DeepNFV: A Lightweight Framework for Intelligent Edge Network Functions Virtualization

by Liangzhi Li, Kaoru Ota, Mianxiong Dong

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)

Traditional Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) implementations are somehow too heavy and do not have enough functionality to conduct complex tasks. In this work, we propose a lightweight NFV framework named DeepNFV, which is based on the Docker container running on the network edge, and integrates state-of-the-art deep learning models with NFV containers to address some complicated problems, such as traffic classification, link analysis, and so on. We compare the DeepNFV framework with several existing works, and detail its structures and functions. The most significant advantage of DeepNFV is its lightweight design, resulting from the virtualization and low-cost nature of the container technology. Also, we design this framework to be compatible with edge devices, in order to decrease the computational overhead of the central servers. Another merit is its strong analysis ability brought by deep learning models, which make it suitable for many more scenarios than traditional NFV approaches. In addition, we also describe some typical application scenarios, regarding how the NFV container works and how to utilize its learning ability. Simulations demonstrate its high efficiency, as well as the outstanding recognition performance in a typical use case.