{"id":"https://openalex.org/W7148877507","doi":"https://doi.org/10.1109/tnsm.2026.3680673","title":"Network Slicing With Flexible VNF Order: A Branch-and-Bound Approach","display_name":"Network Slicing With Flexible VNF Order: A Branch-and-Bound Approach","publication_year":2026,"publication_date":"2026-01-01","ids":{"openalex":"https://openalex.org/W7148877507","doi":"https://doi.org/10.1109/tnsm.2026.3680673"},"language":null,"primary_location":{"id":"doi:10.1109/tnsm.2026.3680673","is_oa":false,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.1109/tnsm.2026.3680673","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S173527311","display_name":"IEEE Transactions on Network and Service Management","issn_l":"1932-4537","issn":["1932-4537","2373-7379"],"is_oa":false,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":true,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/P4310319808","host_organization_name":"Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/P4310319808"],"host_organization_lineage_names":["Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers"],"type":"journal"},"license":null,"license_id":null,"version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"IEEE Transactions on Network and Service Management","raw_type":"journal-article"},"type":"article","indexed_in":["crossref"],"open_access":{"is_oa":false,"oa_status":"closed","oa_url":null,"any_repository_has_fulltext":false},"authorships":[{"author_position":"first","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5040287872","display_name":"Quang-Trung Luu","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3848-7825"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I94518387","display_name":"Hanoi University of Science and Technology","ror":"https://ror.org/04nyv3z04","country_code":"VN","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I94518387"]}],"countries":["VN"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Quang-Trung Luu","raw_affiliation_strings":["School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Hanoi University of Science and Technology, Hanoi, Vietnam"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3848-7825","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Hanoi University of Science and Technology, Hanoi, Vietnam","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I94518387"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":null,"display_name":"Minh-Thanh Nguyen","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0004-5291-029X"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I205274468","display_name":"Trinity College Dublin","ror":"https://ror.org/02tyrky19","country_code":"IE","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I205274468"]}],"countries":["IE"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Minh-Thanh Nguyen","raw_affiliation_strings":["School of Computer Science and Statistics, Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0004-5291-029X","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"School of Computer Science and Statistics, Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I205274468"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5088123826","display_name":"T.A. Do","orcid":null},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I94518387","display_name":"Hanoi University of Science and Technology","ror":"https://ror.org/04nyv3z04","country_code":"VN","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I94518387"]}],"countries":["VN"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Tuan-Anh Do","raw_affiliation_strings":["School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Hanoi University of Science and Technology, Hanoi, Vietnam"],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Hanoi University of Science and Technology, Hanoi, Vietnam","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I94518387"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5090674929","display_name":"Michel Kieffer","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1049-3123"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I1294671590","display_name":"Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique","ror":"https://ror.org/02feahw73","country_code":"FR","type":"government","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I1294671590"]},{"id":"https://openalex.org/I4210107720","display_name":"CentraleSup\u00e9lec","ror":"https://ror.org/019tcpt25","country_code":"FR","type":"facility","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I277688954","https://openalex.org/I4210107720"]}],"countries":["FR"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Michel Kieffer","raw_affiliation_strings":["CNRS, CentraleSup&#x00E9;lec, L2S, Universit&#x00E9; Paris-Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1049-3123","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"CNRS, CentraleSup&#x00E9;lec, L2S, Universit&#x00E9; Paris-Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I1294671590","https://openalex.org/I4210107720"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":null,"display_name":"Tai Hung Nguyen","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6098-2136"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I94518387","display_name":"Hanoi University of Science and Technology","ror":"https://ror.org/04nyv3z04","country_code":"VN","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I94518387"]}],"countries":["VN"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Tai Hung Nguyen","raw_affiliation_strings":["School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Hanoi University of Science and Technology, Hanoi, Vietnam"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6098-2136","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Hanoi University of Science and Technology, Hanoi, Vietnam","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I94518387"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":null,"display_name":"Huu Thanh Nguyen","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7354-1524"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I94518387","display_name":"Hanoi University of Science and Technology","ror":"https://ror.org/04nyv3z04","country_code":"VN","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I94518387"]}],"countries":["VN"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Huu Thanh Nguyen","raw_affiliation_strings":["School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Hanoi University of Science and Technology, Hanoi, Vietnam"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7354-1524","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Hanoi University of Science and Technology, Hanoi, Vietnam","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I94518387"]}]},{"author_position":"last","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5123725179","display_name":"Van-Dinh Nguyen","orcid":null},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I205274468","display_name":"Trinity College Dublin","ror":"https://ror.org/02tyrky19","country_code":"IE","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I205274468"]}],"countries":["IE"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Van-Dinh Nguyen","raw_affiliation_strings":["School of Computer Science and Statistics, Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9575-1063","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"School of Computer Science and Statistics, Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I205274468"]}]}],"institutions":[],"countries_distinct_count":3,"institutions_distinct_count":4,"corresponding_author_ids":[],"corresponding_institution_ids":[],"apc_list":null,"apc_paid":null,"fwci":0.0,"has_fulltext":false,"cited_by_count":0,"citation_normalized_percentile":{"value":0.40231312,"is_in_top_1_percent":false,"is_in_top_10_percent":false},"cited_by_percentile_year":null,"biblio":{"volume":"23","issue":null,"first_page":"3805","last_page":"3818"},"is_retracted":false,"is_paratext":false,"is_xpac":false,"primary_topic":{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10714","display_name":"Software-Defined