resource negotiation game where the SP requests link and node resources from multiple InPs. The InP may reject the SP's request when it can potentially cause network congestion. The second stage of the proposal concerns dynamic resource provisioning and consists of two non cooperative games; the node allocation game and the link allocation game. The objective of both games is to allocate physical resources for different isolated VNs that are sharing the same physical substrate network. In the node allocation game, the proportional share mechanism is used. Every SP assigns a weight and submits a bid to each physical node and thereafter it receives a share proportional to its bid. In the link allocation game we investigate the case when multiple SPs compete for a portion of the available physical network capacity. Simulation results show that the proposed approach achieves high resource utilization, improves the network performance, and fairly distributes the link and node resources between multiple SPs.

PolyViNE: policy-based virtual network embedding across multiple domains

Abstract Intra-domain virtual network embedding is a well-studied problem in the network virtualization literature. For most practical purposes, however, virtual networks (VNs) must be provisioned across heterogeneous administrative domains managed by multiple infrastructure providers (InPs). In this paper, we present PolyViNE, a policy-based inter-domain VN embedding framework that embeds end-to-end VNs in a decentralized manner. PolyViNE introduces a distributed protocol that coordinates the VN embedding process across participating InPs and ensures competitive prices for service providers (SPs), i.e., VN owners, while providing monetary incentives for InPs to participate in the process even under heavy competition. We also present a location-aware VN request forwarding mechanism – basd on a hierarchical addressing scheme (COST) and a location awareness protocol (LAP) – to allow faster embedding. We outline scalability and performance characteristics of PolyViNE through quantitative and qualitative evaluations.

A business-oriented Cloud federation model for real-time applications

Cloud federation can allow individual Cloud providers working collaboratively to offer best-effort services to service customers. However, the current federated Cloud computing model is not appropriate for computationally intensive Real-time Online Interactive Applications (ROIA). This paper discusses how we propose and develop a business-oriented federated Cloud computing model where multiple independent infrastructure providers can cooperate seamlessly to provide scalable IT infrastructure and QoS-assured hosting services for ROIA. The distinct features of this proposed Cloud federation model is its business layer that can provide an enhanced security features and can trigger the on-demand resource provisioning across multiple infrastructure providers, hence helping to maximize the customer satisfaction, business benefits and resources usage.

Virtual network provisioning across multiple substrate networks

This paper addresses the provisioning of virtual resources in future networks relying on the Infrastructure as a service principle. Exact and heuristics optimization algorithms for the provisioning of virtual networks involving multiple infrastructure providers are presented. The study assumes the emergence of new actors such as virtual network providers acting as brokers requesting virtual resources on behalf of users. Resource matching, splitting, embedding and binding steps required for virtual network provisioning are proposed and evaluated. Splitting of the virtual network provisioning request across multiple infrastructure providers is solved using both max-flow min-cut algorithms and linear programming techniques. Virtual network embedding is formulated and solved as a mixed integer program with the aim of decreasing embedding cost for infrastructure providers while increasing the acceptance ratio of requests. Performance of the splitting and embedding algorithms is reported.