Machine-Learning Defined Networking: Towards Intelligent Networks

With the advent of 5G technology and an ever-increasing traffic demand, today Communication Service Providers (CSPs) experience a progressive congestion of their networks. The operational complexity, the use of manual configuration, the static nature of current technologies together with fast-changing traffic profiles lead to: inefficient network utilization, over-provisioning of resources and very high Capital Expenditures (CapEx) and Operational Expenses (OpEx). This situation is forcing the CSPs to change their underlying network technologies, and have started to look at new technological solutions that increase the level of programmability, control, and flexibility of configuration, while reducing the overall costs related to network operations. Software Define Networking (SDN), Network Function Virtualization (NFV) and Machine Learning (ML) are accepted as effective solutions to reduce CapEx and OpEx and to boost network innovation. This chapter summarizes the content of my Ph.D. thesis, by presenting new ML-based approaches in order to efficiently optimize resources in 5G metro-core SDN/NFV networks. The main goal is to provide the modern CSP with intelligent and dynamic network optimization tools in order to address the requirements of increasing traffic demand and 5G technology