Time-Sensitive Mobile User Association and SFC Placement in MEC-Enabled 5G Networks

The ongoing roll-out of 5G networks paves the way for many fascinating applications such as virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and autonomous driving. Moreover, 5G enables billions of devices to transfer an unprecedented amount of data at the same time. This transformation calls for novel technologies like multi-access edge computing (MEC) to satisfy the stringent latency and bitrate requirements of the mentioned applications. The main challenge pertaining to MEC is that the edge MEC nodes are usually characterized by scarce computational resources compared to the core or cloud, arising the challenge of efficiently utilizing the edge resources while ensuring that the service requirements are satisfied. When considered with the users’ mobility, this poses another challenge, which lies in minimization of the service interruption for the users whose service requests are represented as service function chains (SFCs) composed of virtualized network functions (VNFs) instantiated on the MEC nodes or on the cloud. In this paper, we study the problem of joint user association, SFC placement, and resource allocation, employing mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) techniques. The objective functions of this MILP-based problem formulation are to minimize (i) the service provisioning cost, (ii) the transport network utilization, and (iii) the service interruption. Moreover, a heuristic algorithm is proposed to tackle the scalability issue of the MILP-based algorithms. Finally, comprehensive experiments are performed to draw a comparison between these approaches.

[1]  Abdallah Shami,et al.  Orchestrating network function virtualization platform: Migration or re-instantiation? , 2017, 2017 IEEE 6th International Conference on Cloud Networking (CloudNet).

[2]  Jalel Ben-Othman,et al.  New User Association Scheme Based on Multi-Objective Optimization for 5G Ultra-Dense Multi-RAT HetNets , 2018, 2018 IEEE International Conference on Communications (ICC).

[3]  Roberto Riggio,et al.  Joint User Association and VNF Placement for Latency Sensitive Applications in 5G Networks , 2019, 2019 IEEE 8th International Conference on Cloud Networking (CloudNet).

[4]  Rohit Gupta,et al.  Joint Optimization of Service Function Chaining and Resource Allocation in Network Function Virtualization , 2016, IEEE Access.

[5]  Tarik Taleb,et al.  A Survey on the Placement of Virtual Resources and Virtual Network Functions , 2019, IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials.

[6]  Dimitrios P. Pezaros,et al.  Dynamic, Latency-Optimal vNF Placement at the Network Edge , 2018, IEEE INFOCOM 2018 - IEEE Conference on Computer Communications.

[7]  Victor C. M. Leung,et al.  Joint User Association and User Scheduling for Load Balancing in Heterogeneous Networks , 2018, IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications.

[8]  Sihua Wang,et al.  VNF Placement and Resource Allocation in SDN/NFV-Enabled MEC Networks , 2020, 2020 IEEE Wireless Communications and Networking Conference Workshops (WCNCW).

[9]  Stefania Sesia,et al.  LTE - The UMTS Long Term Evolution, Second Edition , 2011 .

[10]  Albert Y. Zomaya,et al.  Real-Time Virtual Network Function (VNF) Migration toward Low Network Latency in Cloud Environments , 2017, 2017 IEEE 10th International Conference on Cloud Computing (CLOUD).

[11]  Xiaoming Fu,et al.  Delay-Sensitive and Availability-Aware Virtual Network Function Scheduling for NFV , 2019, IEEE Transactions on Services Computing.

[12]  Sundeep Rangan,et al.  User Association in 5G mmWave Networks , 2017, 2017 IEEE Wireless Communications and Networking Conference (WCNC).

[13]  AKHIL GUPTA,et al.  A Survey of 5G Network: Architecture and Emerging Technologies , 2015, IEEE Access.

[14]  Xin Li,et al.  A survey of network function placement , 2016, 2016 13th IEEE Annual Consumer Communications & Networking Conference (CCNC).

[15]  Liesbet Van der Perre,et al.  Adaptive CSI and feedback estimation in LTE and beyond: a Gaussian process regression approach , 2015, EURASIP Journal on Wireless Communications and Networking.

[16]  Juan Felipe Botero,et al.  Resource Allocation in NFV: A Comprehensive Survey , 2016, IEEE Transactions on Network and Service Management.

[17]  Raouf Boutaba,et al.  ViNEYard: Virtual Network Embedding Algorithms With Coordinated Node and Link Mapping , 2012, IEEE/ACM Transactions on Networking.

