200 research outputs found
Design and Experimental Validation of a Software-Defined Radio Access Network Testbed with Slicing Support
Network slicing is a fundamental feature of 5G systems to partition a single
network into a number of segregated logical networks, each optimized for a
particular type of service, or dedicated to a particular customer or
application. The realization of network slicing is particularly challenging in
the Radio Access Network (RAN) part, where multiple slices can be multiplexed
over the same radio channel and Radio Resource Management (RRM) functions shall
be used to split the cell radio resources and achieve the expected behaviour
per slice. In this context, this paper describes the key design and
implementation aspects of a Software-Defined RAN (SD-RAN) experimental testbed
with slicing support. The testbed has been designed consistently with the
slicing capabilities and related management framework established by 3GPP in
Release 15. The testbed is used to demonstrate the provisioning of RAN slices
(e.g. preparation, commissioning and activation phases) and the operation of
the implemented RRM functionality for slice-aware admission control and
scheduling
Design and experimental validation of a software-defined radio access network testbed with slicing support
Network slicing is a fundamental feature of 5G systems to partition a single network into a number of segregated logical networks, each optimized for a particular type of service or dedicated to a particular customer or application. The realization of network slicing is particularly challenging in the Radio Access Network (RAN) part, where multiple slices can be multiplexed over the same radio channel and Radio Resource Management (RRM) functions shall be used to split the cell radio resources and achieve the expected behaviour per slice. In this context, this paper describes the key design and implementation aspects of a Software-Defined RAN (SD-RAN) experimental testbed with slicing support. The testbed has been designed consistently with the slicing capabilities and related management framework established by 3GPP in Release 15. The testbed is used to demonstrate the provisioning of RAN slices (e.g., preparation, commissioning, and activation phases) and the operation of the implemented RRM functionality for slice-aware admission control and scheduling.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version
View on 5G Architecture: Version 2.0
The 5G Architecture Working Group as part of the 5GPPP Initiative is looking at capturing novel trends and key technological enablers for the realization of the 5G architecture. It also targets at presenting in a harmonized way the architectural concepts developed in various projects and initiatives (not limited to 5GPPP projects only) so as to provide a consolidated view on the technical directions for the architecture design in the 5G era. The first version of the white paper was released in July 2016, which captured novel trends and key technological enablers for the realization of the 5G architecture vision along with harmonized architectural concepts from 5GPPP Phase 1 projects and initiatives. Capitalizing on the architectural vision and framework set by the first version of the white paper, this Version 2.0 of the white paper presents the latest findings and analyses with a particular focus on the concept evaluations, and accordingly it presents the consolidated overall architecture design
Dynamic slicing of RAN resources for heterogeneous coexisting 5G services
This paper has been presented at: IEEE Global Communications Conference, GLOBECOM 2019Network slicing is one of the key components allow-ing to support the envisioned 5G services, which are organized in three different classes: Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC), and Ultra-Reliable and Low-Latency Communication (URLLC). Network Slicing relies on the concept of Network Softwarization (Software Defined Networking - SDN and Network Functions Virtualization - NFV) to share a common infrastructure and build virtual instances (slices) of the network tailored to the needs of dif-ferent 5G services. Although it is straightforward to slice and isolate computing and network resources for Core Network (CN) elements, isolating and slicing Radio Access Network (RAN) resources is still challenging. In this paper, we leverage a two-level MAC scheduling architecture and provide a resource sharing algorithm to compute and dynamically adjust the necessary radio resources to be used by each deployed network slice, covering eMBB and URLLC slices. Simulation results clearly indicate the ability of our solution to slice the RAN resources and satisfy the heterogeneous requirements of both types of network slices.This work was partially supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program under the 5G!Drones (Grant No. 857031) and 5G-TRANSFORMER (Grant No. 761536) projects
Design, implementation and experimental evaluation of a network-slicing aware mobile protocol stack
Mención Internacional en el título de doctorWith the arrival of new generation mobile networks, we currently observe a paradigm
shift, where monolithic network functions running on dedicated hardware are now
implemented as software pieces that can be virtualized on general purpose hardware
platforms. This paradigm shift stands on the softwarization of network functions and
the adoption of virtualization techniques. Network Function Virtualization (NFV)
comprises softwarization of network elements and virtualization of these components.
