Optimizing the Placement of Virtual Network Functions for Energy Efficiency in a Wireless Mesh Network

Within service provisioning, the incorporation of NFV increases the adaptability, expansiveness, and software-defined quality of the Telecommunications Networks. That integration comes with a cost, particularly in terms of position of Virtualized Network Functions (VNFs) in Network Functions Virtualization Infrastructure (NFVI). Most of the solutions developed in existing work have used well connected, mains powered environments such as data centres or cloud networks; this paper aims to identify a solution that uses a WMN as the basis for disaster management communication and services infrastructure. Here, due to the mobility of the mesh routers, which are usually battery operated, location of VNFs assumes importance for energy consumption and overall life of the network. The problem of efficient placement of VNFs with an emphasis on energy consumption is defined in this paper as multi-objective one. This context intends to discuss with the possible ways of making new advancements and present a heuristic algorithm for placing VNF. Results of the evaluation also show that the solution based on the proposed algorithm yields a better solution in different contexts than other algorithms such as NSGA-II, which is the most preferred algorithm for similar problems. This research therefore goes a long way in filling the gap in terms of integration of NFV in wireless mesh network especially in disaster management.