Demonstration of latency-aware 5G network slicing on optical metro networks

The H2020 METRO-HAUL European project has architected a latency-aware, cost-effective, agile, and programmable optical metro network. This includes the design of semi-disaggregated metro nodes with compute and storage capabilities, which interface effectively with both 5G access and multi-Tbit/s elastic optical networks in the core. In this paper, we report the automated deployment of 5G services, in particular, a public safety video surveillance use case employing low-latency object detection and tracking using on-camera and on-the-edge analytics. The demonstration features flexible deployment of network slice instances, implemented in terms of ETSI NFV Network Services. We summarize the key findings in a detailed analysis of end-to-end quality of service, service setup time, and soft-failure detection time. The results show that the round-trip-time over an 80 km link is under 800 µs and the service deployment time under 180 seconds.Horizon 2020 Framework Programme (761727); Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (16KIS0979K).Peer ReviewedArticle signat per 25 autors/es: B. Shariati, Fraunhofer HHI, Berlin, Germany / L. Velasco, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain / J.-J. Pedreno-Manresa, ADVA, Munich, Germany / A. Dochhan, ADVA, Munich, Germany / R. Casellas, Centre Tecnològic Telecomunicacions Catalunya, Castelldefels, Spain / A. Muqaddas, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK / O. Gonzalez de Dios, Telefónica, Madrid, Spain / L. Luque Canto, Telefónica, Madrid, Spain / B. Lent, Qognify GmbH, Bruchsal, Germany / J. E. Lopez de Vergara, Naudit HPCN, Madrid, Spain / S. Lopez-Buedo, Naudit HPCN, Madrid, Spain / F. Moreno, Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena, Cartagena, Spain / P. Pavon, Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena, Cartagena, Spain / M. Ruiz, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain / S. K. Patri, ADVA, Munich, Germany / A. Giorgetti, CNIT, Pisa, Italy / F. Cugini, CNIT, Pisa, Italy / A. Sgambelluri, CNIT, Pisa, Italy / R. Nejabati, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK / D. Simeonidou, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK / R.-P. Braun, Deutsche Telekom, Germany / A. Autenrieth, ADVA, Munich, Germany / J.-P. Elbers, ADVA, Munich, Germany / J. K. Fischer, Fraunhofer HHI, Berlin, Germany / R. Freund, Fraunhofer HHI, Berlin, GermanyPostprint (author's final draft

A control and management architecture supporting autonomic NFV services

The proposed control, orchestration and management (COM) architecture is presented from a high-level point of view; it enables the dynamic provisioning of services such as network data connectivity or generic network slicing instances based on virtual network functions (VNF). The COM is based on Software Defined Networking (SDN) principles and is hierarchical, with a dedicated controller per technology domain. Along with the SDN control plane for the provisioning of connectivity, an ETSI NFV management and orchestration system is responsible for the instantiation of Network Services, understood in this context as interconnected VNFs. A key, novel component of the COM architecture is the monitoring and data analytics (MDA) system, able to collect monitoring data from the network, datacenters and applications which outputs can be used to proactively reconfigure resources thus adapting to future conditions, like load or degradations. To illustrate the COM architecture, a use case of a Content Delivery Network service taking advantage of the MDA ability to collect and deliver monitoring data is experimentally demonstrated.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Autonomic disaggregated multilayer networking

Focused on reducing capital expenditures by opening the data plane to multiple vendors without impacting performance, node disaggregation is attracting the interest of network operators. Although the software-defined networking (SDN) paradigm is key for the control of such networks, the increased complexity of multilayer networks strictly requires monitoring/telemetry and data analytics capabilities to assist in creating and operating self-managed (autonomic) networks. Such autonomicity greatly reduces operational expenditures, while improving network performance. In this context, a monitoring and data analytics (MDA) architecture consisting of centralized data storage with data analytics capabilities, together with a generic node agent for monitoring/telemetry supporting disaggregation, is presented. A YANG data model that allows one to clearly separate responsibilities for monitoring configuration from node configuration is also proposed. The MDA architecture and YANG data models are experimentally demonstrated through three different use cases: i) virtual link creation supported by an optical connection, where monitoring is automatically activated; ii) multilayer self-configuration after bit error rate (BER) degradation detection, where a modulation format adaptation is recommended for the SDN controller to minimize errors (this entails reducing the capacity of both the virtual link and supported multiprotocol label switching-transport profile (MPLS-TP) paths); and iii) optical layer selfhealing, including failure localization at the optical layer to find the cause of BER degradation. A combination of active and passive monitoring procedures allows one to localize the cause of the failure, leading to lightpath rerouting recommendations toward the SDN controller avoiding the failing element(s).Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

