Dynamic Hierarchical Caching Resource Allocation for 5G-ICN Slice

Network slicing and Multiple-Access Edge Computing (MEC) are key technologies in fifth-generation (5G) networks. The flexible programmability of network slicing and the decentralization of MEC facilitate the deployment of Information-Centric Networking (ICN). The caching feature of ICN can provide users with low-latency data services. Although many existing works have addressed the cache deployment problem or the cache optimization problem, most of them do not consider the issue of caching resource allocation in the dynamic and hierarchical environment. Dynamic deployment of cache nodes can improve the operator’s revenue as much as possible while accurately allocating the caching resources can reduce the user-requested latency. Therefore, in this study, a problem of the operator’s expected revenue maximization is presented in an environment combining dynamic deployment of the MECs and the caching-enabled node ICN-Gateway (ICN-GW). To solve this problem, we propose an optimal stopping theory (OST)-based dynamic hierarchical caching resources allocation (ODH-CRA) algorithm. The algorithm consists of three parts. Firstly, an Integer Linear Programming (ILP) solution is proposed to determine the optimal deployment of the MECs. This method determines the optimal location and number of the MECs by considering deployment costs and service requirement costs synthetically. Secondly, a redeployment technique based on the OST is proposed to determine the best redeployment time of the MECs according to the values of latency violations and the service latency requirements. Finally, an improved elite genetic algorithm (IEGA) is proposed to find the optimal solution of the hierarchical caching resource allocation. This method searches the optimal scheme by maximizing the operator’s revenue joint caching costs and energy consumption. Ultimately, we perform a series of simulation experiments to compare the proposed method’s performance to dynamic and hierarchical methods. Our solution can effectively reduce the latency for users’ requesting, improve the revenue of ICN Communication Service Provider (ICSP), and provide an effective caching resource allocation scheme for the next generation of Internet of Things (IoT) networks.