Service function path selection methods for multi-layer satellite networks

• Published in: Peer-to-peer networking and applications Vol. 15; no. 5; pp. 2161 - 2178
• Main Authors: Li, Taixin, Zhou, Xu, Yan, Shen, Zhang, Xiaobo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.09.2022; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Algorithms; Communications Engineering; Computer Communication Networks; Engineering; Information Systems and Communication Service; Multilayers; Networks; New technology; Resource utilization; Satellite networks; Signal,Image and Speech Processing; Topology; Multi-layer Satellite Networks; Service Function Chain; Service Function Path
• ISSN: 1936-6442; 1936-6450
• DOI: 10.1007/s12083-022-01327-2

Traditional satellite networks have problems with their service provision method which makes it difficult to keep pace with emerging technologies in the terrestrial networks, such as 5G. Service Function Chain (SFC) is a good choice to enable flexible service provision for different applications. SFC can be used in satellite networks. However, the challenge is how to select Service Function Path (SFP) considering the characteristics of multi-layer satellite networks. In this paper, we model the problem of SFP selection in Multi-layer satellite networks (SFPM) and propose a path selection algorithm, Objective Weight-based Path Selection (OWPS). OWPS is designed based on objective weights considering dynamic topology and link parameters. Then, we propose OWPS-based algorithms under different networking rules to select SFP in multi-layer satellite networks and compare them with the benchmark algorithms. Simulation results show the performance of our proposed algorithms in terms of hops, connection time, handover times, packet loss rate, delay, request acceptance ratio, and resource utilization. Finally, we summarize the applicable conditions for the algorithms.