RDCL 3D, a model agnostic web framework for the design and composition of NFV services

The integration of software defined networking (SDN) and network function virtualization (NFV) is a promising approach to support flexible service deployment and provisioning. In particular, NFV enables a network service to be represented as one network service function chain, which is composed of several virtual network functions in a specific order. However, with regard to service provisioning in multidomain SDN networks, virtual network functions are deployed in several different SDN domains due to limited resource capacity of each SDN domain. It results in the network service deployment complexity increase and causes additional operating cost. On the other hand, most current network service deployment proposals are limited to static user request scenarios. How to effectively deploy network service across multiple SDN domains to satisfy dynamic service demands of end users is a challenging problem. To address the aforementioned challenge, in this paper, we study the problem of dynamic network service deployment across multiple SDN domains. Specifically, we first design a novel service deployment framework to support dynamic deployment and optimization of virtual network function in multidomain SDN networks. Then, we formulate the problem as a multiobjective optimization problem with the target of jointly minimizing resource consumption cost and operating cost. Furthermore, we transform the multiobjective optimization problem into a single objective optimization model and present an efficient heuristic service deployment approach to solve it by leveraging Dijkstra algorithm. The simulation results demonstrate that the proposed service deployment method is efficient and outperforms comparison methods in terms of service rejection ratio, resource cost, and operating cost.

Architectural mismatch; the semantic and syntactic gap preventing component composition, can be partially alleviated through the ubiquity of the protocols for service composition (syntax). And yet, the semantics of service or component composition have remained elusive. The contribution of this paper builds on the notions introduced by grammar-oriented object design (GOOD) using the notion of manners to specify the semantics of services and drive their automated composition through dynamically reconfigure architectures enabled through GOOD. This leads to the use of manners for explicit service semantics representation in a re-configurable architectural style. We describe the base requirements for automated component and services composition and show how automated assembly of components and services can be accomplished through a dynamically reconfigurable (DyRec) architectural style. In addition, we show how this vision of dynamic reconfiguration is naturally supported by the Web services framework, because it derives from some of the core requirements of the service oriented architectures (SOA) style embodied by Web services. Further, we discuss how such a DyRec architectural style can be implemented using grammar-oriented object design (GOOD) and describe a project that led to a tool called the Business Compiler, to accomplish dynamic composition and collaboration.

Software Defined Network (SDN) and Network Function Virtualization (NFV) are attracting the attention of telecom operators. The telecom environment requires a set of Carrier Grade requirements such as high availability, high throughput and low latency. SDN faces challenges to meet the Carrier Grade. Based on the JAIN SLEE component model and the Libfluid OpenFlow driver, this work proposes the CREDENCE SDN controller. Our evaluation shows that CREDENCE controller offers a higher throughput and a lower latency when is compared to ONOS and OpenDayLight.

Middleboxes have become an integral part of modern enterprise and data center networks. They are used for realizing various performance and security objectives. Most middlboxes (e.g., firewalls, Intrusion Detection Systems (IDSs), Network Address Translators (NATs), etc.) are dedicated hardware appliances. However, recent advancements in cloud and virtualization technologies have fueled the concept of Virtual Middleboxes or Virtual Network Functions (VNFs) along with a new research field known as Network Function Virtualization (NFV). This area of research has gained a lot of traction from both industry and academia. Although much progress has been made in NFV technology, a crucial component for realizing the primary objective of NFV is still missing – a management and orchestration [7] system that conforms to the principles of NFV: open source, open API and standardized software solutions. Without this feature, network operators may end-up with the same situation of vendor lock-in as with proprietary hardware middleboxes. A number of recent proposals like Stratos [8], OpenNF [9], and Split/Merge [10], strive to fulfill the requirements for VNF management and orchestration. However, they propose incompatible northbound APIs. What is really needed is a standardized API that is flexible enough to express a wide range of NFV management and orchestration operations. History shows that standardization efforts usually take a long time and often are futile. Hence, we take a different approach, and propose to use an existing, well known, standardized interface for NFV management and orchestration: the Linux file system interface.