[18]  Reza Nejabati,et al.  Resource Allocation for Ultra-Low Latency Virtual Network Services in Hierarchical 5G Network , 2019, ICC 2019 - 2019 IEEE International Conference on Communications (ICC).

[19]  Raouf Boutaba,et al.  On orchestrating virtual network functions , 2015, 2015 11th International Conference on Network and Service Management (CNSM).

[20]  Abdellatif Kobbane,et al.  New Network Slicing Scheme for UE Association Solution in 5G Ultra Dense HetNets , 2020, ICC 2020 - 2020 IEEE International Conference on Communications (ICC).

[21]  Stefano Salsano,et al.  Joint Energy Efficient and QoS-Aware Path Allocation and VNF Placement for Service Function Chaining , 2017, IEEE Transactions on Network and Service Management.

[22]  Tarik Taleb,et al.  On Multi-Access Edge Computing: A Survey of the Emerging 5G Network Edge Cloud Architecture and Orchestration , 2017, IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials.

[23]  Chao Shen,et al.  Delay-Aware User Association and Power Control for 5G Heterogeneous Network , 2019, Mob. Networks Appl..

[24]  Ming Xu,et al.  Optimized Virtual Network Functions Migration for NFV , 2016, 2016 IEEE 22nd International Conference on Parallel and Distributed Systems (ICPADS).

[25]  Swades De,et al.  Joint VNF Placement and CPU Allocation in 5G , 2018, IEEE INFOCOM 2018 - IEEE Conference on Computer Communications.

[26]  Jian Guo,et al.  Joint Optimization of Chain Placement and Request Scheduling for Network Function Virtualization , 2017, 2017 IEEE 37th International Conference on Distributed Computing Systems (ICDCS).

[27]  Dong Zhang,et al.  Multiple instances mapping of Service Function Chain with parallel Virtual Network Functions , 2019 .

[28]  Mohsen Guizani,et al.  Network function virtualization in 5G , 2016, IEEE Communications Magazine.

[29]  Tiankui Zhang,et al.  Nash bargaining solution based user association optimization in HetNets , 2014, 2014 IEEE 11th Consumer Communications and Networking Conference (CCNC).

[30]  Admela Jukan,et al.  Balancing the migration of virtual network functions with replications in data centers , 2017, NOMS 2018 - 2018 IEEE/IFIP Network Operations and Management Symposium.

[31]  Christos V. Verikoukis,et al.  Application and Network VNF migration in a MEC-enabled 5G Architecture , 2018, 2018 IEEE 23rd International Workshop on Computer Aided Modeling and Design of Communication Links and Networks (CAMAD).

[32]  Xavier Hesselbach,et al.  Virtual Network Embedding: A Survey , 2013, IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials.

[33]  Raouf Boutaba,et al.  Latency and Mobility–Aware Service Function Chain Placement in 5G Networks , 2022, IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing.

[34]  Filip De Turck,et al.  VNF-P: A model for efficient placement of virtualized network functions , 2014, 10th International Conference on Network and Service Management (CNSM) and Workshop.

[35]  Thrasyvoulos Spyropoulos,et al.  Robust User Association for Ultra Dense Networks , 2018, IEEE INFOCOM 2018 - IEEE Conference on Computer Communications.

[36]  Weifa Liang,et al.  Throughput Maximization of Delay-Sensitive Request Admissions via Virtualized Network Function Placements and Migrations , 2018, 2018 IEEE International Conference on Communications (ICC).

[37]  Frank H. P. Fitzek,et al.  Device-Enhanced MEC: Multi-Access Edge Computing (MEC) Aided by End Device Computation and Caching: A Survey , 2019, IEEE Access.

[38]  Fangming Liu,et al.  Adaptive Interference-Aware VNF Placement for Service-Customized 5G Network Slices , 2019, IEEE INFOCOM 2019 - IEEE Conference on Computer Communications.

[39]  Angela Sara Cacciapuoti,et al.  Mobility-Aware User Association for 5G mmWave Networks , 2017, IEEE Access.

[40]  Raouf Boutaba,et al.  Delay-aware VNF placement and chaining based on a flexible resource allocation approach , 2017, 2017 13th International Conference on Network and Service Management (CNSM).

[41]  Robert Schober,et al.  User Association in 5G Networks: A Survey and an Outlook , 2015, IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials.