Software Defined Applications in Cellular and Optical Networks

abstract: Small wireless cells have the potential to overcome bottlenecks in wireless access through the sharing of spectrum resources. A novel access backhaul network architecture based on a Smart Gateway (Sm-GW) between the small cell base stations, e.g., LTE eNBs, and the conventional backhaul gateways, e.g., LTE Servicing/Packet Gateways (S/P-GWs) has been introduced to address the bottleneck. The Sm-GW flexibly schedules uplink transmissions for the eNBs. Based on software defined networking (SDN) a management mechanism that allows multiple operator to flexibly inter-operate via multiple Sm-GWs with a multitude of small cells has been proposed. This dissertation also comprehensively survey the studies that examine the SDN paradigm in optical networks. Along with the PHY functional split improvements, the performance of Distributed Converged Cable Access Platform (DCCAP) in the cable architectures especially for the Remote-PHY and Remote-MACPHY nodes has been evaluated. In the PHY functional split, in addition to the re-use of infrastructure with a common FFT module for multiple technologies, a novel cross functional split interaction to cache the repetitive QAM symbols across time at the remote node to reduce the transmission rate requirement of the fronthaul link has been proposed.Dissertation/ThesisDoctoral Dissertation Electrical Engineering 201

Recent Trends in Communication Networks

In recent years there has been many developments in communication technology. This has greatly enhanced the computing power of small handheld resource-constrained mobile devices. Different generations of communication technology have evolved. This had led to new research for communication of large volumes of data in different transmission media and the design of different communication protocols. Another direction of research concerns the secure and error-free communication between the sender and receiver despite the risk of the presence of an eavesdropper. For the communication requirement of a huge amount of multimedia streaming data, a lot of research has been carried out in the design of proper overlay networks. The book addresses new research techniques that have evolved to handle these challenges

Design and Analysis of Green Mission-Critical Fiber-Wireless Broadband Access Networks

In recent years, the ever-increasing environmental friendliness concern has made energy efficiency in telecom networks as an important theme in their operations. Meanwhile, mission-critical (MC) services and systems (such as healthcare, police, and firefighting) have been acquiring special attention from telecom designers and operators. The currently deployed MC network technologies are indigent in terms of bandwidth capacity, and thus they are not able to support the emerging MC multimedia applications. Therefore in this thesis, we first explore the possibility of provisioning the MC services over the integration of fiber-wireless (FiWi) technologies, which has been considered as a promising candidate for the deployment of high-speed and mobile broadband access networks. We then investigate the energy efficiency problem in the FiWi integration, which consists of WiMAX in the wireless plane, and of Ethernet Passive Optical Network (EPON) - the most popular variant of the next-generation PON (NG-PON) technology, in the optical plane. In WiMAX, the energy saving protocol has been extensively investigated and standardized. Conversely, it has been recently studied in NG-PON, which currently consumes the least power among all the high-speed access networks. However, NG-PON has notably matured in the past few years and is envisioned to massively evolve in the near future. This trend will increase the power requirements of NG-PON and make it no longer coveted. Therefore we address the energy efficiency problem in NG-PON. For each of our contributions, we conduct extensive simulations to demonstrate the effectiveness and advantages of the proposed solutions

Enabling Technology in Optical Fiber Communications: From Device, System to Networking

This book explores the enabling technology in optical fiber communications. It focuses on the state-of-the-art advances from fundamental theories, devices, and subsystems to networking applications as well as future perspectives of optical fiber communications. The topics cover include integrated photonics, fiber optics, fiber and free-space optical communications, and optical networking

On the Merits of Deploying TDM-based Next-Generation PON Solutions in the Access Arena As Multiservice, All Packet-Based 4G Mobile Backhaul RAN Architecture

