Introducing mobile edge computing capabilities through distributed 5G Cloud Enabled Small Cells

Current trends in broadband mobile networks are addressed towards the placement of different capabilities at the edge of the mobile network in a centralised way. On one hand, the split of the eNB between baseband processing units and remote radio headers makes it possible to process some of the protocols in centralised premises, likely with virtualised resources. On the other hand, mobile edge computing makes use of processing and storage capabilities close to the air interface in order to deploy optimised services with minimum delay. The confluence of both trends is a hot topic in the definition of future 5G networks. The full centralisation of both technologies in cloud data centres imposes stringent requirements to the fronthaul connections in terms of throughput and latency. Therefore, all those cells with limited network access would not be able to offer these types of services. This paper proposes a solution for these cases, based on the placement of processing and storage capabilities close to the remote units, which is especially well suited for the deployment of clusters of small cells. The proposed cloud-enabled small cells include a highly efficient microserver with a limited set of virtualised resources offered to the cluster of small cells. As a result, a light data centre is created and commonly used for deploying centralised eNB and mobile edge computing functionalities. The paper covers the proposed architecture, with special focus on the integration of both aspects, and possible scenarios of application.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Design, Development and Evaluation of 5G-Enabled Vehicular Services:The 5G-HEART Perspective

The ongoing transition towards 5G technology expedites the emergence of a variety of mobile applications that pertain to different vertical industries. Delivering on the key commitment of 5G, these diverse service streams, along with their distinct requirements, should be facilitated under the same unified network infrastructure. Consequently, in order to unleash the benefits brought by 5G technology, a holistic approach towards the requirement analysis and the design, development, and evaluation of multiple concurrent vertical services should be followed. In this paper, we focus on the Transport vertical industry, and we study four novel vehicular service categories, each one consisting of one or more related specific scenarios, within the framework of the “5G Health, Aquaculture and Transport (5G-HEART)” 5G PPP ICT-19 (Phase 3) project. In contrast to the majority of the literature, we provide a holistic overview of the overall life-cycle management required for the realization of the examined vehicular use cases. This comprises the definition and analysis of the network Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) resulting from high-level user requirements and their interpretation in terms of the underlying network infrastructure tasked with meeting their conflicting or converging needs. Our approach is complemented by the experimental investigation of the real unified 5G pilot’s characteristics that enable the delivery of the considered vehicular services and the initial trialling results that verify the effectiveness and feasibility of the presented theoretical analysis

From MANET to people-centric networking: Milestones and open research challenges

In this paper, we discuss the state of the art of (mobile) multi-hop ad hoc networking with the aim to present the current status of the research activities and identify the consolidated research areas, with limited research opportunities, and the hot and emerging research areas for which further research is required. We start by briefly discussing the MANET paradigm, and why the research on MANET protocols is now a cold research topic. Then we analyze the active research areas. Specifically, after discussing the wireless-network technologies, we analyze four successful ad hoc networking paradigms, mesh networks, opportunistic networks, vehicular networks, and sensor networks that emerged from the MANET world. We also present an emerging research direction in the multi-hop ad hoc networking field: people centric networking, triggered by the increasing penetration of the smartphones in everyday life, which is generating a people-centric revolution in computing and communications