End-to-end mobility for the internet using ILNP

This work was partially funded by the Government of Thailand through a PhD scholarship for Dr Phoomikiattisak.As the use of mobile devices and methods of wireless connectivity continue to increase, seamless mobility becomes more desirable and important. The current IETF Mobile IP standard relies on additional network entities for mobility management, can have poor performance, and has seen little deployment in real networks. We present a host-based mobility solution with a true end-to-end architecture using the Identifier-Locator Network Protocol (ILNP). We show how the TCP code in the Linux kernel can be extended allowing legacy TCP applications that use the standard C sockets API to operate over ILNP without requiring changes or recompilation. Our direct testbed performance comparison shows that ILNP provides better host mobility support than Mobile IPv6 in terms of session continuity, packet loss, and handoff delay for TCP.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Mobility as a first class function

Seamless host mobility has been a desirable feature for a long time, but was not part of the original design of the Internet architecture or protocols. Current approaches to network-layer mobility typically require additional network-layer entities for mobility management, which add complexity to the current engineering landscape of the Internet. We present a host-based, end-to-end architecture for host mobility using the Identifier-Locator Network Protocol (ILNP). ILNP provides mobility support as a first class function, since mobility management is controlled and managed by the end-systems, and does not require additional network-layer entities. We demonstrate an instance of ILNP that is a superset of IPv6 – called ILNPv6 – that is implemented by extending the current IPv6 code in the Linux kernel. We make a direct comparison of performance of ILNPv6 and Mobile IPv6, showing the improved performance of ILNPv6.Postprin

A Survey on Handover Management in Mobility Architectures

This work presents a comprehensive and structured taxonomy of available techniques for managing the handover process in mobility architectures. Representative works from the existing literature have been divided into appropriate categories, based on their ability to support horizontal handovers, vertical handovers and multihoming. We describe approaches designed to work on the current Internet (i.e. IPv4-based networks), as well as those that have been devised for the "future" Internet (e.g. IPv6-based networks and extensions). Quantitative measures and qualitative indicators are also presented and used to evaluate and compare the examined approaches. This critical review provides some valuable guidelines and suggestions for designing and developing mobility architectures, including some practical expedients (e.g. those required in the current Internet environment), aimed to cope with the presence of NAT/firewalls and to provide support to legacy systems and several communication protocols working at the application layer

An ILNP-based solution for future heterogeneous wireless networks

Utilization of the different wireless interfaces (Cellular, Wi-Fi and WiMAX) that come with many of the Mobile Nodes today is central to improving Quality of Experience and Quality of Service in future networks. Although the interfaces are of different technologies as are the access links, the core/backbone networks are now based on IP infrastructure. Efforts to simplify network handover between these technologies – termed vertical handover (VHO) – have not been successful with IP due its mechanism for managing nodes’ identity and location. Researchers have defined and implemented some solutions that proposed the separation of identity of a Mobile Node from its location, and among those proposals is the Identifier Locator Network Protocol (ILNP). In this work, we propose a Linux-based implementation of the ILNPv6 protocol – an instance of the ILNP that is compatible with IPv6 – on laboratory testbed. We also proposed an Information Server managing a defined geographical location we called AREA, to augment some of the shortfalls that we observed with ILNP. We believe that this combination provides the necessary ground for achieving seamless VHO in heterogeneous wireless environments of the future

IP without IP addresses

D. Phoomikiattisak was funded by the Thai Government. B. Simpson was funded by Cisco Systems under a University Research Programme (URP) grant award.We discuss a key engineering challenge in implementing the Identifier- Locator Network Protocol (ILNP), as described in IRTF Experimental RFCs 6740-6748: enabling legacy applications that use the C sockets API. We have built the first two OS kernel implementations of ILNPv6 (ILNP as a superset of IPv6), in both the Linux OS kernel and the FreeBSD OS kernel. Our evaluation is in comparison with IPv6, in the context of a topical and challenging scenario: host mobility implemented as a purely end-to-end function. Our experiments show that ILNPv6 has excellent potential for deployment using existing IPv6 infrastructure, whilst offering the new properties and functionality of ILNP.Postprin

Mobile Oriented Future Internet (MOFI)

This Special Issue consists of seven papers that discuss how to enhance mobility management and its associated performance in the mobile-oriented future Internet (MOFI) environment. The first two papers deal with the architectural design and experimentation of mobility management schemes, in which new schemes are proposed and real-world testbed experimentations are performed. The subsequent three papers focus on the use of software-defined networks (SDN) for effective service provisioning in the MOFI environment, together with real-world practices and testbed experimentations. The remaining two papers discuss the network engineering issues in newly emerging mobile networks, such as flying ad-hoc networks (FANET) and connected vehicular networks

