Joint topology design and mapping of service function chains for efficient, scalable, and reliable network functions virtualization

NFV is promising to lower the network operator's capital expenditure and operational expenditure by replacing proprietary hardware-based network equipment with software-based VNFs that can be consolidated into telecom clouds. In particular, NFV provides an efficient way to deploy network services using SFCs that consist of a set of VNFs interconnected by virtual links. A practical but theoretically challenging problem related to NFV management and orchestration is how to jointly optimize the topology design and mapping of multiple SFCs such that the TBC is minimized, which is called the JTDM problem. In this article, we propose a novel heuristic algorithm, Closed-Loop with Critical Mapping Feedback, to efficiently address the JTDM problem. While minimizing the TBC, we also propose scalable and reliable JTDM strategies that can significantly reduce the network reconfigurations and enhance the service reliability, respectively.