Contributing to the pathway towards 5G experimentation with an SDN-controlled network box

Καθώς η απαίτηση σε ευρυζωνικές υπηρεσίες κινητών επικοινωνιών αυξάνεται ραγδαία, τα υπάρχοντα δίκτυα κινητών επικοινωνιών πλησιάζουν τα όριά τους κάνοντας επιτακτική την ανάγκη εξέλιξής τους η οποία θα επέλθει με την τεχνολογική άφιξη της επόμενης γενιάς κινητών επικοινωνιών, ευρέως γνωστής ως 5G. Το 5G μεταφέρει όλες εκείνες τις δυνατότητες οι οποίες είναι απαραίτητες για να καλυφθούν οι συνεχώς αυξανόμενες ανάγκες σε ευρυζωνικές υπηρεσίες, να υποστηρίξουν το Internet of Things καθώς και να ενοποιήσουν ετερογενείς υπηρεσίες σε διαφορετικές βιομηχανίες. Η παρούσα διπλωματική εργασία στοχεύει να παρουσιάσει το “Network in a box”, ένα καινοτόμο εργαλείο που αναπτύξαμε στο εργαστήριο, το οποίο βασίζεται επάνω στους θεμέλιους λίθους του 5G, το SDN και το NFV. Με το SDN να είναι η νέα προσέγγιση στα δίκτυα κινητών επικοινωνιών, ο έλεγχος διαχωρίζεται από τα δεδομένα παρέχοντας τη δυνατότητα οποιεσδήποτε αποφάσεις ελέγχου, να λαμβάνονται κεντρικά, μετατρέποντας έτσι τις κλασικές δικτυακές συσκευές σε απλά προωθητικά στοιχεία του δικτύου. Η συγκεκριμένη διάταξη μιμείται ένα πραγματικό δίκτυο, το οποίο διαθέτει δυνατότητες αυτο-οργάνωσης και αυτο-βελτίωσης, προσομοιώνοντας τη λειτουργία του 5G δικτύου. Το συγκεκριμένο εργαλείο είναι επίσης ικανό να παράσχει KPI μετρικές του 5G δικτύου κάτω από πραγματικές συνθήκες ενόσω αληθινές δικτυακές συσκευές είναι συνδεδεμένες σε αυτό. Η δομή της παρούσας διπλωματικής εργασίας αναλύεται σε πέντε κεφάλαια. Το πρώτο κεφάλαιο παρουσιάζει τις προκλήσεις που σύντομα θα κληθούν να αντιμετωπίσουν τα δίκτυα κινητών επικοινωνιών και πώς αυτές μπορούν να καλυφθούν με την τεχνολογία του 5G. Το δεύτερο κεφάλαιο εισάγει την τάση στην αγορά των κινητών επικοινωνιών που διαφένεται πίσω από την επερχόμενη άφιξη του 5G, αποκαλύπτοντας το επιχειρηματικό πλαίσιο για επιχειρήσεις, καταναλωτές και συνεργασίες όπως επίσης και κάποιες περιπτώσεις χρήσης που αντικατοπτρίζουν την διαρκή εξέλιξη στις ευρυζωνικές υπηρεσίες κινητών επικοινωνιών. Το τρίτο κεφάλαιο εμπεριέχει μια μικρή επισκόπηση των τρέχοντων έργων πάνω στο 5G, τα οποία ξεκίνησαν υπό την αιγίδα της Ευρωπαϊκής Επιτροπής με τη συνεργασία προμηθευτών τεχνολογίας επικοινωνιών, παρόχων υπηρεσιών, μικρομεσαίων επιχειρήσεων και πανεπιστημίων. Γίνεται επίσης αναφορά στις βασικές τεχνολογίες του 5G και στις δραστηριότητες προτυποποίησής του. Προχωρώντας στο τέταρτο κεφάλαιο, περιγράφουμε σε βάθος την αρχιτεκτονική του 5G δικτύου, αναλύοντας τα SDN, NFV, MANO και εξετάζουμε πώς αυτά συνεισφέρουν στη βιωσιμότητα του δικτύου. Τέλος, στο πέμπτο κεφάλαιο εισάγουμε μια καινοτόμο ιδέα που αναπτύξαμε στο εργαστήριο δικτύων του πανεπιστημίου μας, ένα πλήρως αυτόνομο δικτυακό εργαλείο, το “Network in a box”. Παρουσιάζουμε σε βάθος πώς αυτός ο server μπορεί να εγκατασταθεί και να λειτουργήσει καθώς και τις δυνατότητές του κάτω από πραγματικές συνθήκες λειτουργίας του δικτύου, ενώ λαμβάνουν χώρα υποβάθμιση ποιότητας ή μη-διαθεσιμότητα στις δικτυακές ζεύξεις, παρέχοντας επίσης μετρικές από τη