The phenomenal growth of mobile backhaul capacity required to support the emerging fourth-generation (4G) traffic including mobile WiMAX, cellular Long-Term Evolution (LTE), and LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) requires rapid migration from today\u27s legacy circuit switched T1/E1 wireline and microwave backhaul technologies to a new fiber-supported, all-packet-based mobile backhaul infrastructure. Clearly, a cost effective fiber supported all-packet-based mobile backhaul radio access network (RAN) architecture that is compatible with these inherently distributed 4G RAN architectures is needed to efficiently scale current mobile backhaul networks. However, deploying a green fiber-based mobile backhaul infrastructure is a costly proposition mainly due to the significant cost associated with digging the trenches in which the fiber is to be laid. These, along with the inevitable trend towards all-IP/Ethernet transport protocols and packet switched networks, have prompted many carriers around the world to consider the potential of utilizing the existing fiber-based Passive Optical Network (PON) access infrastructure as an all-packet-based converged fixed-mobile optical access networking transport architecture to backhaul both mobile and typical wireline traffic. Passive Optical Network (PON)-based fiber-to-the-curb/home (FTTC/FTTH) access networks are being deployed around the globe based on two Time-Division Multiplexed (TDM) standards: ITU G.984 Gigabit PON (GPON) and IEEE 802.ah Ethernet PON (EPON). A PON connects a group of Optical Network Units (ONUs) located at the subscriber premises to an Optical Line Terminal (OLT) located at the service provider\u27s facility. It is the purpose of this thesis to examine the technological requirements and assess the performance analysis and feasibility for deploying TDM-based next-generation (NG) PON solutions in the access arena as multiservice, all packet-based 4G mobile backhaul RAN and/or converged fixed-mobile optical networking architecture. Specifically, this work proposes and devises a simple and cost-effective 10G-EPON-based 4G mobile backhaul RAN architecture that efficiently transports and supports a wide range of existing and emerging fixed-mobile advanced multimedia applications and services along with the diverse quality of service (QoS), rate, and reliability requirements set by these services. The techno-economics merits of utilizing PON-based 4G RAN architecture versus that of traditional 4G (mobile WiMAX and LTE) RAN will be thoroughly examine and quantified. To achieve our objective, we utilize the existing fiber-based PON access infrastructure with novel ring-based distribution access network and wireless-enabled OLT and ONUs as the multiservice packet-based 4G mobile backhaul RAN infrastructure. Specifically, to simplify the implementation of such a complex undertaking, this work is divided into two sequential phases. In the first phase, we examine and quantify the overall performance of the standalone ring-based 10G-EPON architecture (just the wireline part without overlaying/incorporating the wireless part (4G RAN)) via modeling and simulations. We then assemble the basic building blocks, components, and sub-systems required to build up a proof-of-concept prototype testbed for the standalone ring-based EPON architecture. The testbed will be used to verify and demonstrate the performance of the standalone architecture, specifically, in terms of power budget, scalability, and reach. In the second phase, we develop an integrated framework for the efficient interworking between the two wireline PON and 4G mobile access technologies, particularly, in terms of unified network control and management (NCM) operations. Specifically, we address the key technical challenges associated with tailoring a typically centralized PON-based access architecture to interwork with and support a distributed 4G RAN architecture and associated radio NCM operations. This is achieved via introducing and developing several salient-networking innovations that collectively enable the standalone EPON architecture to support a fully distributed 4G mobile backhaul RAN and/or a truly unified NG-PON-4G access networking architecture. These include a fully distributed control plane that enables intercommunication among the access nodes (ONUs/BSs) as well as signaling, scheduling algorithms, and handoff procedures that operate in a distributed manner. Overall, the proposed NG-PON architecture constitutes a complete networking paradigm shift from the typically centralized PON\u27s architecture and OLT-based NCM operations to a new disruptive fully distributed PON\u27s architecture and NCM operations in which all the typically centralized OLT-based PON\u27s NCM operations are migrated to and independently implemented by the access nodes (ONUs) in a distributed manner. This requires migrating most of the typically centralized wireline and radio control and user-plane functionalities such as dynamic bandwidth allocation (DBA), queue management and packet scheduling, handover control, radio resource management, admission control, etc., typically implemented in today\u27s OLT/RNC, to the access nodes (ONUs/4G BSs). It is shown that the overall performance of the proposed EPON-based 4G backhaul including both the RAN and Mobile Packet Core (MPC) {Evolved Packet Core (EPC) per 3GPP LTE\u27s standard} is significantly augmented compared to that of the typical 4G RAN, specifically, in terms of handoff capability, signaling overhead, overall network throughput and latency, and QoS support. Furthermore, the proposed architecture enables redistributing some of the intelligence and NCM operations currently centralized in the MPC platform out into the access nodes of the mobile RAN. Specifically, as this work will show, it enables offloading sizable fraction of the mobile signaling as well as actual local upstream traffic transport and processing (LTE bearers switch/set-up, retain, and tear-down and associated signaling commands from the BSs to the EPC and vice-versa) from the EPC to the access nodes (ONUs/BSs). This has a significant impact on the performance of the EPC. First, it frees up a sizable fraction of the badly needed network resources as well as processing on the overloaded centralized serving nodes (AGW) in the MPC. Second, it frees up capacity and sessions on the typically congested mobile backhaul from the BSs to the EPC and vice-versa

Current challenges and future trends in the field of communication architectures for microgrids

[EN] The concept of microgrid has emerged as a feasible answer to cope with the increasing number of distributed renewable energy sources which are being introduced into the electrical grid. The microgrid communication network should guarantee a complete and bidirectional connectivity among the microgrid resources, a high reliability and a feasible interoperability. This is in a contrast to the current electrical grid structure which is characterized by the lack of connectivity, being a centralized-unidirectional system. In this paper a review of the microgrids information and communication technologies (ICT) is shown. In addition, a guideline for the transition from the current communication systems to the future generation of microgrid communications is provided. This paper contains a systematic review of the most suitable communication network topologies, technologies and protocols for smart microgrids. It is concluded that a new generation of peer-to-peer communication systems is required towards a dynamic smart microgrid. Potential future research about communications of the next microgrid generation is also identified.This work is supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) under Grant ENE2015-64087-C2-2. This work is supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) under grant BES-2013-064539.Marzal-Romeu, S.; Salas-Puente, RA.; González Medina, R.; Garcerá, G.; Figueres Amorós, E. (2018). Current challenges and future trends in the field of communication architectures for microgrids. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. 82(2):3610-3622. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2017.10.101S3610362282

Cloudlet computing : recent advances, taxonomy, and challenges

A cloudlet is an emerging computing paradigm that is designed to meet the requirements and expectations of the Internet of things (IoT) and tackle the conventional limitations of a cloud (e.g., high latency). The idea is to bring computing resources (i.e., storage and processing) to the edge of a network. This article presents a taxonomy of cloudlet applications, outlines cloudlet utilities, and describes recent advances, challenges, and future research directions. Based on the literature, a unique taxonomy of cloudlet applications is designed. Moreover, a cloudlet computation offloading application for augmenting resource-constrained IoT devices, handling compute-intensive tasks, and minimizing the energy consumption of related devices is explored. This study also highlights the viability of cloudlets to support smart systems and applications, such as augmented reality, virtual reality, and applications that require high-quality service. Finally, the role of cloudlets in emergency situations, hostile conditions, and in the technological integration of future applications and services is elaborated in detail. © 2013 IEEE