Control plane handoff analysis for IP mobility

Seamless host mobility is vital to future network mobility, and has been an active research area for a long time. Much research focuses on the performance of the data plane. In this paper, we present comprehensive analyses on the control (signalling) plane in the IETF Mobile IPv6, and compare it with the IRTF Identifier-Locator Network Protocol (ILNP). The control plane behaviour is important in order to assess the robustness and scalability of the mobility protocol. ILNP has a different mobility model from Mobile IPv6: it isa host-based, end-to-end architecture and does not require additional network-layer entities. Hence, the control signals are exchanged only between the end systems. We provide model-based analyses for handoff signalling, and show that ILNP is more efficient than MIPv6 in terms of robustness and scalability. The analytical models we present could also be adapted for other mobility solutions, for comparative assessment.Postprin

State-of-the-Art Multihoming Protocols and Support for Android

Il traguardo più importante per la connettività wireless del futuro sarà sfruttare appieno le potenzialità offerte da tutte le interfacce di rete dei dispositivi mobili. Per questo motivo con ogni probabilità il multihoming sarà un requisito obbligatorio per quelle applicazioni che puntano a fornire la migliore esperienza utente nel loro utilizzo. Sinteticamente è possibile definire il multihoming come quel processo complesso per cui un end-host o un end-site ha molteplici punti di aggancio alla rete. Nella pratica, tuttavia, il multihoming si è rivelato difficile da implementare e ancor di più da ottimizzare. Ad oggi infatti, il multihoming è lontano dall’essere considerato una feature standard nel network deployment nonostante anni di ricerche e di sviluppo nel settore, poiché il relativo supporto da parte dei protocolli è quasi sempre del tutto inadeguato. Naturalmente anche per Android in quanto piattaforma mobile più usata al mondo, è di fondamentale importanza supportare il multihoming per ampliare lo spettro delle funzionalità offerte ai propri utenti. Dunque alla luce di ciò, in questa tesi espongo lo stato dell’arte del supporto al multihoming in Android mettendo a confronto diversi protocolli di rete e testando la soluzione che sembra essere in assoluto la più promettente: LISP. Esaminato lo stato dell’arte dei protocolli con supporto al multihoming e l’architettura software di LISPmob per Android, l’obiettivo operativo principale di questa ricerca è duplice: a) testare il roaming seamless tra le varie interfacce di rete di un dispositivo Android, il che è appunto uno degli obiettivi del multihoming, attraverso LISPmob; e b) effettuare un ampio numero di test al fine di ottenere attraverso dati sperimentali alcuni importanti parametri relativi alle performance di LISP per capire quanto è realistica la possibilità da parte dell’utente finale di usarlo come efficace soluzione multihoming

Heterogeneous Access: Survey and Design Considerations

As voice, multimedia, and data services are converging to IP, there is a need for a new networking architecture to support future innovations and applications. Users are consuming Internet services from multiple devices that have multiple network interfaces such as Wi-Fi, LTE, Bluetooth, and possibly wired LAN. Such diverse network connectivity can be used to increase both reliability and performance by running applications over multiple links, sequentially for seamless user experience, or in parallel for bandwidth and performance enhancements. The existing networking stack, however, offers almost no support for intelligently exploiting such network, device, and location diversity. In this work, we survey recently proposed protocols and architectures that enable heterogeneous networking support. Upon evaluation, we abstract common design patterns and propose a unified networking architecture that makes better use of a heterogeneous dynamic environment, both in terms of networks and devices. The architecture enables mobile nodes to make intelligent decisions about how and when to use each or a combination of networks, based on access policies. With this new architecture, we envision a shift from current applications, which support a single network, location, and device at a time to applications that can support multiple networks, multiple locations, and multiple devices