Networks and 5G","score":0.8237000107765198,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1705","display_name":"Computer Networks and Communications"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},"topics":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10714","display_name":"Software-Defined Networks and 5G","score":0.8237000107765198,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1705","display_name":"Computer Networks and Communications"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10829","display_name":"Interconnection Networks and Systems","score":0.04280000180006027,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1705","display_name":"Computer Networks and Communications"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T12326","display_name":"Network Packet Processing and Optimization","score":0.01899999938905239,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1708","display_name":"Hardware and Architecture"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}}],"keywords":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/slicing","display_name":"Slicing","score":0.6251000165939331},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/key","display_name":"Key (lock)","score":0.310699999332428},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/program-slicing","display_name":"Program slicing","score":0.2849999964237213},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/network-topology","display_name":"Network topology","score":0.2671000063419342},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/redundancy","display_name":"Redundancy (engineering)","score":0.2644999921321869}],"concepts":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/C41008148","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q21198","display_name":"Computer science","level":0,"score":0.835099995136261},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2776190703","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q488148","display_name":"Slicing","level":2,"score":0.6251000165939331},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C120314980","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q180634","display_name":"Distributed computing","level":1,"score":0.42980000376701355},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C31258907","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1301371","display_name":"Computer network","level":1,"score":0.4018999934196472},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C26517878","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q228039","display_name":"Key (lock)","level":2,"score":0.310699999332428},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C149635348","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q193040","display_name":"Embedded system","level":1,"score":0.2928999960422516},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C91071405","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1413145","display_name":"Program slicing","level":3,"score":0.2849999964237213},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C199845137","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q145490","display_name":"Network topology","level":2,"score":0.2671000063419342},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C152124472","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1204361","display_name":"Redundancy (engineering)","level":2,"score":0.2644999921321869},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C200789330","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7000834","display_name":"Network Functions Virtualization","level":3,"score":0.26030001044273376},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C51675839","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1665681","display_name":"Intelligent Network","level":2,"score":0.250900000333786},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2780609101","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q17156588","display_name":"Resource management (computing)","level":2,"score":0.2500999867916107}],"mesh":[],"locations_count":1,"locations":[{"id":"doi:10.1109/tnsm.2026.3680673","is_oa":false,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.1109/tnsm.2026.3680673","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S173527311","display_name":"IEEE Transactions on Network and Service Management","issn_l":"1932-4537","issn":["1932-4537","2373-7379"],"is_oa":false,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":true,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/P4310319808","host_organization_name":"Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/P4310319808"],"host_organization_lineage_names":["Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers"],"type":"journal"},"license":null,"license_id":null,"version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"IEEE Transactions on Network and Service Management","raw_type":"journal-article"}],"best_oa_location":null,"sustainable_development_goals":[],"awards":[],"funders":[],"has_content":{"pdf":false,"grobid_xml":false},"content_urls":null,"referenced_works_count":0,"referenced_works":[],"related_works":[],"abstract_inverted_index":{"Network":[0],"slicing":[1],"is":[2],"a":[3,24,109,147],"critical":[4],"feature":[5],"in":[6,57],"5G":[7,133],"and":[8,41,100,130,154],"beyond":[9],"communication":[10],"systems,":[11],"enabling":[12],"the":[13,47,53,59,74,77,92,116,141],"creation":[14],"of":[15,61,76,80,94,143],"multiple":[16],"virtual":[17,37],"networks":[18,134],"<italic":[19],"xmlns:mml=\"http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML\"":[20],"xmlns:xlink=\"http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink\">(i.e.,":[21],"slices)</i>":[22],"on":[23,127],"shared":[25],"physical":[26,48],"network":[27,38,148,161],"infrastructure.":[28],"This":[29,50,66],"involves":[30],"efficiently":[31],"mapping":[32],"each":[33],"slice":[34,54,97],"component,":[35],"including":[36],"functions":[39],"(VNFs)":[40],"their":[42],"interconnections":[43],"(virtual":[44],"links),":[45],"onto":[46],"network.":[49],"paper":[51],"considers":[52],"embedding":[55,101,122],"problem":[56],"which":[58],"order":[60,79],"VNFs":[62,81],"can":[63],"be":[64],"adjusted.":[65],"provides":[67],"increased":[68],"flexibility":[69],"for":[70],"service":[71],"deployment,":[72],"but":[73],"selection":[75],"best":[78],"also":[82],"complicates":[83],"embedding.":[84],"We":[85],"propose":[86],"an":[87],"optimization":[88],"framework":[89],"to":[90,120],"tackle":[91],"challenges":[93],"jointly":[95],"optimizing":[96],"admission":[98],"control":[99],"with":[102,115],"flexible":[103,137],"VNF":[104,138],"ordering.":[105],"Additionally,":[106],"we":[107],"introduce":[108],"near-optimal":[110],"branch-and-bound":[111],"(BnB)":[112],"algorithm,":[113,119],"combined":[114],"A*":[117],"search":[118],"generate":[121],"solutions":[123],"efficiently.":[124],"Extensive":[125],"simulations":[126],"both":[128],"small":[129],"large-scale":[131],"multi-tiered":[132],"demonstrate":[135],"that":[136],"ordering":[139],"increases":[140],"number":[142],"deployable":[144],"slices":[145],"within":[146],"infrastructure,":[149],"thereby":[150],"improving":[151],"resource":[152],"utilization":[153],"better":[155],"meeting":[156],"diverse":[157],"demands":[158],"across":[159],"varied":[160],"topologies.":[162]},"counts_by_year":[],"updated_date":"2026-07-22T07:51:19.307946","created_date":"2026-04-04T00:00:00"}