Towards Cross-Domain Service Function Chain Orchestration

Abstract

Service Function Chaining (SFC) refers to the process of steering packets between a set of functions to deliver an end-to-end service. It is considered as one of the enabling technologies for 5G along with Software Defined Networks (SDN) and Network Function Virtualization (NFV). One of the challenges for SFC deployment is the end-to-end orchestration, particularly in a multi-domain scenario where additional issues, such as the lack of visibility and control, and interoperability, need to be taken into account. In this paper, we propose a novel framework that leverages on and extends existing standards in order to perform an end-to-end cross-domain orchestration of SFCs, and ensure the desired forwarding of packets between the domains. A Proof of Concept implementation of our approach is also deployed and evaluated.