λειτουργία του δικτύου σε πραγματικό χρόνο.As the demand in mobile broadband is tremendously increased and the heterogeneity of the services to be covered is growing rapidly, current mobile networks are close to their limits imposing the need of an evolution which is going to be introduced by the next generation technology, the ITU IMT-2020, well known as 5G. 5G brings all those capabilities required to cover the increased mobile broadband needs, support the Internet of Things and bind heterogeneous services in different industries. This diploma thesis aims at presenting the “Network in a box”, an innovative tool we developed which is based on the key 5G principles, SDN and NFV. With Software Defined Networking (SDN) being the new approach in mobile networks, control and data plane are decoupled providing the ability to make any control related decisions centrally and transform legacy network devices to simple forwarding elements. This testbed is a portable emulated network device which is self-managed and self-optimised and can be connected between any real network devices, emulating how the 5G network will perform. This plug & play black-box testbed is also capable of providing KPI metrics of the 5G network under real circumstances when real network devices are connected to it. The structure of this diploma thesis is decomposed in five chapters. Chapter 1 presents the challenges mobile networks will shortly face due to the growing heterogeneous demands in communications towards the year 2020 and beyond and how these can be met with the upcoming 5G technology. Chapter 2 introduces the market trend behind the new era of 5G, revealing the business context for enterprises, consumers, verticals and partnerships as well as some use cases which reflect the continuous mobile broadband evolution. Chapter 3 includes a short overview of the ongoing 5G projects, initiated under the umbrella of the European Commission, with the collaboration of communications technology vendors, telecommunications operators, service providers, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and universities. There is also a reference in 5G key enabling technologies and standardisation activities as we move towards the next generation mobile networks technology. Moving forward, chapter 4 describes in detail the technological components of 5G network architecture such as SDN, NFV, MANO and examines how these 5G key enabling technologies contribute to the overall networks’ sustainability. Finally, in chapter 5 we introduce an innovative idea developed in our university’s communications network research laboratory, an autonomous emulated portable network testbed, the “Network in a box”. We present in-depth how this portable server is deployed, operates and demonstrate the way it can be connected to real network elements emulating a real 5G end-to-end customer network. Moreover, in this last chapter we present “Network in a box” capabilities under real network circumstances when link degradations or failures take place, providing also real-time network metrics

