Novel mechanism for bandwidth reuse in network virtualization

As one solution to the gradual ossification of the existing networks, network virtualization enables multiple service providers (SPs) to coexist on a shared infrastructure, and it is considered as an integral part of next generation architecture. During the run time, SPs have exclusive rights for the allocated bandwidth resources, which may result in poor performance of bandwidth utilization. In this paper, we introduce a novel bandwidth reuse (BR) mechanism to allow SPs lease their idle bandwidth resources to other SPs as a virtual infrastructure provider (InP). In essence, the BR mechanism is a truthful auction with optimal expected revenue generation, which incentivizes SPs to open up their idle bandwidth significantly. Simulation results demonstrate that the BR mechanism could efficiently generate revenue and improve bandwidth utilization.