Approximated algorithms for mapping virtual networks on network substrates

Network virtualization is a promising technique for building the Internet of the future since it enables the introduction of new features into network elements at low cost. An open issue in virtualization is how to search for an efficient mapping of virtual network elements onto those of the existing physical network. Mapping is an NP-hard problem and existing solutions take long time to find a solution. This paper presents four new approximated algorithms based on two integer linear programming formulations that runs fast and, also, consider various real network characteristics, which is neglected by other proposals in the literature.