NEMO-Enabled Localized Mobility Support for Internet Access in Automotive Scenarios

This article surveys the major existing approaches and proposes a novel architecture to support mobile networks in network-based, localized mobility domains. Our architecture enables conventional terminals without mobility support to obtain connectivity either from fixed locations or mobile platforms (e.g., vehicles) and move between them, while keeping their ongoing sessions. This functionality offers broadband Internet access in automotive scenarios such as public transportation systems, where users spend time both in vehicles and at stations. The key advantage of our proposal, as compared with current alternatives, is that the described mobile functionality is provided to conventional IP devices that lack mobility functionality. We also performed an experimental evaluation of our proposal that shows that our architecture improves the quality perceived by the end users.IEEE Communications SocietyEuropean Community's Seventh Framework ProgramPublicad

Analysis, design and experimental evaluation of connectivity management in heterogeneous wireless environments

Mención Internacional en el título de doctorThe future of network communications is mobile as many more users demand for ubiquitous connectivity. Wireless has become the primary access technology or even the only one, leading to an explosion in traffic demand. This challenges network providers to manage and configure new requirements without incrementing costs in the same amount. In addition to the growth in the use of mobile devices, there is a need to operate simultaneously different access technologies. As well, the great diversity of applications and the capabilities of mobile terminals makes possible for us to live in a hyper-connected world and offers new scenarios. This heterogeneity poses great challenges that need to be addressed to offer better performance and seamless experience to the final user. We need to orchestrate solutions to increase flexibility and empower interoperability. Connectivity management is handled from different angles. In the network stack, mobility is more easily handled by IP mobility protocols, since IP is the common layer between the different access technologies and the application diversity. From the end-user perspective, the connection manager is in charge of handling connectivity issues in mobile devices, but it is an unstandardized entity so its performance is heavily implementation-dependent. In this thesis we explore connectivity management from different angles. We study mobility protocols as they are part of our proposed solutions. In most of the cases we include an experimental evaluation of performance with 3G and IEEE 802.11 as the main technologies. We consider heterogeneous scenarios, with several access technologies where mobile devices have also several network interfaces. We evaluate how connectivity is handled as well as its influence in a handover. Based on the analysis of real traces from a cellular network, we confirm the suitability of more efficient mobility management. Moreover, we propose and evaluate three different solutions for providing mobility support in three different heterogeneous scenarios. We perform an experimental evaluation of a vehicular route optimization for network mobility, reporting on the challenges and lessons learned in such a complicated networking environment. We propose an architecture for supporting mobility and enhance handover in a passive optical network deployment. In addition, we design and deploy a mechanism for mobility management based on software-defined networking.Programa Oficial de Doctorado en Ingeniería TelemáticaPresidente: Arturo Azcorra Saloña.- Secretario: Ramón Agüero Calvo.- Vocal: Daniel Nunes Coruj

