Title
Virtual Network Function Placement Optimization With Deep Reinforcement Learning
Abstract
Network Function Virtualization (NFV) introduces a new network architecture framework that evolves network functions, traditionally deployed over dedicated equipment, to software implementations that run on general-purpose hardware. One of the main challenges for deploying NFV is the optimal resource placement of demanded network services in the NFV infrastructure. The virtual network function placement and network embedding can be formulated as a mathematical optimization problem concerned with a set of feasibility constraints that express the restrictions of the network infrastructure and the services contracted. This problem has been reported to be NP-hard, as a result most of the optimization work carried out in the area has focused on designing heuristic and metaheuristic algorithms. Nevertheless, in highly constrained problems, as in this case, inferring a competitive heuristic can be a daunting task that requires expertise. Consequently, an interesting solution is the use of Reinforcement Learning to model an optimization policy. The work presented here extends the <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Neural Combinatorial Optimization</italic> theory by considering constraints in the definition of the problem. The resulting agent is able to learn placement decisions by exploring the NFV infrastructure with the aim of minimizing the overall power consumption. The experiments conducted demonstrate that when the proposed strategy is also combined with heuristics, highly competitive results are achieved using relatively simple algorithms.
Year
DOI
Venue
2020
10.1109/JSAC.2019.2959183
IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications
Keywords
DocType
Volume
Constrained combinatorial optimization,Reinforcement Leaning,5G,NFV
Journal
38
Issue
ISSN
Citations 
2
0733-8716
5
PageRank 
References 
Authors
0.40
0
6
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Rubén Solozabal161.78
Josu Ceberio216915.71
Aitor Sanchoyerto383.17
Zabala, L.4102.02
Bego Blanco5609.47
Fidel Liberal634543.63