Demonstration of Dynamic Service-Chain Deployment in a Multi-Layer FANET Edge-Computing Architecture

To cope with the challenges of deploying network services in dynamic, infrastructure-less environments such as disaster zones or remote rural areas, we present a Multi-Layer Flying Ad-hoc Network (FANET) Edge-Computing architecture that leverages Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) as distributed aerial compute nodes to deliver resilient and adaptive service chains (SCs). The proposed system is able to ensure service continuity through automatic reconfiguration of the SCs in response to environmental events, such as topology changes due to UAV battery depletion. The demonstration showcases SFC reconfiguration over a real-world testbed composed of several UAVs, including some equipped with onboard compute units, through a video demonstration of a live deployment. The video illustrates service-chain instantiation, graphical visualization of service distribution, and automatic reconfiguration in response to UAV mobility and energy constraints, highlighting the robustness and flexibility of the approach.