Software-defined satellite cloud RAN

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Ahmed, T., Dubois, E., Dupé, J.-B., Ferrús, R., Gélard, P., and Kuhn, N. (2018) Software-defined satellite cloud RAN. Int. J. Satell. Commun. Network., 36: 108–133, which has been published in final form at 10.1002/sat.1206. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.This paper provides an assessment study on the virtualization of a Digital Video Broadcasting - Satellite - Second Generation (DVB-S2)/ Digital Video Broadcasting - Return Channel Satellite - Second Generation (DVB-RCS2) satellite ground infrastructure and proposes a framework, named Satellite Cloud Radio Access Network (SatCloudRAN), that aims to ease the integration of satellite components in forthcoming 5G systems. Special attention is given to the design of SatCloudRAN by considering the split and placement of virtualized and nonvirtualized functions while taking into account the characteristics of the transport links connecting both type of functions. We assess how virtualization and softwarization technologies, namely, network function virtualization and software-defined networking, can deliver part of the satellite gateway functionalities as virtual network functions and achieve a flexible and programmable control and management of satellite infrastructure. Under the network function virtualization paradigm, building virtual network function blocks that compose a satellite gateway have been identified, and their interaction exhibited. This paper also gives insights on how the SatCloudRAN approach can allow operators to provide software-defined networking-based (1) bandwidth on demand, (2) dynamic Quality of Service, and (3) satellite gateway diversity.Peer ReviewedPreprin

Softair: Software-defined networking and network function virtualization solutions for 5g cellular systems

One of the main building blocks and major challenges for 5G cellular systems is the design of flexible network architectures, which can be realized by the paradigm of software-defined networking (SDN) and network function virtualization (NFV). Existing commercial cellular systems rely on closed and inflexible hardware-based architectures both at the radio frontend and in the core network. These problems significantly delay the adoption and deployment of new standards, impose great challenges in implementing new techniques to maximize the network capacity and coverage, and prevent provisioning of truly-differentiated services for highly variable traffic patterns. The objective of this thesis is to introduce an innovative software-defined architecture for 5G cellular systems, called SoftAir. First, a detailed overview is provided for priori wireless SDN architecture solutions. Second, the SoftAir architecture is introduced with key design elements. Third, four essential management tools for SoftAir are developed. Last, novel software-defined traffic engineering, enabled by SoftAir, are proposed. Through the synergy of SDN and NFV, SoftAir enables the next-generation cellular networks with the needed flexibility for evolving and adapting to the ever-changing network context, and lays out the foundation for 5G wireless software-defined cellular systems.Ph.D.Ph.D

Enabling virtual radio functions on software defined radio for future wireless networks

Today's wired networks have become highly flexible, thanks to the fact that an increasing number of functionalities are realized by software rather than dedicated hardware. This trend is still in its early stages for wireless networks, but it has the potential to improve the network's flexibility and resource utilization regarding both the abundant computational resources and the scarce radio spectrum resources. In this work we provide an overview of the enabling technologies for network reconfiguration, such as Network Function Virtualization, Software Defined Networking, and Software Defined Radio. We review frequently used terminology such as softwarization, virtualization, and orchestration, and how these concepts apply to wireless networks. We introduce the concept of Virtual Radio Function, and illustrate how softwarized/virtualized radio functions can be placed and initialized at runtime, allowing radio access technologies and spectrum allocation schemes to be formed dynamically. Finally we focus on embedded Software-Defined Radio as an end device, and illustrate how to realize the placement, initialization and configuration of virtual radio functions on such kind of devices

Deliverable JRA1.1: Evaluation of current network control and management planes for multi-domain network infrastructure

