A Marketplace Approach for Service-Chain Deployment in a Multi-Layer FANET Edge-Computing Architecture

Providing Service Chains consisting of different virtual functions in dynamic and infrastructure-less environments, such as disaster-stricken regions or remote rural areas, requires specialized orchestration strategies. A promising approach is to leverage Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) organized into Flying Ad-hoc Networks (FANETs) to provide Edge Computing capabilities. These UAVs act as distributed computing nodes, hosting Cloud-Native Functions (CNFs) that process and store data for ground users. However, the constraints of UAVs necessitate optimized resource allocation strategies to balance utility and performance. This paper presents a marketplace approach for Service Chain deployment in a multilayer FANET Edge Computing architecture. The proposed framework introduces multiple layers, where service requests are aggregated and processed by an Orchestration Layer that optimally distributes application traffic among CNF Providers and Resource Providers. By dynamically allocating computing resources based on demand, this architecture optimizes service performance while minimizing overall costs. The proposed solution contributes to the efficient orchestration of SCs in FANETs, supporting applications in challenging environments.