Segment Routing: a Comprehensive Survey of Research Activities, Standardization Efforts and Implementation Results

Fixed and mobile telecom operators, enterprise network operators and cloud providers strive to face the challenging demands coming from the evolution of IP networks (e.g. huge bandwidth requirements, integration of billions of devices and millions of services in the cloud). Proposed in the early 2010s, Segment Routing (SR) architecture helps face these challenging demands, and it is currently being adopted and deployed. SR architecture is based on the concept of source routing and has interesting scalability properties, as it dramatically reduces the amount of state information to be configured in the core nodes to support complex services. SR architecture was first implemented with the MPLS dataplane and then, quite recently, with the IPv6 dataplane (SRv6). IPv6 SR architecture (SRv6) has been extended from the simple steering of packets across nodes to a general network programming approach, making it very suitable for use cases such as Service Function Chaining and Network Function Virtualization. In this paper we present a tutorial and a comprehensive survey on SR technology, analyzing standardization efforts, patents, research activities and implementation results. We start with an introduction on the motivations for Segment Routing and an overview of its evolution and standardization. Then, we provide a tutorial on Segment Routing technology, with a focus on the novel SRv6 solution. We discuss the standardization efforts and the patents providing details on the most important documents and mentioning other ongoing activities. We then thoroughly analyze research activities according to a taxonomy. We have identified 8 main categories during our analysis of the current state of play: Monitoring, Traffic Engineering, Failure Recovery, Centrally Controlled Architectures, Path Encoding, Network Programming, Performance Evaluation and Miscellaneous...Comment: SUBMITTED TO IEEE COMMUNICATIONS SURVEYS & TUTORIAL

Allocation des ressources dans les environnements informatiques en périphérie des réseaux mobiles

Abstract: The evolution of information technology is increasing the diversity of connected devices and leading to the expansion of new application areas. These applications require ultra-low latency, which cannot be achieved by legacy cloud infrastructures given their distance from users. By placing resources closer to users, the recently developed edge computing paradigm aims to meet the needs of these applications. Edge computing is inspired by cloud computing and extends it to the edge of the network, in proximity to where the data is generated. This paradigm leverages the proximity between the processing infrastructure and the users to ensure ultra-low latency and high data throughput. The aim of this thesis is to improve resource allocation at the network edge to provide an improved quality of service and experience for low-latency applications. For better resource allocation, it is necessary to have reliable knowledge about the resources available at any moment. The first contribution of this thesis is to propose a resource representation to allow the supervisory xentity to acquire information about the resources available to each device. This information is then used by the resource allocation scheme to allocate resources appropriately for the different services. The resource allocation scheme is based on Lyapunov optimization, and it is executed only when resource allocation is required, which reduces the latency and resource consumption on each edge device. The second contribution of this thesis focuses on resource allocation for edge services. The services are created by chaining a set of virtual network functions. Resource allocation for services consists of finding an adequate placement for, routing, and scheduling these virtual network functions. We propose a solution based on game theory and machine learning to find a suitable location and routing for as well as an appropriate scheduling of these functions at the network edge. Finding the location and routing of network functions is formulated as a mean field game solved by iterative Ishikawa-Mann learning. In addition, the scheduling of the network functions on the different edge nodes is formulated as a matching set, which is solved using an improved version of the deferred acceleration algorithm we propose. The third contribution of this thesis is the resource allocation for vehicular services at the edge of the network. In this contribution, the services are migrated and moved to the different infrastructures at the edge to ensure service continuity. Vehicular services are particularly delay sensitive and related mainly to road safety and security. Therefore, the migration of vehicular services is a complex operation. We propose an approach based on deep reinforcement learning to proactively migrate the different services while ensuring their continuity under high mobility constraints.L'évolution des technologies de l'information entraîne la prolifération des dispositifs connectés qui mène à l'exploration de nouveaux champs d'application. Ces applications demandent une latence ultra-faible, qui ne peut être atteinte par les infrastructures en nuage traditionnelles étant donné la distance qui les sépare des utilisateurs. En rapprochant les ressources aux utilisateurs, le paradigme de l'informatique en périphérie, récemment apparu, vise à répondre aux besoins de ces applications. L’informatique en périphérie s'inspire de l’informatique en nuage, en l'étendant à la périphérie du réseau, à proximité de l'endroit où les données sont générées. Ce paradigme tire parti de la proximité entre l'infrastructure de traitement et les utilisateurs pour garantir une latence ultra-faible et un débit élevé des données. L'objectif de cette thèse est l'amélioration de l'allocation des ressources à la périphérie du réseau pour offrir une meilleure qualité de service et expérience pour les applications à faible latence. Pour une meilleure allocation des ressources, il est nécessaire d'avoir une bonne connaissance sur les ressources disponibles à tout moment. La première contribution de cette thèse consiste en la proposition d'une représentation des ressources pour permettre à l'entité de supervision d'acquérir des informations sur les ressources disponibles à chaque dispositif. Ces informations sont ensuite exploitées par le schéma d'allocation des ressources afin d'allouer les ressources de manière appropriée pour les différents services. Le schéma d'allocation des ressources est basé sur l'optimisation de Lyapunov, et il n'est exécuté que lorsque l'allocation des ressources est requise, ce qui réduit la latence et la consommation en ressources sur chaque équipement de périphérie. La deuxième contribution de cette thèse porte sur l'allocation des ressources pour les services en périphérie. Les services sont composés par le chaînage d'un ensemble de fonctions réseau virtuelles. L'allocation des ressources pour les services consiste en la recherche d'un placement, d'un routage et d'un ordonnancement adéquat de ces fonctions réseau virtuelles. Nous proposons une solution basée sur la théorie des jeux et sur l'apprentissage automatique pour trouver un emplacement et routage convenable ainsi qu'un ordonnancement approprié de ces fonctions en périphérie du réseau. La troisième contribution de cette thèse consiste en l'allocation des ressources pour les services véhiculaires en périphérie du réseau. Dans cette contribution, les services sont migrés et déplacés sur les différentes infrastructures en périphérie pour assurer la continuité des services. Les services véhiculaires sont en particulier sensibles à la latence et liés principalement à la sûreté et à la sécurité routière. En conséquence, la migration des services véhiculaires constitue une opération complexe. Nous proposons une approche basée sur l'apprentissage par renforcement profond pour migrer de manière proactive les différents services tout en assurant leur continuité sous les contraintes de mobilité élevée

