Distributed Approach to Control and Manage Context-based Multi-virtual Networks

Using the flexibility of Wireless Mesh Networks (WMNs) and network virtualization, we define a novel architecture that provides personalized access for users by splitting a WMN into several adaptable Virtual Networks (VNs). Each VN is configured to meet specific levels of user context demands (context can span from security, mobility or service requirements). Users are grouped according to similarity of their context, and associated to VNs matching their context. To break the traditional centralized solutions for WMN and virtualization control, this paper defines an overall framework to distribute the control responsibilities along the architectural entities, which can then cooperate to autonomously discover, select, create, extend or remove VNs on-demand according to user and WMN dynamics. We also propose an analytical model to evaluate several performance aspects of the distributed VN control when compared to centralized or decentralized solutions, validating the model against a simulation study.