Enabling Scalable and Sustainable Softwarized 5G Environments

The fifth generation of telecommunication systems (5G) is foreseen to play a fundamental role in our socio-economic growth by supporting various and radically new vertical applications (such as Industry 4.0, eHealth, Smart Cities/Electrical Grids, to name a few), as a one-fits-all technology that is enabled by emerging softwarization solutions \u2013 specifically, the Fog, Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC), Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) and Software-Defined Networking (SDN) paradigms. Notwithstanding the notable potential of the aforementioned technologies, a number of open issues still need to be addressed to ensure their complete rollout. This thesis is particularly developed towards addressing the scalability and sustainability issues in softwarized 5G environments through contributions in three research axes: a) Infrastructure Modeling and Analytics, b) Network Slicing and Mobility Management, and c) Network/Services Management and Control. The main contributions include a model-based analytics approach for real-time workload profiling and estimation of network key performance indicators (KPIs) in NFV infrastructures (NFVIs), as well as a SDN-based multi-clustering approach to scale geo-distributed virtual tenant networks (VTNs) and to support seamless user/service mobility; building on these, solutions to the problems of resource consolidation, service migration, and load balancing are also developed in the context of 5G. All in all, this generally entails the adoption of Stochastic Models, Mathematical Programming, Queueing Theory, Graph Theory and Team Theory principles, in the context of Green Networking, NFV and SDN

Distributed control in virtualized networks

The increasing number of the Internet connected devices requires novel solutions to control the next generation network resources. The cooperation between the Software Defined Network (SDN) and the Network Function Virtualization (NFV) seems to be a promising technology paradigm. The bottleneck of current SDN/NFV implementations is the use of a centralized controller. In this paper, different scenarios to identify the pro and cons of a distributed control-plane were investigated. We implemented a prototypal framework to benchmark different centralized and distributed approaches. The test results have been critically analyzed and related considerations and recommendations have been reported. The outcome of our research influenced the control plane design of the following European R&D projects: PLATINO, FI-WARE and T-NOVA

Distributed Network Anomaly Detection on an Event Processing Framework

Network Intrusion Detection Systems (NIDS) are an integral part of modern data centres to ensure high availability and compliance with Service Level Agreements (SLAs). Currently, NIDS are deployed on high-performance, high-cost middleboxes that are responsible for monitoring a limited section of the network. The fast increasing size and aggregate throughput of modern data centre networks have come to challenge the current approach to anomaly detection to satisfy the fast growing compute demand. In this paper, we propose a novel approach to distributed intrusion detection systems based on the architecture of recently proposed event processing frameworks. We have designed and implemented a prototype system using Apache Storm to show the benefits of the proposed approach as well as the architectural differences with traditional systems. Our system distributes modules across the available devices within the network fabric and uses a centralised controller for orchestration, management and correlation. Following the Software Defined Networking (SDN) paradigm, the controller maintains a complete view of the network but distributes the processing logic for quick event processing while performing complex event correlation centrally. We have evaluated the proposed system using publicly available data centre traces and demonstrated that the system can scale with the network topology while providing high performance and minimal impact on packet latency

Orchestration of distributed ingestion and processing of IoT data for fog platforms