Cloud computing has deeply affected the structure of modern ICT infrastructures. It represents an enabling technology for novel paradigms such as Network Function Virtualisation (NFV), which proposes the virtualisation of network functions to enhance the flexibility of networks and to reduce the costs of infrastructure management. Besides potential benefits, NFV inherits the limitations of traditional virtualisation where the isolation of resources comes at the cost of a performance overhead. Lightweight forms of virtualisation, like containers, aim to mitigate this limitation. Furthermore, they allow the agile composition of complex services. These characteristics make containers a suitable technology for NFV environment. A major concern towards the exploitation of containers is security. Since containers provide less isolation than virtual machines, they can expose the whole host to vulnerabilities. In this work, we investigate container-related threats and propose a secure design for a Virtual Network Function deployed in a lightweight NFV environment.

openLEON: An end-to-end emulation platform from the edge data center to the mobile user

This paper introduces a proof-of-concept 6LoWPAN
\ntestbed to study the integration of programmable network
\ntechnologies in relaxed throughput and low-power IoT devices.
\nOpen source software and hardware platforms are used in
\nthe implemented testbed to increase the possibility of future
\nnetwork extension. The proposed architecture offers end-to-end
\nconnectivity via the 6LoWPAN gateway to integrate IPv6 hosts
\nand the low data rate devices directly. Nowadays, SoftwareDefined
\nNetworking (SDN) and Network Function Virtualization
\n(NFV) are the most promising technologies for dealing with the
\nmassive increase in M2M devices and achieving agile traffic. The
\ndeveloped approach in this paper is entitled tailored Software
\nDefined-Network Function Virtualization (SD-NFV), which is
\naimed at reducing the end-to-end delay and improving the
\nenergy depletion in sensor nodes. Experimental scenarios of
\nthe implemented testbed are conducted using a simple sensing
\napplication and the obtained results indicate that the introduced
\napproach is appropriate for constrained IoT devices. By utilizing
\nSD-NFV scheme in 6LoWPAN network, the data delivery ratio
\nincreased by 5-14%, the node operational time prolonged by
\n70%, the end-to-end latency for gathering sensor data minimized
\nby ≈160%, and the latency for transmitting control messages
\nto a specified node diminished by ≈63% when compared to a
\ntraditional (non SDN-enabled) 6LoWPAN network.

This chapter examines the main open source software in the field of networks. The main goal of the open compute project is to give open access to hardware specifications and more precisely hardware intended for datacenters of different sizes. The goal of the open platform network functions virtualization (NFV) is to create an open source software platform verified through NFV. OpenContrail is an open source software from the Contrail company, which was bought by Juniper. Open Network Automation Protocol must automatically automate the network environment. OpenDaylight platform is a project hosted by the Linux Foundation in order to create an open source platform, the aim of which would be to perform a control able to configure software‐defined networking switches through a southbound interface. The streaming network analytics system software is an open source project to collect, follow and access dozens of millions of routing objects in real‐time.

Web services run in a highly dynamic environment (the Internet) which makes the composite service will face multiple exceptions in its execution. Thus, it needs to take effective actions to deal with the errors causing the exceptions. Then, by such actions, composite service can adapt to the dynamics and complexity of its execution environment. Since accurately identifying the error source which causes the exception is important, the problem of diagnosis for composite service becomes one of the key issues in the adaptive service composition. This paper proposes an approach for diagnosing composite service based on error propagation degree. After analyzing the error propagation relation between the services, the uncertain casual relation between the exception and the service is formed by the way of computing the error propagation degree. And then the diagnosis algorithm which is based on the error dependent matrix is established. The diagnosis can be achieved by fuzzy reasoning. This approach can preserve the efficiency and accuracy of the diagnosis for composite service under the uncertain environment by the computation of the error propagation degree and fuzzy reasoning, which can support the self-adaptation of the composite service effectively.

The network functions virtualization (NFV) advent is making way for the rapid deployment of network services (NS) for telecoms. Automation of network service management is one of the main challenges currently faced by the NFV community. Explicitly defining a process for the design, deployment, and management of network services and automating it is therefore highly desirable and beneficial for NFV systems. The use of model-driven orchestration means has been advocated in this context. As part of this effort to support automated process execution, we propose a process enactment approach with NFV systems as the target application domain. Our process enactment approach is megamodel-based. An integrated process modelling and enactment environment, MAPLE, has been built into Papyrus for this purpose. Process modelling is carried out with UML activity diagrams. The enactment environment transforms the process model to a model transformation chain, and then orchestrates it with the use of megamodels. In this paper, we present our approach and environment MAPLE, its recent extension with new features as well as application to an enriched case study consisting of NS design and onboarding process.

