Novel Initialization Functions for Metaheuristic-Based Online Virtual Network Embedding

Virtual network embedding (VNE) is the process of allocating resources in a substrate (i.e. physical) network to support virtual networks optimally. The VNE problem is an NP-hard problem that has been studied for more than a decade in the continuous seek to maximize the revenue of physical infrastructures with more efficient VNE solutions. Metaheuristics have been widely used in online VNE as they incorporate mechanisms to avoid local optimum solutions, explore larger search spaces, and keep acceptable execution times. All metaheuristic optimization algorithms require initialization for which the vast majority of online VNE solutions implement random initialization. This paper proposes three novel initialization functions namely, Initialization Based on Node Selection (IFNS), Initialization Function Based on Community Detection (IFCD), and Initialization Function Based on Previous Solutions (IFPS), intending to enhance the performance of the online VNE process. Through simulation, our initialization functions have been proven to enhance the acceptance rate, revenue, and revenue-to-cost metrics of the VNE process. The enhancements achieved by our initialization functions are statistically significant and their implementation does not add computational overhead to the classic VNE approaches.