Intelligent Optimization Solutions for Virtual Networks

ABSTRACT: The key innovation of this proposal is the development of a powerful virtualization solution that facilitates automated, dynamic management and optimization of virtual networks and underlying shared substrate. Our solution provides virtual networks with the capability to rapidly adapt to new conditions using information such as link metrics, ongoing traffic flows and incoming traffic constrains to drive informed decisions. More specifically, mechanisms such as dynamic performance-aware channel splitting and migration will support selection of links that best suit preference and communication requirements of incoming and currently active data flows. Additional mechanisms such as intelligent virtual router migration facilitate deployment of new virtual routers for purposes of maintenances and horizontal network growth. Our proposed solution relies on simple yet powerful enhancement to virtual routing tables. Our enhanced routing tables will not only contain routes to particular destinations but also provide additional status information about the underlying network links. Our algorithms will use this status information to make intelligent selections that will ensure dynamic performance-aware management of traffic flows in virtual networks. In concert, these mechanisms will provide a comprehensive management solution that will support secure, reliable, mission-oriented communications over virtual networks including connectivity with the nodes at the tactical edge. BENEFIT: Our proposed virtualization techniques address some challenging problems in virtual networks and provide a feasible solution for resource management and allocation in these networks. We expect to produce a software prototype as the initial product equipped with the proposed techniques for military as well as civilian applications. The proposed solution has tremendous application potential for military information systems. The proposed architecture, channel splitting and migration techniques, enhancement of virtual routing table, and virtual router migration technique can be applied to essentially all military networks. Our proposed techniques in virtual network management can also be applied in a wide range of civilian application scenarios. Essentially any kind of computer network can potentially benefit from our technology. The size of the market is extremely large and may grow rapidly as the world becomes more and more digitized and connected. As efficient connectivity and communications becomes more critical, we expect that the aggregate market size will be similar to or larger than that of military networks.