In recent years there has been an extraordinary growth of the Internet of Things (IoT) and its protocols. The increasing diffusion of electronic devices with identification, computing and communication capabilities is laying ground for the emergence of a highly distributed service and networking environment. The above mentioned situation implies that there is an increasing demand for advanced IoT data management and processing platforms. Such platforms require support for multiple protocols at the edge for extended connectivity with the objects, but also need to exhibit uniform internal data organization and advanced data processing capabilities to fulfill the demands of the application and services that consume IoT data. One of the initial approaches to address this demand is the integration between IoT and the Cloud computing paradigm. There are many benefits of integrating IoT with Cloud computing. The IoT generates massive amounts of data, and Cloud computing provides a pathway for that data to travel to its destination. But today’s Cloud computing models do not quite fit for the volume, variety, and velocity of data that the IoT generates. Among the new technologies emerging around the Internet of Things to provide a new whole scenario, the Fog Computing paradigm has become the most relevant. Fog computing was introduced a few years ago in response to challenges posed by many IoT applications, including requirements such as very low latency, real-time operation, large geo-distribution, and mobility. Also this low latency, geo-distributed and mobility environments are covered by the network architecture MEC (Mobile Edge Computing) that provides an IT service environment and Cloud-computing capabilities at the edge of the mobile network, within the Radio Access Network (RAN) and in close proximity to mobile subscribers. Fog computing addresses use cases with requirements far beyond Cloud-only solution capabilities. The interplay between Cloud and Fog computing is crucial for the evolution of the so-called IoT, but the reach and specification of such interplay is an open problem. This thesis aims to find the right techniques and design decisions to build a scalable distributed system for the IoT under the Fog Computing paradigm to ingest and process data. The final goal is to explore the trade-offs and challenges in the design of a solution from Edge to Cloud to address opportunities that current and future technologies will bring in an integrated way. This thesis describes an architectural approach that addresses some of the technical challenges behind the convergence between IoT, Cloud and Fog with special focus on bridging the gap between Cloud and Fog. To that end, new models and techniques are introduced in order to explore solutions for IoT environments. This thesis contributes to the architectural proposals for IoT ingestion and data processing by 1) proposing the characterization of a platform for hosting IoT workloads in the Cloud providing multi-tenant data stream processing capabilities, the interfaces over an advanced data-centric technology, including the building of a state-of-the-art infrastructure to evaluate the performance and to validate the proposed solution. 2) studying an architectural approach following the Fog paradigm that addresses some of the technical challenges found in the first contribution. The idea is to study an extension of the model that addresses some of the central challenges behind the converge of Fog and IoT. 3) Design a distributed and scalable platform to perform IoT operations in a moving data environment. The idea after study data processing in Cloud, and after study the convenience of the Fog paradigm to solve the IoT close to the Edge challenges, is to define the protocols, the interfaces and the data management to solve the ingestion and processing of data in a distributed and orchestrated manner for the Fog Computing paradigm for IoT in a moving data environment.En els últims