NFV Orchestration over Disaggregated Metro Optical Networks with End-to-End Multi-Layer Slicing enabling Crowdsourced Live Video Streaming

Network infrastructure must support emerging applications, fulfill 5G requirements, and respond to the sudden increase of societal need for remote communications. Remarkably, crowdsourced live video streaming (CLVS) challenges operators' infrastructure with tides of users attending major sport or public events that demand high bandwidth and low latency jointly with computing capabilities at the networks' edge. The Metro-Haul project entered the scene proposing a cost-effective, agile, and disaggregated infrastructure for the metro segment encompassing optical and packet resources jointly with computing capabilities. Recently, a major Metro-Haul outcome took the form of a field trial of network function virtualization (NFV) orchestration over the multi-layer packet and disaggregated optical network testbed that demonstrated a CLVS use case. We showcased the average service creation time below 5 min, which met the key performance indicator as defined by the 5G infrastructure public private partnership. In this paper, we expand our field trial demonstration with a detailed view of the Metro-Haul testbed for the CLVS use case, the employed components, and their performance. The throughput of the service is increased from approximately 9.6 Gbps up to 35 Gbps per virtual local area network with high-performance VNFs based on single-root input/output virtualization technology

Resource Management in Converged Optical and Millimeter Wave Radio Networks: A Review

Three convergent processes are likely to shape the future of the internet beyond-5G: The convergence of optical and millimeter wave radio networks to boost mobile internet capacity, the convergence of machine learning solutions and communication technologies, and the convergence of virtualized and programmable network management mechanisms towards fully integrated autonomic network resource management. The integration of network virtualization technologies creates the incentive to customize and dynamically manage the resources of a network, making network functions, and storage capabilities at the edge key resources similar to the available bandwidth in network communication channels. Aiming to understand the relationship between resource management, virtualization, and the dense 5G access and fronthaul with an emphasis on converged radio and optical communications, this article presents a review of how resource management solutions have dealt with optimizing millimeter wave radio and optical resources from an autonomic network management perspective. A research agenda is also proposed by identifying current state-of-the-art solutions and the need to shift all the convergent issues towards building an advanced resource management mechanism for beyond-5G

