2026· IEEE Transactions on Network and Service Management· Vol 23, pp. 5756-5771· 0 citations· 49 references
Computer Science
TL;DR
A novel multi-objective framework for SFC placement that jointly considers latency and resource utilization is proposed, enabling proactive and globally informed placement decisions and improving scalability, robustness, and long-term resource efficiency in dynamic and large-scale CDN environments.
Abstract
Efficient service function chain (SFC) placement is critical for optimizing network service delivery in dynamic cross-domain networks (CDNs), especially under resource-constrained and heterogeneous environments. However, existing approaches face fundamental limitations in achieving effective multi-objective optimization, particularly in balancing latency minimization with efficient resource utilization. These challenges are further compounded by the inability to capture future resource dynamics and limited visibility across multiple domains. To address these challenges, we propose a novel multi-objective framework for SFC placement that jointly considers latency and resource utilization. The framework integrates Transformer-based prediction with linear programming (LP) to explicitly model future deployability, enabling proactive and globally informed placement decisions. In addition, a dynamic modeling mechanism is developed using domain-aware detection and graph autoencoders (GAEs) to capture evolving network topologies and cross-domain structural dependencies. A Pareto-based optimization strategy is further employed to systematically balance latency and resource efficiency across heterogeneous domains and varying workload conditions. Extensive experiments across multiple network scales and diverse SFC configurations demonstrate that the proposed framework achieves a superior trade-off between latency and deployment capability, while improving scalability, robustness, and long-term resource efficiency in dynamic and large-scale CDN environments.
This work proposes an enhanced Proximal Policy Optimization (PPO) framework for resource-aware and latency-sensitive SFC placement in edge-enabled networks, and demonstrates the applicability of the proposed framework in mission-critical and latency-sensitive service environments.
Nithin Melala Eshwarappa, Ching-Hsien Hsu, Hojjat Baghban et al.· ACM Transactions on Modeling...· 0 citations
A QoE-aware framework for Multi-Access Edge Computing-enabled Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) architectures, combining a graph attention network (GAT) encoder, distributed multi-agent DRL, and privacy-preserving FL, while transitioning control from Quality of Service (QoS) to QoE metrics is proposed.
Manoj Prasad Kunasegran, Wai Leong Pang, S. K. Phang· IEEE Access· 0 citations
The rapid evolution of beyond-5G and emerging 6G networks is driving the need for flexible, reliable, and cost-efficient virtualized Radio Access Network (vRAN) architectures capable of supporting heterogeneous services such as enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), Ultra-Reliable Low-Latency Communication (URLLC), and Massive Machine-Type Communication (mMTC). Future disaggregated RAN systems are expected to rely heavily on network slicing, functional split flexibility, and optical x-haul infrastructures to support stringent performance, scalability, and availability requirements. In this paper, we present an integrated framework for reliable, slice-aware, and functional split-aware Virtual Network Function (VNF) placement with lightpath provisioning in disaggregated vRAN environments. The proposed approach maximizes mobile network operators'profit by jointly optimizing function placement and optical resource allocation under latency, processing, bandwidth, and availability constraints. We formulate the problem as an Integer Linear Programming (ILP) model with two variants: one that employs unshared backups and another that uses a more cost-efficient shared backup scheme. To address ILP complexity, we develop a heuristic algorithm and a Genetic Algorithm (GA)-based metaheuristic that yields near-optimal solutions in real time. Extensive evaluations on topologies up to 128 nodes show that shared backup variants yield up to 18% higher profit, while maintaining up to 5-10% lower normalized CPU usage than unshared counterparts.
Mayank Ramnani, Shasank Dixit, Sushil K. Yadav et al.· 0 citations
A new paradigm for satisfying the ever-growing demands of real-time Sixth Generation (6G) applications is Mobile Edge Computing (MEC). Additionally, base stations and Internet of Things devices that incorporate renewable energy harvesting capabilities have the potential to lower grid energy use. To maximize system potential and lower carbon emissions, it is crucial to make effective decisions about job offloading and resource allocation. A carbon-aware MEC architecture that uses both grid and renewable energy sources is proposed in this paper. Our goal is to jointly manage resource allocation and task offloading while monitoring carbon emissions and task queue delays to optimize system behavior under uncertainty, specifically for stochastic workloads and variable renewable generation. To balance these two cost components (emissions and queue length), we create a combined optimization problem. We develop a deep deterministic policy gradient (DDPG)-based joint optimization technique to address this issue in a constantly changing environment. In the optimization, we consider greedy policy (GP) and full offloading (FO), as well as time-average carbon emission (TACE) and time-average queue length (TAQL) as performance metrics, and time-average queue length (TAQL) and full execution (FE) as baseline strategies; we also evaluate normalized time-average cumulative reward (NTACR). This method uses continuous-action reinforcement learning to generate efficient, real-time control policies. For the proposed MEC network, numerical statistics show that our approach can lead to effective offloading and lower carbon emissions.
M. Saeed, Rashid A Saeed, M. A. Ahmed et al.· 2026 6th International Confe...· 0 citations
Mobile edge networks delivers low-latency, high-quality services by deploying Virtual Network Functions (VNFs) on resource-constrained edge nodes. However, sequential VNF processing incurs significant latency, while reusing existing VNFs under heavy demand may force requests onto longer paths, increasing bandwidth consumption. Parallelization combined with efficient VNF placement is therefore essential, yet these decisions are inherently coupled and may lead to suboptimal deployments if optimized separately. To address this challenge, this paper proposes a unified framework that jointly optimizes VNF parallelization and placement to minimize latency and resource consumption. The framework constructs a Dependency-Deployment Graph (DPG) that integrates VNF functional dependencies with Mobile Edge Networks topology. By assigning latency and resource weights to DPG nodes and edges, the framework captures the interplay between transmission delay, resource usage, parallelization, and deployment decisions. To efficiently explore the solution space, iterative algorithms progressively refine candidate configurations by pruning inferior solutions and focusing on promising regions of the search space. Experimental evaluations across diverse network configurations demonstrate that the proposed framework achieves promising improvements in reducing service latency and resource consumption compared with representative baseline methods. The results further indicate the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed joint parallelization and placement strategy under the tested heterogeneous edge computing scenarios.
Yuhao Xie, Zhen Zhang, Yuhui Deng et al.· IEEE Transactions on Network...· 0 citations
A constrained optimization model that supports different management goals through alternative objective functions (latency-aware or power-aware) while enforcing operational constraints, including node capacities, slice-specific latency bounds, and explicit limits on VNF migrations/relocations between scheduling periods is proposed.
R. Moreno-Vozmediano, E. Huedo, R. Montero et al.· Journal of Network and Syste...· 0 citations