anys hi ha hagut un gran creixement del Internet of Things (IoT) i els seus protocols. La creixent difusió de dispositius electrònics amb capacitats d'identificació, computació i comunicació esta establint les bases de l’aparició de serveis altament distribuïts i del seu entorn de xarxa. L’esmentada situació implica que hi ha una creixent demanda de plataformes de processament i gestió avançada de dades per IoT. Aquestes plataformes requereixen suport per a múltiples protocols al Edge per connectivitat amb el objectes, però també necessiten d’una organització de dades interna i capacitats avançades de processament de dades per satisfer les demandes de les aplicacions i els serveis que consumeixen dades IoT. Una de les aproximacions inicials per abordar aquesta demanda és la integració entre IoT i el paradigma del Cloud computing. Hi ha molts avantatges d'integrar IoT amb el Cloud. IoT genera quantitats massives de dades i el Cloud proporciona una via perquè aquestes dades viatgin a la seva destinació. Però els models actuals del Cloud no s'ajusten del tot al volum, varietat i velocitat de les dades que genera l'IoT. Entre les noves tecnologies que sorgeixen al voltant del IoT per proporcionar un escenari nou, el paradigma del Fog Computing s'ha convertit en la més rellevant. Fog Computing es va introduir fa uns anys com a resposta als desafiaments que plantegen moltes aplicacions IoT, incloent requisits com baixa latència, operacions en temps real, distribució geogràfica extensa i mobilitat. També aquest entorn està cobert per l'arquitectura de xarxa MEC (Mobile Edge Computing) que proporciona serveis de TI i capacitats Cloud al edge per la xarxa mòbil dins la Radio Access Network (RAN) i a prop dels subscriptors mòbils. El Fog aborda casos d?us amb requisits que van més enllà de les capacitats de solucions només Cloud. La interacció entre Cloud i Fog és crucial per a l'evolució de l'anomenat IoT, però l'abast i especificació d'aquesta interacció és un problema obert. Aquesta tesi té com objectiu trobar les decisions de disseny i les tècniques adequades per construir un sistema distribuït escalable per IoT sota el paradigma del Fog Computing per a ingerir i processar dades. L'objectiu final és explorar els avantatges/desavantatges i els desafiaments en el disseny d'una solució des del Edge al Cloud per abordar les oportunitats que les tecnologies actuals i futures portaran d'una manera integrada. Aquesta tesi descriu un enfocament arquitectònic que aborda alguns dels reptes tècnics que hi ha darrere de la convergència entre IoT, Cloud i Fog amb especial atenció a reduir la bretxa entre el Cloud i el Fog. Amb aquesta finalitat, s'introdueixen nous models i tècniques per explorar solucions per entorns IoT. Aquesta tesi contribueix a les propostes arquitectòniques per a la ingesta i el processament de dades IoT mitjançant 1) proposant la caracterització d'una plataforma per a l'allotjament de workloads IoT en el Cloud que proporcioni capacitats de processament de flux de dades multi-tenant, les interfícies a través d'una tecnologia centrada en dades incloent la construcció d'una infraestructura avançada per avaluar el rendiment i validar la solució proposada. 2) estudiar un enfocament arquitectònic seguint el paradigma Fog que aborda alguns dels reptes tècnics que es troben en la primera contribució. La idea és estudiar una extensió del model que abordi alguns dels reptes centrals que hi ha darrere de la convergència de Fog i IoT. 3) Dissenyar una plataforma distribuïda i escalable per a realitzar operacions IoT en un entorn de dades en moviment. La idea després d'estudiar el processament de dades a Cloud, i després d'estudiar la conveniència del paradigma Fog per resoldre el IoT prop dels desafiaments Edge, és definir els protocols, les interfícies i la gestió de dades per resoldre la ingestió i processament de dades en un distribuït i orquestrat per al paradigma Fog Computing per a l'IoT en un entorn de dades en moviment

