8 research outputs found
Orchestration of Network Services Across Multiple Operators: The 5G Exchange Prototype
Future 5G networks will rely on the coordinated
allocation of compute, storage, and networking resources in
order to meet the functional requirements of 5G services as well
as guaranteeing efficient usage of the network infrastructure.
However, the 5G service provisioning paradigm will also require
a unified infrastructure service market that integrates multiple
operators and technologies. The 5G Exchange (5GEx) project,
building heavily on the Software-Defined Network (SDN) and the
Network Function Virtualization (NFV) functionalities, tries to
overcome this market and technology fragmentation by
designing, implementing, and testing a multi-domain
orchestrator (MdO) prototype for fast and automated Network
Service (NS) provisioning over multiple-technologies and
spanning across multiple operators. This paper presents a first
implementation of the 5GEx MdO prototype obtained by
extending existing open source software tools at the disposal of
the 5GEx partners. The main functions of the 5GEx MdO
prototype are showcased by demonstrating how it is possible to
create and deploy NSs in the context of a Slice as a Service
(SlaaS) use-case, based on a multi-operator scenario. The 5GEx
MdO prototype performance is experimentally evaluated
running validation tests within the 5GEx sandbox. The overall
time required for the NS deployment has been evaluated
considering NSs deployed across two operators
Online Load Balancing for Network Functions Virtualization
Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) aims to support service providers to
deploy various services in a more agile and cost-effective way. However, the
softwarization and cloudification of network functions can result in severe
congestion and low network performance. In this paper, we propose a solution to
address this issue. We analyze and solve the online load balancing problem
using multipath routing in NFV to optimize network performance in response to
the dynamic changes of user demands. In particular, we first formulate the
optimization problem of load balancing as a mixed integer linear program for
achieving the optimal solution. We then develop the ORBIT algorithm that solves
the online load balancing problem. The performance guarantee of ORBIT is
analytically proved in comparison with the optimal offline solution. The
experiment results on real-world datasets show that ORBIT performs very well
for distributing traffic of each service demand across multipaths without
knowledge of future demands, especially under high-load conditions
Realizing services and slices across multiple operator domains
Supporting end-to-end network slices and services across operators has become an important use case of study for 5G networks as can be seen by 5G use cases published in 3GPP, ETSI as well as NGMN. This paper presents the in- depth architecture, implementation and experiment on a multidomain orchestration framework that is ab le to deploy such multi-operator service as well as monitor the service for SLA compliance. Our implemented architecture allows operators to abstract their sensitive details while exposing the relevant amount of information to support inter-operator slice creation. Our experiment shows that the implemented framework is capable of creating services across operators while fulfilling the respective service requirements
A service-oriented approach for dynamic chaining of virtual network functions over multi-provider software-defined networks
Emerging technologies such as Software-Defined Networks (SDN) and Network Function Virtualization (NFV) promise to address cost reduction and flexibility in network operation while enabling innovative network service delivery models. However, operational network service delivery solutions still need to be developed that actually exploit these technologies, especially at the multi-provider level. Indeed, the implementation of network functions as software running over a virtualized infrastructure and provisioned on a service basis let one envisage an ecosystem of network services that are dynamically and flexibly assembled by orchestrating Virtual Network Functions even across different provider domains, thereby coping with changeable user and service requirements and context conditions. In this paper we propose an approach that adopts Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) technology-agnostic architectural guidelines in the design of a solution for orchestrating and dynamically chaining Virtual Network Functions. We discuss how SOA, NFV, and SDN may complement each other in realizing dynamic network function chaining through service composition specification, service selection, service delivery, and placement tasks. Then, we describe the architecture of a SOA-inspired NFV orchestrator, which leverages SDN-based network control capabilities to address an effective delivery of elastic chains of Virtual Network Functions. Preliminary results of prototype implementation and testing activities are also presented. The benefits for Network Service Providers are also described that derive from the adaptive network service provisioning in a multi-provider environment through the orchestration of computing and networking services to provide end users with an enhanced service experience
SDN controller for network-aware adaptive orchestration in dynamic service chaining
This paper presents an SDN orchestrator that offers adaptive path provisioning in dynamic service chaining to recover from congestion events throughout service chain paths. Moreover, the SDN orchestrator exposes a Northbound interface based on REST principles and on the Intent-Based Network Modeling Language data model that allows applications to describe their requirements for the network (including dynamic service chaining) without being concerned with low-level implementation details. Experiments in an emulated network environment have been carried out to show the feasibility of the approach and to evaluate the effectiveness of the orchestration process in terms of network resource usage and adaptation overhead
SDN controller for network-aware adaptive orchestration in dynamic service chaining
This paper presents an SDN orchestrator that offers adaptive path provisioning in dynamic service chaining to recover from congestion events throughout service chain paths. Moreover, the SDN orchestrator exposes a Northbound interface based on REST principles and on the Intent-Based Network Modeling Language data model that allows applications to describe their requirements for the network (including dynamic service chaining) without being concerned with low-level implementation details. Experiments in an emulated network environment have been carried out to show the feasibility of the approach and to evaluate the effectiveness of the orchestration process in terms of network resource usage and adaptation overhead