Leveraging Virtual Network Functions to Improve End‐To‐End Delay Bound in Underwater Acoustic Systems Using Stochastic Network Calculus

ABSTRACT Acoustic propagation delays, bandwidth limits, and node mobility are all big problems for underwater wireless sensor networks (UWSNs). We present a unified analytical framework that combines network function virtualization (NFV) and stochastic network calculus (SNC) to meet the need for reliable communication with low latency. Using VNFs made for underwater environments, our method simulates per‐flow delay limits, queue prioritization, and dynamic service chaining. We test the framework by running many simulations in different UWSN scenarios using OMNeT++. The results show that the end‐to‐end delay, packet delivery ratio, and energy efficiency have all improved significantly. This proves that NFV‐SNC integration can be used in real life for underwater applications like marine farming. To make sure the proposed method works, a comparison of the analytical model and simulation data is done. The goal of this study is to improve network architecture so that it can impose delay limits and improve overall performance. The problem is to achieve reliable and quick communication in UWSNs. People think that dynamic optimization using NFV will greatly improve the reliability and performance of UWSN communication systems.