Distributed IP mobility management for hosts and networks

Includes bibliographical references.The Internet was originally designed for stationary nodes. With the advancement of mobile nodes (such as smartphones and tablets) that have wireless Internet access capability, the original design of the Internet is no longer sufficient. These mobile nodes are capable of communicating while moving and changing their point of attachment in the Internet. To maintain communication session(s) continuity for these mobile nodes, the Internet needs mobility management mechanisms. The main mobility management protocols standardised by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) are mobile IP (MIPv6 and MIPv4) and their numerous extensions and variants, including proxy MIP (PMIPv6 and PMIPv4). The architectural structures of these protocols employ a centralized mobility anchor to manage the mobility of the mobile nodes in the control and data planes. The mobility anchor manages the mobility binding information and the forwarding of data packets for all mobile nodes registered in the network. However, in the context of the rapid growth in the number of mobile users and the data traffic volume, as well as the trend towards a flat architecture in mobile networks, the centralized mobility management approach provides insufficient mobility support to the mobile nodes. For example, to manage the demand for increased mobile users, a huge amount of data traffic will be pushed to the centralized mobility anchor. Yet, routing huge volumes of traffic via the centralized mobility anchor can be non-optimal in terms of routing efficiency. Thus, the centralised mobility anchor can be a potential bottleneck, and a single point of failure. Consequently, failure of the mobility anchor may lead to a service outage for a large number of mobile nodes. Ultimately, the centralized mobility management approach does not scale well with the increase in number of mobile users and the data traffic volume. These problems are also costly to resolve within the centralized mobility management approach and its related centralized network architecture. Distributed mobility management (DMM) is one recent approach that can efficiently address the shortcomings of centralized mobility management. It provides an alternative paradigm for developing IP mobility management – without employing centralized mobility anchors. In this paradigm, either the mobility anchors, or their mobility management functions, are distributed to different networks/elements. The mobility anchors, or the mobility management functions, are brought to the edge of the networks, which is closer to the mobile nodes. Distributed mobility management also offers dynamic mobility features that allow a mobile node to anchor traffic at different mobility anchors. However, to date, mobility management schemes that have been developed based on the DMM approach are still in the preliminary stages, and there is no current standard in place. These developed DMM schemes are still experiencing problems, such as long routing paths, especially for long-lasting data traffic, a lack of route optimization for ongoing communication, and a lack of synchronization of the mobile nodes‟ location in different networks. Moreover, the majority of these proposed schemes still need to be analysed, in order to quantify their feasibility. The thesis proposes three novel network-based distributed mobility management schemes, which are based on the DMM approach. The schemes enhance PMIPv6 to work in a distributed manner, in order to address the problems of centralized mobility management. Furthermore, the schemes address the following issues: (1) the lack of route optimization for ongoing communication; (2) the lack of synchronization of the mobile nodes‟ location in different networks; and (3) the long end-to-end packet delivery delay problems in recently proposed DMM schemes. The first scheme, called the network-based distributed mobility management scheme with routing management function at the gateways (DM-RMG), decomposes the logical mobility management functions of the Local Mobility Anchor (LMA) in PMIPv6 into internetwork location management (LM), routing management (RM), and home network prefix allocation (HNP) functions. After the decomposition, the RM function is collocated at the gateways of different networks. In this way, the data-plane routing function of the respective mobile nodes is served by the corresponding local RM function at the network gateway. The DM-RMG scheme offers distributed mobility management for individual mobile nodes (i.e., mobile hosts) during mobility events. DM-RMG also implements a mechanism to optimize the handover delay. The results obtained from analytical modelling and simulation show that the DM-RMG scheme outperforms the centralized mobility management schemes, as well as currently proposed distributed mobility management schemes in terms of the end-to-end packet delivery delay under different network load conditions. The optimized handover performance of the DM-RMG scheme, investigated under different traffic patterns and mobile node speeds, shows that the scheme also mitigates the internetwork handover delay and packet loss. The second proposed scheme, called network-based distributed mobility management for the network mobility (NDM-RMG), uses a similar approach to DM-RMG. However, it proposes a network-based DMM scheme for Network Mobility (NEMO). The main goal of the NDMRMG scheme is to address the problems of centralized mobility management protocols for NEMO, including the pinball routing problem in nested NEMO. NDM-RMG is compared with centralized mobility management schemes for NEMO, and recently proposed distributed IP mobility management schemes for NEMO by means of analytical modelling and simulation evaluations. NDM-RMG shows better performance in terms of reducing the packet delivery latency, the size of the packet header, and the packet overhead experienced over the wireless link. The third proposed scheme, called network-based distributed mobility management scheme with RM and HNP allocation functions distributed to the access routers (DM-RMA), distributes the RM and the HNP allocation functions at the access routers with the mobility client function. This brings the mobility-related functions closer to the mobile nodes, that is, to the edge of the network. An analytical model is developed to investigate the mobility cost performance of the scheme, due to signalling, packet delivery, and tunnelling. The analytical results indicate that DM-RMA performs better than the previous DMM schemes in terms of packet delivery, tunnelling and total costs. Network simulator-2 (ns-2) is used to model the DM-RMA scheme. The simulated scenarios confirm that DM-RMA performs better than other proposed DMM schemes in terms of reducing the location update latency at the location managers, end-to-end packet delivery delay, handover delay, and packet loss. In addition to the three proposed DMM schemes, this thesis proposes a routing optimization scheme for PMIPv6. The main goal of this scheme is to enable PMIPv6 to offer route optimization to mobile nodes in a PMIPv6 domain. The scheme reduces the route optimization-establishment latency, the packet delivery latency, and the packet loss. Using ns-2 simulations and considering different simulated scenarios, the results show that the scheme reduces route optimization-establishment latency and delayed packets during the route optimization operation, as compared to previously proposed PMIPv6 route optimization schemes. The results also show that the scheme reduces packet loss when a mobile node undergoes handover in the PMIPv6 domain

