Network control using software defined flow mapping and virtualized network functions

Method for operating an electronic network, the network having a hardware layer comprising hardware components and requiring network functions, the network being divided into subnets, the method comprising:

• virtualizing networking functions to virtual machines;
• using an addressing overlay above a hardware layer of said network, said addressing overlay providing identities to said virtual machines, said identities being mapped to hardware components respective running said virtual machines;
• moving respective ones of said virtual machines around different hardware components in different subnets of said network, and updating mapping of said identities to accord with said moving of said virtual machines between said different subnets.

A node networked with other nodes to form an electronic network, the network requiring network functions to be performed on data flows, the node having processing capacity and a software defined flow controller being a distributed instance of a network global flow control, said global flow control comprising virtual addressing overlaying said network and providing identities mapped to hardware locations of said processing capacity, the processing capacity being used to instantiate a first of said required network functions using a first virtual machine at a first location having a first identity, and the software defined flow controller being configured to aggregate data flows addressed to said first virtual machine using said first identity, and update mapping of said first identity upon moving of said virtual machine;

• said node further being configured to send data flows not addressed to said first virtual machine to other virtual machines by determining a required network function, identifying an appropriate virtual machine and corresponding virtual address and mapping said corresponding virtual address to another one of said network nodes hosting said appropriate virtual machine.