La seguridad en redes SDN y sus aplicaciones

Introduction: The review article is the product of the research on Security in SDN networks and their applications, developed at the District University in 2020, presenting the latest advances, that have been made in security. Problem: The security weaknesses that SDN networks have had, due to being a new architecture. This has not allowed traditional networks to be replaced.   Objective: To carry out a review of the state of the art of SDN networks, focusing research on the security of the control layer and its advances. Methodology: The descriptive method is implemented, consulting databases such as Scopus, IEEE and ScienceDirect, using the following search criteria: SDN networks, security in SDN networks, applications with SDN networks and OpenFlow protocol. It is shown as a research sample: the Asian, European and American continents with years of research from 2014 to 2020. Results: Great advances have been made in terms of security for SDN networks, which allows us to see an early solution to the weaknesses that it currently faces.   Conclusion: SDN networks will solve all the challenges they face and will be consolidated as a solid and reliable architecture.   Originality: an important focus is taken on the security of SDN networks and the great development that has occurred in this regard is evident.   Limitations: SDN networks are a new architecture, so their development has been very little and advances in security have been significantly affected.Introducción: El artículo de revisión es producto de la investigación Seguridad en redes SDN y sus aplicaciones, desarrollada en la Universidad Distrital en el año 2020, presentando los últimos avances que se han logrado en seguridad. Problema: Las debilidades en seguridad que han tenido las redes SDN debido a ser una arquitectura nueva, esto no ha permitido que se reemplacen las redes tradicionales. Objetivo: realizar una revisión del estado del arte de las redes SDN enfocando la investigación la seguridad de la capa de control y sus avances. Metodología: se emplea el método descriptivo, se consultaron bases de datos como Scopus, IEEE y ScienceDirect, utilizando los siguientes criterios de búsqueda: SDN networks, security in SDN networks, applications with SDN networks y OpenFlow protocol, se tomó como muestra de investigación a los continentes asiático, europeo y americano con años de investigación desde el año 2014 hasta el año 2020. Resultados: se han desarrollado grandes avances en seguridad para las redes SDN, lo que permite ver una pronta solución a las debilidades que afronta en la actualidad. Conclusión: las redes SDN lograran resolver todos los retos a los que se enfrentan y se consolidara como una arquitectura sólida y confiable. Originalidad: se realiza un enfoque importante en la seguridad de las redes SDN y se evidencia el gran desarrollo que se ha presentado en este aspecto. Limitaciones: las redes SDN son una arquitectura nueva por lo que su desarrollo ha sido muy poco y los avances en seguridad se vieron afectados significativamente

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

Software defined virtualized cloud radio access network (SD-vCRAN) and programmable EPC for 5G

This thesis was submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University LondonThis thesis focuses on proposing a Software Defined Network (SDN) based programmable and capacity optimized backhaul and core network which is critical for 5G network design. Cloud Radio Access networks (CRAN) which is key enabler of 5G networks can address a number of challenges that mobile operators face while trying to support ever-growing end-users’ needs towards 5th generation of mobile networks (5G). A novel layered and modular programmable CRAN architecture called Software Defined Virtualised Cloud Radio Access Network (SD-vCRAN) is introduced with Network Function Virtualization (NFV) and Software Defined Network (SDN) capabilities. The SDN-Base Band Unit (BBU) pool is shifted to the programmable core network site, where a centralised SDN controller manages the network servers and virtualised network function entities – Mobile Management Entity (MME), Serving/Packet Data Network Data plane (S/PGW-D), Serving/Packet Data Network Control plane (S/PGW-C), Software Network Defined Baseband Unit (SDN-BBU) and Local controllers (LC) via OpenFlow (OF) protocol. This approach simplifies network operations, improve traffic management, enable system-wide optimisation of Quality of Service (QoS) and network-aware application development. The control plane (excluding the preserved 3GPP standard interfaces: S1-MME, S6a, Gx) managed by the network servers provides load balancing, traffic management and optimisation tools for the data plane. The proposed work starts by reviewing the requirements of 5G networks, followed by discussion on 5G backhaul and core challenge. Then, an overview of CRAN, Evolved Programmable Core (EPC), SDN, NFV and related works. The simulation details of the proposed architecture are discussed along with the challenges faced by adopting SDN and NFV in mobile core. A thorough assessment of the interfaces and protocols that should be conserved or enhanced on both data and control plane is conducted. The result enables an architecture where the SDN-BBU pool shares a single cloud with the programmable EPC and the control plane is migrated from the network elements to a centralized controller, running on a virtual machine in the mobile core. The data and control plane separation removes overlaps and provides better signalling, as well as efficient network functioning to comply with latency demands. The proposed system performance is validated in terms of throughput, datagram loss, and packet delay variation under three scenarios: 1. single policy installation, 2. multiple policy installation and 3. load balancing. The load balancing performance of proposed system is validated comparing the performance of two different SDN controllers: Floodlight and OpenDaylight, where the later performs better in terms of throughput (no bandwidth restriction), packet loss (below 0.3%) and jitter (below 0.2ms). Furthermore, a detailed comparison of two SDN controller’s – Floodlight and OpenDaylight performances is presented, which shows that OpenDaylight performs better only for less dense networks which needs less processing of messages without being blocked, and the Floodlight performs better in ultra-dense network. Some directions and preliminary thoughts for future work and necessary information to operators for building their roadmap to the upcoming technologies is presented