Quality of service, security and trustworthiness for network slices

(English) The telecommunications' systems are becoming much more intelligent and dynamic due to the expansion of the multiple network types (i.e., wired, wireless, Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud-based networks). Due to this network variety, the old model of designing a specific network for a single purpose and so, the coexistence of different and multiple control systems is evolving towards a new model in which the use of a more unified control system is able to offer a wide range of services for multiple purposes with different requirements and characteristics. To achieve this situation, the networks have become more digital and virtual thanks to the creation of the Software-Defined Networking (SDN) and the Network Function Virtualization (NFV).Network Slicing takes the strengths from these two technologies and allows the network control systems to improve their performance as the services may be deployed and their interconnection configured through multiple-transport domains by using NFV/SDN tools such as NFV-Orchestrators (NFV-O) and SDN Controllers. This thesis has the main objective to contribute to the state of the art of Network Slicing, with a special focus on security aspects towards the architectures and processes to deploy, monitor and enforce secured and trusted resources to compose network slices. Finally, this document is structured in eight chapters: Chapter 1 provides the motivation and objectives of this thesis which describes to where this thesis contributes and what it was expected to study, evaluate and research. Chapter 2 presents the background necessary to understand the following chapters. This chapter presents a state of the art with three clear sections: 1) the key technologies necessary to create network slices, 2) an overview about the relationship between Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and network slices with a specific view on Security Service Level Agreements (SSLAs), and, 3) the literature related about distributed architectures and systems and the use of abstraction models to generate trust, security, and avoid management centralization. Chapter 3 introduces the research done associated to Network Slicing. First with the creation of network slices using resources placed multiple computing and transport domains. Then, this chapter illustrates how the use of multiple virtualization technologies allows to have more efficient network slices deployments and where each technology fits better to accomplish the performance improvements. Chapter 4 presents the research done about the management of network slices and the definition of SLAs and SSLAs to define the service and security requirements to accomplish the expected QoS and the right security level. Chapter 5 studies the possibility to change at certain level the trend to centralise the control and management architectures towards a distributed design. Chapter 6 follows focuses on the generation of trust among service resources providers. This chapter first describes how the concept of trust is mapped into an analytical system and then, how the trust management among providers and clients is done in a transparent and fair way. Chapter 7 is devoted to the dissemination results and presents the set of scientific publications produced in the format of journals, international conferences or collaborations. Chapter 8 concludes the work and outcomes previously presented and presents possible future research.(Català) Els sistemes de telecomunicacions s'estan tornant molt més intel·ligents i dinàmics degut a l'expansió de les múltiples classes de xarxes (i.e., xarxes amb i sense fils, Internet of Things (IoT) i xarxes basades al núvol). Tenint en consideració aquesta varietat d'escenaris, el model antic de disseny d'una xarxa enfocada a una única finalitat i, per tant, la una coexistència de varis i diferents sistemes de control està evolucionant cap a un nou model en el qual es busca unificar el control cap a un sistema més unificat capaç d'oferir una amplia gama de serveis amb diferents finalitats, requeriments i característiques. Per assolir aquesta nova situació, les xarxes han hagut de canviar i convertir-se en un element més digitalitzat i virtualitzat degut a la creació de xarxes definides per software i la virtualització de les funcions de xarxa (amb anglès Software-Defined Networking (SDN) i Network Function Virtualization (NFV), respectivament). Network Slicing fa ús dels punts forts de les dues tecnologies anteriors (SDN i NFV) i permet als sistemes de control de xarxes millorar el seu rendiment ja que els serveis poden ser desaplegats i la seva interconnexió a través de múltiples dominis de transport configurada fent servir eines NFV/SDN com per exemple orquestradors NFV (NFV-O) i controladors SDN. Aquesta tesi té com a objectiu principal, contribuir en diferents aspectes a la literatura actual al voltant de les network slices. Més concretament, el focus és en aspectes de seguretat de cara a les arquitectures i processos necessaris per desplegar, monitoritzar i aplicar recursos segurs i fiables per generar network slices. Finalment, el document es divideix en 8 capítols: El Capítol 1correspon a la introducció de la temàtica principal, la motivació per estudiar-la i els objectius plantejats a l'inici dels estudis de doctorat. El Capítol 2 presenta un recull d'elements i exemples en la literatura actual per presentar els conceptes bàsics i necessaris en relació a les tecnologies NFV, SDN i Network Slicing. El Capítol 3 introdueix el lector a les tasques i resultats obtinguts per l'estudiant respecte l'ús de network slices enfocades en escenaris amb múltiples dominis de transport i posteriorment en la creació i gestió de network slices Híbrides que utilitzen diferents tecnologies de virtualització. El Capítol 4 s'enfoca en l'ús d’eines de monitorització tant en avaluar i assegurar que es compleixen els nivells esperats de qualitat del servei i sobretot de qualitat de seguretat de les network slices desplegades. Per fer-ho s'estudia l'ús de contractes de servei i de seguretat, en anglès: Service Level Agreements i Security Service Level Agreements. El Capítol 5 estudia la possibilitat de canviar el model d'arquitectura per tal de no seguir centralitzant la gestió de tots els dominis en un únic element, aquest capítol presenta la feina feta en l'ús del Blockchain com a eina per canviar el model de gestió de recursos de múltiples dominis cap a un punt de vista cooperatiu i transparent entre dominis. El Capítol 6 segueix el camí iniciat en el capítol anterior i presenta un escenari en el qual a part de tenir múltiples dominis, també tenim múltiples proveïdors oferint un mateix servei (multi-stakeholder). En aquest cas, l'objectiu del Blockchain passa a ser la generació, gestió i distribució de paràmetres de reputació que defineixin un nivell de fiabilitat associat a cada proveïdor. De manera que, quan un client vulgui demanar un servei, pugui veure quins proveïdors són més fiables i en quins aspectes tenen millor reputació. El Capítol 7 presenta les tasques de disseminació fetes al llarg de la tesi. El Capítol 8 finalitza la tesi amb les conclusions finals.Postprint (published version