SDN/NFV-enabled satellite communications networks: opportunities, scenarios and challenges

In the context of next generation 5G networks, the satellite industry is clearly committed to revisit and revamp the role of satellite communications. As major drivers in the evolution of (terrestrial) fixed and mobile networks, Software Defined Networking (SDN) and Network Function Virtualisation (NFV) technologies are also being positioned as central technology enablers towards improved and more flexible integration of satellite and terrestrial segments, providing satellite network further service innovation and business agility by advanced network resources management techniques. Through the analysis of scenarios and use cases, this paper provides a description of the benefits that SDN/NFV technologies can bring into satellite communications towards 5G. Three scenarios are presented and analysed to delineate different potential improvement areas pursued through the introduction of SDN/NFV technologies in the satellite ground segment domain. Within each scenario, a number of use cases are developed to gain further insight into specific capabilities and to identify the technical challenges stemming from them.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Towards delay-aware container-based Service Function Chaining in Fog Computing

Recently, the fifth-generation mobile network (5G) is getting significant attention. Empowered by Network Function Virtualization (NFV), 5G networks aim to support diverse services coming from different business verticals (e.g. Smart Cities, Automotive, etc). To fully leverage on NFV, services must be connected in a specific order forming a Service Function Chain (SFC). SFCs allow mobile operators to benefit from the high flexibility and low operational costs introduced by network softwarization. Additionally, Cloud computing is evolving towards a distributed paradigm called Fog Computing, which aims to provide a distributed cloud infrastructure by placing computational resources close to end-users. However, most SFC research only focuses on Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC) use cases where mobile operators aim to deploy services close to end-users. Bi-directional communication between Edges and Cloud are not considered in MEC, which in contrast is highly important in a Fog environment as in distributed anomaly detection services. Therefore, in this paper, we propose an SFC controller to optimize the placement of service chains in Fog environments, specifically tailored for Smart City use cases. Our approach has been validated on the Kubernetes platform, an open-source orchestrator for the automatic deployment of micro-services. Our SFC controller has been implemented as an extension to the scheduling features available in Kubernetes, enabling the efficient provisioning of container-based SFCs while optimizing resource allocation and reducing the end-to-end (E2E) latency. Results show that the proposed approach can lower the network latency up to 18% for the studied use case while conserving bandwidth when compared to the default scheduling mechanism

Design, development and orchestration of 5G-ready applications over sliced programmable infrastructure

5G networks design and evolution is considered as a key to support the introduction of digital technologies in economic and societal processes. Towards this direction, vertical industries' needs should be considered as drivers of 5G networks design and development with high priority. In the current manuscript, MATILDA is presented, as a holistic 5G end-to-end services operational framework tackling the overall lifecycle of design, development and orchestration of 5G-ready applications and 5G network services over programmable infrastructure, following a unified programmability model and a set of control abstractions

Network Service Orchestration: A Survey

Business models of network service providers are undergoing an evolving transformation fueled by vertical customer demands and technological advances such as 5G, Software Defined Networking~(SDN), and Network Function Virtualization~(NFV). Emerging scenarios call for agile network services consuming network, storage, and compute resources across heterogeneous infrastructures and administrative domains. Coordinating resource control and service creation across interconnected domains and diverse technologies becomes a grand challenge. Research and development efforts are being devoted to enabling orchestration processes to automate, coordinate, and manage the deployment and operation of network services. In this survey, we delve into the topic of Network Service Orchestration~(NSO) by reviewing the historical background, relevant research projects, enabling technologies, and standardization activities. We define key concepts and propose a taxonomy of NSO approaches and solutions to pave the way towards a common understanding of the various ongoing efforts around the realization of diverse NSO application scenarios. Based on the analysis of the state of affairs, we present a series of open challenges and research opportunities, altogether contributing to a timely and comprehensive survey on the vibrant and strategic topic of network service orchestration.Comment: Accepted for publication at Computer Communications Journa

5G-PPP Software Network Working Group:Network Applications: Opening up 5G and beyond networks 5G-PPP projects analysis

As part of the 5G-PPP Initiative, the Software Network Working Group prepared this white paper to demystify the concept of the Network Applications. In fact, the Network Application ecosystem is more than the introduction of new vertical applications that have interaction capabilities. It refers to the need for a separate middleware layer to simplify the implementation and deployment of vertical systems on a large scale. Specifically, third parties or network operators can contribute to Network Applications, depending on the level of interaction and trust. Different implementations have been conducted by the different projects considering different API types and different level of trust between the verticals and the owner of 5G platforms. In this paper, the different approaches considered by the projects are summarized. By analysing them, it appears three options of interaction between the verticals and the 5G platform owner: - aaS Model: it is the model where the vertical application consumes the Network Applications as a service. The vertical application deployed in the vertical service provider domain. It connects with the 3GPP network systems (EPS, 5GS) in one or more PLMN operator domain. - Hybrid: it is the model where the vertical instantiates a part of its Vertical App in the operator domain like the EDGE. The other part remains in the vertical domain. A similar approach has been followed in TS 23.286 related to the deployment of V2X server. - Coupled/Delegated: it is the model where the vertical delegates its app to the operator. The Network Applications will be composed and managed by the operator. This approach is the one followed in the platforms like 5G-EVE. In addition, the paper brings an analysis of the different API type deployed. It appears that the abstraction from network APIs to service APIs is necessary to hide the telco complexity making APIs easy to consume for verticals with no telco expertise and to adress data privacy requirements