Mapping virtual networks onto substrate networks

• Published in: Journal of internet services and applications 2013-01, Vol.4 (1), p.3-3
• Main Authors: Alkmim, Gustavo P, Batista, Daniel M, da Fonseca, Nelson LS
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Computer Applications; Computer Communication Networks; Computer Science; Computer Systems Organization and Communication Networks; Information Systems and Communication Service; IT in Business; Processor Architectures
• ISSN: 1867-4828; 1869-0238; 1869-0238
• DOI: 10.1186/1869-0238-4-3

Network virtualization is a promising technique for building the Internet of the future since it enables the low cost introduction of new features into network elements. An open issue in such virtualization is how to effect an efficient mapping of virtual network elements onto those of the existing physical network, also called the substrate network. Mapping is an NP-hard problem and existing solutions ignore various real network characteristics in order to solve the problem in a reasonable time frame. This paper introduces new algorithms to solve this problem based on 0–1 integer linear programming, algorithms based on a whole new set of network parameters not taken into account by previous proposals. Approximative algorithms proposed here allow the mapping of virtual networks on large network substrates. Simulation experiments give evidence of the efficiency of the proposed algorithms.