Content-Specific and Buffer-Based Migration Schemes for Fog Computing
Mohammed Jasim · IEEE Transactions on Services Computing · 2024
Fog computing and network function virtualization (NFV) technologies reduce latency and provide scalable services at the network edge. However, the limited resources of edge nodes pose a challenge in handling high traffic volumes from requests that demand high computation, extended lifetime, and low latency. To address this challenge, dynamic load migration schemes for NFV-based fog paradigms are proposed here. First, a content-specific scheme that diffuses excess loads to nearby locations hosting relevant virtual network functions (VNFs) of the requests. Second, a buffer scheme reserves a dedicated node to absorb loads from saturated nodes in the proximity of terminals. Third, a hybrid scheme integrates both strategies by initially migrating loads to the pre-allocated buffer to provide immediate relief without searching for candidate nodes. Upon the buffer saturation, it switches to the content-specific phase to distribute loads to the proximate nodes. The network introduces a novel request model comprised of dependent and independent VNFs of varying resource demands. Dependent VNFs are collectively mapped on a primary node while distributing independent VNFs across neighboring secondary nodes, forming a structured ring topology mapping method. These schemes enhance migration success rates, and reduce migration iterations, service downtime, and cost, as compared to prominent solutions.