This deliverable includes a compilation and evaluation of available control and management architectures and protocols applicable to a multilayer infrastructure in a multi-domain Virtual Network environment.The scope of this deliverable is mainly focused on the virtualisation of the resources within a network and at processing nodes. The virtualization of the FEDERICA infrastructure allows the provisioning of its available resources to users by means of FEDERICA slices. A slice is seen by the user as a real physical network under his/her domain, however it maps to a logical partition (a virtual instance) of the physical FEDERICA resources. A slice is built to exhibit to the highest degree all the principles applicable to a physical network (isolation, reproducibility, manageability, ...). Currently, there are no standard definitions available for network virtualization or its associated architectures. Therefore, this deliverable proposes the Virtual Network layer architecture and evaluates a set of Management- and Control Planes that can be used for the partitioning and virtualization of the FEDERICA network resources. This evaluation has been performed taking into account an initial set of FEDERICA requirements; a possible extension of the selected tools will be evaluated in future deliverables. The studies described in this deliverable define the virtual architecture of the FEDERICA infrastructure. During this activity, the need has been recognised to establish a new set of basic definitions (taxonomy) for the building blocks that compose the so-called slice, i.e. the virtual network instantiation (which is virtual with regard to the abstracted view made of the building blocks of the FEDERICA infrastructure) and its architectural plane representation. These definitions will be established as a common nomenclature for the FEDERICA project. Other important aspects when defining a new architecture are the user requirements. It is crucial that the resulting architecture fits the demands that users may have. Since this deliverable has been produced at the same time as the contact process with users, made by the project activities related to the Use Case definitions, JRA1 has proposed a set of basic Use Cases to be considered as starting point for its internal studies. When researchers want to experiment with their developments, they need not only network resources on their slices, but also a slice of the processing resources. These processing slice resources are understood as virtual machine instances that users can use to make them behave as software routers or end nodes, on which to download the software protocols or applications they have produced and want to assess in a realistic environment. Hence, this deliverable also studies the APIs of several virtual machine management software products in order to identify which best suits FEDERICA’s needs.Postprint (published version

dReDBox: Materializing a full-stack rack-scale system prototype of a next-generation disaggregated datacenter

Current datacenters are based on server machines, whose mainboard and hardware components form the baseline, monolithic building block that the rest of the system software, middleware and application stack are built upon. This leads to the following limitations: (a) resource proportionality of a multi-tray system is bounded by the basic building block (mainboard), (b) resource allocation to processes or virtual machines (VMs) is bounded by the available resources within the boundary of the mainboard, leading to spare resource fragmentation and inefficiencies, and (c) upgrades must be applied to each and every server even when only a specific component needs to be upgraded. The dRedBox project (Disaggregated Recursive Datacentre-in-a-Box) addresses the above limitations, and proposes the next generation, low-power, across form-factor datacenters, departing from the paradigm of the mainboard-as-a-unit and enabling the creation of function-block-as-a-unit. Hardware-level disaggregation and software-defined wiring of resources is supported by a full-fledged Type-1 hypervisor that can execute commodity virtual machines, which communicate over a low-latency and high-throughput software-defined optical network. To evaluate its novel approach, dRedBox will demonstrate application execution in the domains of network functions virtualization, infrastructure analytics, and real-time video surveillance.This work has been supported in part by EU H2020 ICTproject dRedBox, contract #687632.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Will SDN be part of 5G?

For many, this is no longer a valid question and the case is considered settled with SDN/NFV (Software Defined Networking/Network Function Virtualization) providing the inevitable innovation enablers solving many outstanding management issues regarding 5G. However, given the monumental task of softwarization of radio access network (RAN) while 5G is just around the corner and some companies have started unveiling their 5G equipment already, the concern is very realistic that we may only see some point solutions involving SDN technology instead of a fully SDN-enabled RAN. This survey paper identifies all important obstacles in the way and looks at the state of the art of the relevant solutions. This survey is different from the previous surveys on SDN-based RAN as it focuses on the salient problems and discusses solutions proposed within and outside SDN literature. Our main focus is on fronthaul, backward compatibility, supposedly disruptive nature of SDN deployment, business cases and monetization of SDN related upgrades, latency of general purpose processors (GPP), and additional security vulnerabilities, softwarization brings along to the RAN. We have also provided a summary of the architectural developments in SDN-based RAN landscape as not all work can be covered under the focused issues. This paper provides a comprehensive survey on the state of the art of SDN-based RAN and clearly points out the gaps in the technology.Comment: 33 pages, 10 figure