A Multi-Provider Service Function Chain Paradigm for Flexible Composition

With the rise of cloud-native applications, service function chains (SFCs) are increasingly composed of functions from multiple service providers (SPs) but often require manual adjustments when replacing or reconfiguring functions from different SPs, limiting flexibility. This paper proposes a blockchain-based paradigm that supports transparent function switching, secure multi-provider coordination, and streamlined communication, simplifying service orchestration across multiple SPs. Demonstrations validate its effectiveness.