Cognition-Based Networks: A New Perspective on Network Optimization Using Learning and Distributed Intelligence

IEEE Access Volume 3, 2015, Article number 7217798, Pages 1512-1530 Open Access Cognition-based networks: A new perspective on network optimization using learning and distributed intelligence (Article) Zorzi, M.a , Zanella, A.a, Testolin, A.b, De Filippo De Grazia, M.b, Zorzi, M.bc a Department of Information Engineering, University of Padua, Padua, Italy b Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Padua, Italy c IRCCS San Camillo Foundation, Venice-Lido, Italy View additional affiliations View references (107) Abstract In response to the new challenges in the design and operation of communication networks, and taking inspiration from how living beings deal with complexity and scalability, in this paper we introduce an innovative system concept called COgnition-BAsed NETworkS (COBANETS). The proposed approach develops around the systematic application of advanced machine learning techniques and, in particular, unsupervised deep learning and probabilistic generative models for system-wide learning, modeling, optimization, and data representation. Moreover, in COBANETS, we propose to combine this learning architecture with the emerging network virtualization paradigms, which make it possible to actuate automatic optimization and reconfiguration strategies at the system level, thus fully unleashing the potential of the learning approach. Compared with the past and current research efforts in this area, the technical approach outlined in this paper is deeply interdisciplinary and more comprehensive, calling for the synergic combination of expertise of computer scientists, communications and networking engineers, and cognitive scientists, with the ultimate aim of breaking new ground through a profound rethinking of how the modern understanding of cognition can be used in the management and optimization of telecommunication network

Machine Learning Threatens 5G Security

Machine learning (ML) is expected to solve many challenges in the fifth generation (5G) of mobile networks. However, ML will also open the network to several serious cybersecurity vulnerabilities. Most of the learning in ML happens through data gathered from the environment. Un-scrutinized data will have serious consequences on machines absorbing the data to produce actionable intelligence for the network. Scrutinizing the data, on the other hand, opens privacy challenges. Unfortunately, most of the ML systems are borrowed from other disciplines that provide excellent results in small closed environments. The resulting deployment of such ML systems in 5G can inadvertently open the network to serious security challenges such as unfair use of resources, denial of service, as well as leakage of private and confidential information. Therefore, in this article we dig into the weaknesses of the most prominent ML systems that are currently vigorously researched for deployment in 5G. We further classify and survey solutions for avoiding such pitfalls of ML in 5G systems

Review and analysis of networking challenges in cloud computing

Cloud Computing offers virtualized computing, storage, and networking resources, over the Internet, to organizations and individual users in a completely dynamic way. These cloud resources are cheaper, easier to manage, and more elastic than sets of local, physical, ones. This encourages customers to outsource their applications and services to the cloud. The migration of both data and applications outside the administrative domain of customers into a shared environment imposes transversal, functional problems across distinct platforms and technologies. This article provides a contemporary discussion of the most relevant functional problems associated with the current evolution of Cloud Computing, mainly from the network perspective. The paper also gives a concise description of Cloud Computing concepts and technologies. It starts with a brief history about cloud computing, tracing its roots. Then, architectural models of cloud services are described, and the most relevant products for Cloud Computing are briefly discussed along with a comprehensive literature review. The paper highlights and analyzes the most pertinent and practical network issues of relevance to the provision of high-assurance cloud services through the Internet, including security. Finally, trends and future research directions are also presented

QoE management of multimedia streaming services in future networks : a tutorial and survey

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