MP-CFM: MPTCP-Based communication functional module for next generation ERTMS

184 p. El contenido de los capítulos 4,5,6,7,8 y 9 está sujeto a confidencialidadEl Sistema Europeo de Gestión del Tráfico Ferroviario (ERTMS, por sus siglasen inglés), fue originalmente diseñado para los ferrocarriles europeos. Sinembargo, a lo largo de las dos últimas décadas, este sistema se ha convertidoen el estándar de-facto para los servicios de Alta Velocidad en la mayoría depaíses desarrollados.El sistema ERTMS se compone de tres subsistemas principales: 1) el Sistemade Control Ferroviario Europeo (ETCS, por sus siglas en inglés), que actúacomo aplicación de señalización; 2) el sistema Euroradio, que a su vez estádividido en dos subsistemas, el Módulo de Seguridad Funcional (SFM, porsus siglas en inglés), y el Módulo de Comunicación Funcional (CFM, porsus siglas en inglés); y 3) el sistema de comunicaciones subyacente, GSM-R,que transporta la información intercambiada entre el sistema embarcado enel tren (OBU, por sus siglas en inglés) y el Centro de Bloqueo por Radio(RBC, por sus siglas en inglés). El sistema de señalización ETCS soporta tresniveles dependiendo del nivel de prestaciones soportadas. En el nivel 3 seintroduce la posibilidad de trabajar con bloques móviles en lugar de bloquesfijos definidos en la vía. Esto implica que la distancia de avance entre dos trenesconsecutivos puede ser reducida a una distancia mínima en la que se garanticela seguridad del servicio, aumentando por tanto la capacidad del corredorferroviario. Esta distancia de seguridad viene determinada por la combinaciónde la distancia de frenado del tren y el retraso de las comunicaciones deseñalización. Por lo tanto, se puede afirmar que existe una relación directaentre los retrasos y la confiabilidad de las transmisiones de las aplicaciones deseñalización y la capacidad operacional de un corredor ferroviario. Así pues,el estudio y mejora de los sistemas de comunicaciones utilizados en ERTMSjuegan un papel clave en la evolución del sistema ERTMS. Asimismo, unaoperatividad segura en ERTMS, desde el punto de vista de las comunicacionesimplicadas en la misma, viene determinada por la confiabilidad de lascomunicaciones, la disponibilidad de sus canales de comunicación, el retrasode las comunicaciones y la seguridad de sus mensajes.Unido este hecho, la industria ferroviaria ha venido trabajando en ladigitalización y la transición al protocolo IP de la mayor parte de los sistemasde señalización. Alineado con esta tendencia, el consorcio industrial UNISIGha publicado recientemente un nuevo modelo de comunicaciones para ERTMSque incluye la posibilidad, no solo de operar con el sistema tradicional,basado en tecnología de conmutación de circuitos, sino también con un nuevosistema basado en IP. Esta tesis está alineada con el contexto de migraciónactual y pretende contribuir a mejorar la disponibilidad, confiabilidad yseguridad de las comunicaciones, tomando como eje fundamental los tiemposde transmisión de los mensajes, con el horizonte puesto en la definición deuna próxima generación de ERTMS, definida en esta tesis como NGERTMS.En este contexto, se han detectado tres retos principales para reforzar laresiliencia de la arquitectura de comunicaciones del NGERTMS: 1) mejorarla supervivencia de las comunicaciones ante disrupciones; 2) superar laslimitaciones actuales de ERTMS para enviar mensajes de alta prioridad sobretecnología de conmutación de paquetes, dotando a estos mensajes de un mayorgrado de resiliencia y menor latencia respecto a los mensajes ordinarios; y3) el aumento de la seguridad de las comunicaciones y el incremento de ladisponibilidad sin que esto conlleve un incremento en la latencia.Considerando los desafíos previamente descritos, en esta tesis se proponeuna arquitectura de comunicaciones basada en el protocolo MPTCP, llamadaMP-CFM, que permite superar dichos desafíos, a la par que mantener laretrocompatibilidad con el sistema de comunicaciones basado en conmutaciónde paquetes recientemente propuesto por UNISIG. Hasta el momento, esta esla primera vez que se propone una arquitectura de comunicaciones completacapaz de abordar los desafíos mencionados anteriormente. Esta arquitecturaimplementa cuatro tipos de clase de servicio, los cuales son utilizados porlos paquetes ordinarios y de alta prioridad para dos escenarios distintos; unescenario en el que ambos extremos, el sistema embarcado o OBU y el RBC,disponen de múltiples interfaces de red; y otro escenario transicional en el cualel RBC sí tiene múltiples interfaces de red pero el OBU solo dispone de unaúnica interfaz. La arquitectura de comunicaciones propuesta para el entornoferroviario ha sido validada mediante un entorno de simulación desarrolladopara tal efecto. Es más, dichas simulaciones demuestran que la arquitecturapropuesta, ante disrupciones de canal, supera con creces en términos derobustez el sistema diseñado por UNISIG. Como conclusión, se puede afirmarque en esta tesis se demuestra que una arquitectura de comunicaciones basadade MPTCP cumple con los exigentes requisitos establecidos para el NGERTMSy por tanto dicha propuesta supone un avance en la evolución del sistema deseñalización ferroviario europeo