Integration of SDN into UAV, edge computing, & Blockchain: A review, challenges, & future directions

Abstract

Software Defined Network(SDN) is an advanced architecture that enhances the centralized access of the network topology through a central controller. Emerging networking mechanisms provide novel advanced architectures that enhance the application usage scenarios. Emerging networking mechanisms, i.e., Edge computing, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) systems, and Blockchain, are new techniques that generate various communication models to provide secure and virtual access to the network entities. However, the UAV and edge computing systems cannot handle the high traffic congestion in the network. The system must offload the data computation to other devices in these scenarios. The offloading process requires a central authority to manage task computation and available resources in the system. Thus, SDN can provide a central controller to handle the resources in the UAV and edge computing system.

Meanwhile, SDN lacks security, and Blockchain needs to manage the trusted third-party entities in the system. For these problems, the SDN and Blockchain provide resilience to each other in architectural advancements. This proposed survey presents state-of-the-art fusion systems where SDN is integrated into emerging networking mechanisms. The main objective is to represent the integration of SDN into UAV, Edge Computing, and Blockchain systems for different domains, i.e., routing, resource management, task offloading, network management, and security. Moreover, the survey represents the various simulation tools and performance parameters of fusion architectures. Furthermore, the survey illustrates challenges, open issues, and future directions in the next generation of networking systems.