Simplification of Service Functions Resulting from Growth in Scale of Networks

抄録

As a network evolves following initial deployment, its service functions remain diversified through the openness of the network functions. This indicates that appropriate simplification of the service functions is essential if the evolving network is to achieve the required scalability of service processing and service management. While the screening of service functions is basically performed by network users and the market, several service functions will be automatically simplified based on the growth of the evolving network. This paper verifies the simplification of service functions resulting from the evolution of the network itself. First, the principles that serve as the basis for simplifying the service functions are explained using several practical examples. Next, a simulation model is proposed to verify the simplification of service functions in terms of the priority control function for path routing and load balancing among multiple paths. From the results of the simulation, this study clarifies that the anticipated simplification of service functions is actually realizable and the service performance requirements can be reduced as the network evolves after deployment. When the simplification of service functions can improve network quality, it accelerates the evolution of the network and increases the operator's revenue.