It brings multiple advantages: (i) Flexibility, allowing an easy management of the virtual
network functions (VNFs) (deploy, start, stop or update); (ii) efficiency, resources can be
adequately consumed due to the increased flexibility of the network infrastructure; and
(iii) reduced costs, due to the ability of sharing hardware resources. To this end, multiple
challenges must be addressed to effectively leverage of all these benefits.
Network Function Virtualization envisioned the concept of virtual network, resulting in
a key enabler of 5G networks flexibility, Network Slicing. This new paradigm represents
a new way to operate mobile networks where the underlying infrastructure is "sliced"
into logically separated networks that can be customized to the specific needs of the
tenant. This approach also enables the ability of instantiate VNFs at different locations
of the infrastructure, choosing their optimal placement based on parameters such as the
requirements of the service traversing the slice or the available resources. This decision
process is called orchestration and involves all the VNFs withing the same network slice.
The orchestrator is the entity in charge of managing network slices. Hands-on experiments
on network slicing are essential to understand its benefits and limits, and to validate the
design and deployment choices. While some network slicing prototypes have been built
for Radio Access Networks (RANs), leveraging on the wide availability of radio hardware
and open-source software, there is no currently open-source suite for end-to-end network
slicing available to the research community. Similarly, orchestration mechanisms must
be evaluated as well to properly validate theoretical solutions addressing diverse aspects
such as resource assignment or service composition.
This thesis contributes on the study of the mobile networks evolution regarding its
softwarization and cloudification. We identify software patterns for network function
virtualization, including the definition of a novel mobile architecture that squeezes the virtualization architecture by splitting functionality in atomic functions.
Then, we effectively design, implement and evaluate of an open-source network
slicing implementation. Our results show a per-slice customization without paying the
price in terms of performance, also providing a slicing implementation to the research
community. Moreover, we propose a framework to flexibly re-orchestrate a virtualized
network, allowing on-the-fly re-orchestration without disrupting ongoing services. This
framework can greatly improve performance under changing conditions. We evaluate
the resulting performance in a realistic network slicing setup, showing the feasibility and
advantages of flexible re-orchestration.
Lastly and following the required re-design of network functions envisioned during
the study of the evolution of mobile networks, we present a novel pipeline architecture
specifically engineered for 4G/5G Physical Layers virtualized over clouds. The proposed
design follows two objectives, resiliency upon unpredictable computing and parallelization
to increase efficiency in multi-core clouds. To this end, we employ techniques such as tight
deadline control, jitter-absorbing buffers, predictive Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request,
and congestion control. Our experimental results show that our cloud-native approach
attains > 95% of the theoretical spectrum efficiency in hostile environments where stateof-
the-art architectures collapse.This work has been supported by IMDEA Networks InstitutePrograma de Doctorado en Ingeniería Telemática por la Universidad Carlos III de MadridPresidente: Francisco Valera Pintor.- Secretario: Vincenzo Sciancalepore.- Vocal: Xenofon Fouka
A Comprehensive Survey of the Tactile Internet: State of the art and Research Directions
The Internet has made several giant leaps over the years, from a fixed to a
mobile Internet, then to the Internet of Things, and now to a Tactile Internet.
The Tactile Internet goes far beyond data, audio and video delivery over fixed
and mobile networks, and even beyond allowing communication and collaboration
among things. It is expected to enable haptic communication and allow skill set
delivery over networks. Some examples of potential applications are
tele-surgery, vehicle fleets, augmented reality and industrial process
automation. Several papers already cover many of the Tactile Internet-related
concepts and technologies, such as haptic codecs, applications, and supporting
technologies. However, none of them offers a comprehensive survey of the
Tactile Internet, including its architectures and algorithms. Furthermore, none
of them provides a systematic and critical review of the existing solutions. To
address these lacunae, we provide a comprehensive survey of the architectures
and algorithms proposed to date for the Tactile Internet. In addition, we
critically review them using a well-defined set of requirements and discuss
some of the lessons learned as well as the most promising research directions
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