Network appliances perform different functions on network flows andconstitute an important part of an operator's network. Normally, a set ofchained network functions process network flows. Following the trend ofvirtualization of networks, virtualization of the network functions has alsobecome a topic of interest. We define a model for formalizing the chaining ofnetwork functions using a context-free language. We process deployment requestsand construct virtual network function graphs that can be mapped to thenetwork. We describe the mapping as a Mixed Integer Quadratically ConstrainedProgram (MIQCP) for finding the placement of the network functions and chainingthem together considering the limited network resources and requirements of thefunctions. We have performed a Pareto set analysis to investigate the possibletrade-offs between different optimization objectives.
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