A virtualized network infrastructure is composed of multiple virtualized network functions (VNF) interconnected by well defined interfaces, and thus forming a VNF-graph. The initial deployment of such a VNF-graph inside a data center (DC) is a complex task with multidimensional aspects compared to deploying a single VNF that may represent a single network function. The problem space becomes more complex when each VNF is further decomposed into multiple VNF components (VNFC), where each VNFC embodies a subset of network functions attributed to the respective VNF. The challenge is to ensure that the deployment strategy meets the intra-functional constraints between the multiple VNFCs constituting the VNF-graph while ensuring service, performance and operational integrity, and also ensures optimal utilization of the underlying resources of the DC infrastructure (DCI). In this article we analyze the cost incurred by two “constraint-based heuristically applied” initial VNF/VNFC deployment strategies with reference to a virtualized mobile network infrastructure providing EPCaaS (evolved packet core as a service) while taking into consideration functional and administrative constraints. The cost of deployment is measured in terms of the utilization of DC infrastructure resources such as compute and networking. We also present the discussion in view of the ETSI NFV MANO framework, undergoing standardization, that is responsible for management and orchestration of NFV systems including VNF deployment.

The virtualization of network functions aims to replace traditional network functions running on proprietary middleboxes with software instances running on general-purpose virtualization solutions, looking for more flexible, scalable and sustainable networks. However, despite the availability of platforms and technologies that enable its realisation, there are still technical challenges that have to be addressed to obtain those benefits. One of the challenges is the efficient placement of network functions, considering, for instance, the energy footprint among other constraints and available resources. This paper proposes an energy-aware virtual network function placement and resource-allocation solution for heterogeneous edge infrastructures that considers the computation and communication delays according to the virtual network functions’ location in the infrastructure. The solution has been integrated with the ETSI-sponsored project Open Source Management and Orchestration (OSM) as an extension that allows the configuration of virtual network functions and their subsequent resource allocation and deployment at the edge, minimizing energy consumption and ensuring the quality of service. Applied to the deployment of augmented reality services in different scenarios, the results show up to a 51% reduction in energy consumption compared to the default OSM placement and quality of service compliance in all scenarios considered.

The autonomous placement of Virtual Network Functions (VNFs) is a key aspect of Zero-touch network and Service Management (ZSM) in Fifth Generation (5G) networking. Therefore, current orchestration frameworks need to be enhanced, accordingly. To address this need, this work presents an Adapted REinforcement Learning VNF Performance Prediction module for Autonomous VNF Placement, namely AREL3P. Our solution design bears a dual novelty. First, it leverages end-to-end service-level performance predictions for placing VNFs. Second, whereas the majority of other Machine Learning efforts in the literature use Supervised Learning (SL) techniques, AREL3P is based on a particular form of Reinforcement Learning adapted to predictions. This makes placement decisions more resilient to dynamic conditions, as well as portable to other network nodes, and able to generalize in heterogeneous network environments. Backed by a meticulous performance evaluation over a real 5G end-to-end testbed, we verify the above properties after integrating AREL3P to Open Source Management and Orchestration (OSM MANO) decisions. Among other highlights, we show increased VNF performance predictions accuracy by 40-45%, and an overall improved VNF placement efficiency against other SL benchmarks reflected by near-optimal decision scores in 23 out of a total of 27 investigated scenarios.

SDN-based service function chaining mechanism and service prototype implementation in NFV scenario

In highly collaborative business contexts, services design is even more important than in other contexts, as services are more complex and involve multiple and composed services. Such contexts are ideal for service composition and thus service reuse. This paper presents an ongoing research project whose goal is to support the design of such services by reconciling different viewpoints, following a model-driven approach. It focuses on the so-called “transactional aspects” of the service design, corresponding to the processes realizing the service and showing services compositions between the involved parties. It is applied to a case study in the construction sector.