Integration of unidirectional technologies into wireless back-haul architecture

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Docter of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.Back-haul infrastructures of today's wireless operators must support the triple-play services demanded by the market or regulatory bodies. To cope with increasing capacity demand, the EU FP7 project CARMEN has developed a cost-effective heterogeneous multi-radio wireless back-haul architecture, which may also leverage the native multicast capabilities of broadcast technologies such as DVB-T to off-load high-bandwidth broadcast content delivery. However, the integration of such unidirectional technologies into a packet-switched architecture requires careful considerations. The contribution of this thesis is the investigation, design and evaluation of protocols and mechanisms facilitating the integration of such unidirectional technologies into the wireless back-haul architecture so that they can be configured and utilized by the spectrum and capacity optimization modules. This integration mainly concerns the control plane and, in particular, the aspects related to resource and capability descriptions, neighborhood, link and Multi Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) Label-Switched Path (LSP) monitoring, unicast and multicast LSP signalling as well as topology forming and maintenance. During the course of this study we have analyzed the problem space, proposed solutions to the resulting research questions and evaluated our approach. Our results show that the now Unidirectional Technology (UDT)-aware architecture can readily consider Unidirectional Technologies (UDTs) to distribute, for example, broadcast content

Feasibility of wireless mesh for LTE-Advanced small cell access backhaul

Mobiilidatan määrä on muutaman viime vuoden aikana kasvanut voimakkaasti ja nykyiset ennustukset arvioivat eksponentiaalista kasvukäyrää tulevien vuosien aikana. Matkapuhelinjärjestelmät ovat kehittyneet nopeasti tämän trendin ohjaamana. Neljännen sukupolven matkapuhelinverkkostandardien myötä, uudet innovaatiot kuten heterogeeniset verkkoratkaisut tarjoavat ratkaisun nykyisiin skaalautuvuus- ja kapasiteettiongelmiin. Joitain ilmeisiä ongelmakohtiakin kuitenkin esiintyy kuten heterogeenisten verkkojen runkokytkennän toteuttaminen. Yksi lupaavimmista tavoista toteuttaa heterogeenisten verkkojen runkokytkentä on langaton ja itseorganisoituva mesh-verkko. Tämän opinnäytetyön tavoitteena on varmistaa ja testata Nokia Siemens Networksin kehittämän mesh-runkokytkentäverkkokonseptin toteutettavuutta ja toiminnallisuutta soveltuvan validointijärjestelmän avulla. Kaiken kaikkiaan validointijärjestelmä ja sen päälle toteutettu mesh-protokolla toimivat moitteettomasti koko kehitys- ja testausprosessin ajan. Konseptin eri ominaisuudet ja mekanismit todistettiin täysin toteutettaviksi ja toimiviksi. Muutamalla lisäominaisuudella ja konseptiparannuksella mesh-konsepti tarjoaa houkuttelevan ja innovatiivisen ratkaisun heterogeenisten verkkojen runkokytkentään tulevaisuudessa.Mobile traffic demands and volumes are increasing and will dramatically keep increasing in the future. Along with this, mobile networks have evolved to better match this growth. Fourth generation cellular network standard introduced a set of new innovations for mobile communications, including support for heterogeneous network deployments. Heterogeneous networking is the likely answer for future mobile data capacity shortage but also poses some challenges, the most evident being how to implement the backhauling. One of the most promising heterogeneous network backhaul solutions is a meshed radio system with self-organizing features. The main scope of this master's thesis is the verification of functionality and feasibility of a wireless mesh backhaul concept developed by Nokia Siemens Networks through a proof-of-concept system. All in all, the wireless mesh proof-of-concept system performed strongly throughout the development and testing process. The different functionalities were proven to work successfully together. With further development and enhancement, the system concept displays extreme potential for a state-of-the-art heterogeneous network backhaul technology

Urban geography of digital networks

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2003.Includes bibliographical references.This dissertation examines the development of digital network infrastructure in the world's great cities at the turn of the 20th century. Drawing upon the concept of cities as information systems and techniques of communications geography, it analyzes how the physical components of digital networks were deployed in major urban areas during the 1990s. It finds that historical processes and pre-existing differences between places shaped the evolution of this infrastructure at multiple spatial scales; global, metropolitan, and neighborhood. As a result, rather than bringing about the "death of distance", digital network infrastructure actually reinforced many of the pre-existing differences between connected and disconnected places. With the telecom bust of 2000-2002, these differences were likely to persist for a decade or more. Yet just as the development of wired digital network infrastructure slowed, wireless technologies emerged as a more flexible, intuitive, and efficient form of connecting users to networks in everyday urban settings. As a result, an untethered model for digital networks emerged which combining the capacity and security of wired networks over long distances with the flexibility and mobility of wireless networks over short distances. This new hybrid infrastructure provided the technology needed to begin widespread experimentation with the creation of digitally mediated spaces, such as New York City's Bryant Park Wireless Network.by Anthony M. Townsend.Ph.D