Ultra-reliable Low-latency, Energy-efficient and Computing-centric Software Data Plane for Network Softwarization

Network softwarization plays a significantly important role in the development and deployment of the latest communication system for 5G and beyond. A more flexible and intelligent network architecture can be enabled to provide support for agile network management, rapid launch of innovative network services with much reduction in Capital Expense (CAPEX) and Operating Expense (OPEX). Despite these benefits, 5G system also raises unprecedented challenges as emerging machine-to-machine and human-to-machine communication use cases require Ultra-Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC). According to empirical measurements performed by the author of this dissertation on a practical testbed, State of the Art (STOA) technologies and systems are not able to achieve the one millisecond end-to-end latency requirement of the 5G standard on Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) servers. This dissertation performs a comprehensive introduction to three innovative approaches that can be used to improve different aspects of the current software-driven network data plane. All three approaches are carefully designed, professionally implemented and rigorously evaluated. According to the measurement results, these novel approaches put forward the research in the design and implementation of ultra-reliable low-latency, energy-efficient and computing-first software data plane for 5G communication system and beyond

Network functions virtualization: the long road to commercial deployments

Network operators are under pressure to offer efficient network-based services while keeping service deployment costs to a minimum. Network functions virtualization (NFV) can potentially revolutionize network-based services bringing low-deployment costs for network operators. The NFV has been introduced to ultimately extend the non-proprietary and open-standard-based model to network and service deployments, significant improvements to today’s proprietary locked implementations. Notwithstanding the continuous efforts of both academia and industry to support the NFV paradigm, the current NFV solutions offered are still in its infancy. In this survey, we provide a detailed background of NFV to establish a comprehensive understanding of the subject, ranging from the basics to more advanced topics. Moreover, we offer a comprehensive overview of the NFV main concepts, standardization efforts, the benefits of NFV, and discussions of the NFV architecture as defined by the European telecommunications standardization institute (ETSI). Furthermore, we discuss the NFV applicability and current open source projects. We then highlight NFV requirements, design considerations, and developmental architectural impairments and barriers to commercial NFV deployments. Finally, we conclude enumerating future directions for NFV developmentpublishe

Definition and specification of connectivity and QoE/QoS management mechanisms – final report

This document summarizes the WP5 work throughout the project, describing its functional architecture and the solutions that implement the WP5 concepts on network control and orchestration. For this purpose, we defined 3 innovative controllers that embody the network slicing and multi tenancy: SDM-C, SDM-X and SDM-O. The functionalities of each block are detailed with the interfaces connecting them and validated through exemplary network processes, highlighting thus 5G NORMA innovations. All the proposed modules are designed to implement the functionality needed to provide the challenging KPIs required by future 5G networks while keeping the largest possible compatibility with the state of the art

View on 5G Architecture: Version 2.0

The 5G Architecture Working Group as part of the 5GPPP Initiative is looking at capturing novel trends and key technological enablers for the realization of the 5G architecture. It also targets at presenting in a harmonized way the architectural concepts developed in various projects and initiatives (not limited to 5GPPP projects only) so as to provide a consolidated view on the technical directions for the architecture design in the 5G era. The first version of the white paper was released in July 2016, which captured novel trends and key technological enablers for the realization of the 5G architecture vision along with harmonized architectural concepts from 5GPPP Phase 1 projects and initiatives. Capitalizing on the architectural vision and framework set by the first version of the white paper, this Version 2.0 of the white paper presents the latest findings and analyses with a particular focus on the concept evaluations, and accordingly it presents the consolidated overall architecture design