Network virtualization: Dealing with multiple infrastructure providers

In this paper, we present some interesting issues of resource allocation in network virtualization. We also propose RAiNV, a resource allocation framework to handle those issues. Sharing of resources is in the heart of network virtualization. The key idea of network virtualization is to replace conventional Internet service provider (ISP) with two separate business entities: infrastructure providers (InP) and service providers (SP). The InPs are the owners of resources. They are responsible for maintaining a certain level of quality of service (QoS) at the physical layer. The SPs lease resources from InPs. They offer various services to end users. It is more realistic to think about a scenario with multiple InPs and multiple SPs. A single service provider (SP) can integrate resources from multiple InPs. Similarly, a single InP can distribute resources to multiple SPs. As a result, optimal resource sharing becomes a challenging task. Resource allocation covers all the virtual network (VN) provisioning matters. Major parts include resource advertisement, request, negotiation, etc. The RAiNV aims to ease dealing with multiple InPs. Its performance is evaluated using obtained numerical results through simulations.