8. Conclusion and outlook

SFC techniques are promising because they enable us to explore new approaches to service delivery, while freeing us from the constraints of the underlying network. SFC techniques open up new prospects for simplifying the delivery of value-added IP services.

The subject of service function chaining is much discussed in standardization bodies, on the one hand because the need is proven in various contexts (fixed-mobile, enterprise, etc.), and on the other because of the need for service providers to be more dynamic and responsive in implementing differentiated services to meet customer needs. Standardization is essential if the interconnection of network equipment supporting more and more elementary services (routing, filtering, enrichment or optimization) is to support the implementation of logical paths capable of responding to differentiated services. These techniques...