Access and metro network convergence for flexible end-to-end network design

This paper reports on the architectural, protocol, physical layer, and integrated testbed demonstrations carried out by the DISCUS FP7 consortium in the area of access - metro network convergence. Our architecture modeling results show the vast potential for cost and power savings that node consolidation can bring. The architecture, however, also recognizes the limits of long-reach transmission for low-latency 5G services and proposes ways to address such shortcomings in future projects. The testbed results, which have been conducted end-to-end, across access - metro and core, and have targeted all the layers of the network from the application down to the physical layer, show the practical feasibility of the concepts proposed in the project

5G infrastructures supporting end-user and operational services:The 5G-XHaul architectural perspective

We propose an optical-wireless 5G infrastructure offering converged fronthauling/backhauling functions to support both operational and end-user cloud services. A layered architectural structure required to efficiently support these services is shown. The data plane performance of the proposed infrastructure is evaluated in terms of energy consumption and service delay through a novel modelling framework. Our modelling results show that the proposed architecture can offer significant energy savings but there is a clear trade-off between overall energy consumption and service delay.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Advanced PON topologies with wireless connectivity

“This material is presented to ensure timely dissemination of scholarly and technical work. Copyright and all rights therein are retained by authors or by other copyright holders. All persons copying this information are expected to adhere to the terms and constraints invoked by each author's copyright. In most cases, these works may not be reposted without the explicit permission of the copyright holder." “Copyright IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. However, permission to reprint/republish this material for advertising or promotional purposes or for creating new collective works for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or to reuse any copyrighted component of this work in other works must be obtained from the IEEE.”The interoperability of wireless and PON networking solutions is investigated to reduce deployment expenditure by means of centralised network management while providing ubiquitous access connections and mobility. Network modelling in the physical layer of WiMAX channel transmission based on FDM over legacy PONs has demonstrated EVMs below -30 dB and error-free multipath transmission. In addition, the development of a dynamic MAC protocol suite has been presented to assign bandwidth between the OLT and ONU BaseStations over a multi-wavelength, splitter-PON topology to demonstrate converged network scalability. This has been achieved by managing data-centric traffic with quality of service in view of diverse multi-user access technologies

Synthesis and characterization of ultra violet curable renewable polymer graphite composites

This thesis aims is to evaluate the synthesis and characterization of ultra violet (UV) curable renewable polymer graphite (RPG) composites. Accordingly, the renewable polymeric composites were prepared through a film slip casting method at room temperature wherein graphite particles of various weight loadings were mixed with mass proportion 2:1 of renewable monomer and Methylene Diphenyl Diisocyanate, MDI respectively. The main concerned was given to renewable monomer based vegetable cooking oil produced at the SPEN-AMMC UTHM. The morphology-structural relation of the RPG composites confirmed that the graphite particles contain functional groups such as hydroxyl and carboxylic groups are randomly distributed and attributed to formation of interconnected interface within the polymeric composites. Furthermore, as the graphite particle loading increased, the thermal degradation temperature at three distinct decomposition stages shifted and to some extent, resulting in much higher crystallinity. As expected, the mechanical properties of the composites were also enhanced with the modulus and tensile strength increment up to ~440% and ~100% respectively. Significantly, all of these results correlate with viscoelastic properties in which the composites achieved percolation threshold at RPG20 composites. Moreover, the decreased in optical energy band gap (Eg) which afterwards took the leads to electrical conductivity (σ). Aptly, the composites (RPG20, RPG25 and RPG30) were found to possess favorable electrical conductivity range of 10-5 – 10-4 S/m, while all other samples were deemed to be not conductive due to improper dispersion of graphite particulates. On the contrary, UV curable composites did not show any significant enhancement and graphite particle acted as UV stabilizer in this manner. Therefore, the stability of the conductive renewable polymer graphite composite is suitable to be used in various composites applications

Optical Networks and Interconnects

The rapid evolution of communication technologies such as 5G and beyond, rely on optical networks to support the challenging and ambitious requirements that include both capacity and reliability. This chapter begins by giving an overview of the evolution of optical access networks, focusing on Passive Optical Networks (PONs). The development of the different PON standards and requirements aiming at longer reach, higher client count and delivered bandwidth are presented. PON virtualization is also introduced as the flexibility enabler. Triggered by the increase of bandwidth supported by access and aggregation network segments, core networks have also evolved, as presented in the second part of the chapter. Scaling the physical infrastructure requires high investment and hence, operators are considering alternatives to optimize the use of the existing capacity. This chapter introduces different planning problems such as Routing and Spectrum Assignment problems, placement problems for regenerators and wavelength converters, and how to offer resilience to different failures. An overview of control and management is also provided. Moreover, motivated by the increasing importance of data storage and data processing, this chapter also addresses different aspects of optical data center interconnects. Data centers have become critical infrastructure to operate any service. They are also forced to take advantage of optical technology in order to keep up with the growing capacity demand and power consumption. This chapter gives an overview of different optical data center network architectures as well as some expected directions to improve the resource utilization and increase the network capacity