Mobility management across converged IP-based heterogeneous access networks

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University, 8/2/2010.In order to satisfy customer demand for a high performance “global” mobility service, network operators (ISPs, carriers, mobile operators, etc.) are facing the need to evolve to a converged “all-IP” centric heterogeneous access infrastructure. However, the integration of such heterogeneous access networks (e.g. 802.11, 802.16e, UMTS etc) brings major mobility issues. This thesis tackles issues plaguing existing mobility management solutions in converged IP-based heterogeneous networks. In order to do so, the thesis firstly proposes a cross-layer mechanism using the upcoming IEEE802.21 MIH services to make intelligent and optimized handovers. In this respect, FMIPv6 is integrated with the IEEE802.21 mechanism to provide seamless mobility during the overall handover process. The proposed solution is then applied in a simulated vehicular environment to optimize the NEMO handover process. It is shown through analysis and simulations of the signalling process that the overall expected handover (both L2 and L3) latency in FMIPv6 can be reduced by the proposed mechanism by 69%. Secondly, it is expected that the operator of a Next Generation Network will provide mobility as a service that will generate significant revenues. As a result, dynamic service bootstrapping and authorization mechanisms must be in place to efficiently deploy a mobility service (without static provisioning), which will allow only legitimate users to access the service. A GNU Linux based test-bed has been implemented to demonstrate this. The experiments presented show the handover performance of the secured FMIPv6 over the implemented test-bed compared to plain FMIPv6 and MIPv6 by providing quantitative measurements and results on the quality of experience perceived by the users of IPv6 multimedia applications. The results show the inclusion of the additional signalling of the proposed architecture for the purpose of authorization and bootstrapping (i.e. key distribution using HOKEY) has no adverse effect on the overall handover process. Also, using a formal security analysis tool, it is shown that the proposed mechanism is safe/secure from the induced security threats. Lastly, a novel IEEE802.21 assisted EAP based re-authentication scheme over a service authorization and bootstrapping framework is presented. AAA based authentication mechanisms like EAP incur signalling overheads due to large RTTs. As a result, overall handover latency also increases. Therefore, a fast re-authentication scheme is presented which utilizes IEEE802.21 MIH services to minimize the EAP authentication process delays and as a result reduce the overall handover latency. Analysis of the signalling process based on analytical results shows that the overall handover latency for mobility protocols will be approximately reduced by 70% by the proposed scheme

Next generation of Exascale-class systems: ExaNeSt project and the status of its interconnect and storage development

The ExaNeSt project started on December 2015 and is funded by EU H2020 research framework (call H2020-FETHPC-2014, n. 671553) to study the adoption of low-cost, Linux-based power-efficient 64-bit ARM processors clusters for Exascale-class systems. The ExaNeSt consortium pools partners with industrial and academic research expertise in storage, interconnects and applications that share a vision of an European Exascale-class supercomputer. The common goal is designing and implementing a physical rack prototype together with its cooling system, the non-volatile memory (NVM) architecture and a unified low-latency interconnect able to test different options for network and storage. Furthermore, the consortium goal is to provide real HPC applications to validate the system. In this paper we describe the unified data and storage network architecture, reporting on the status of development of different testbeds and highlighting preliminary benchmark results obtained through the execution of scientific, engineering and data analytics scalable application kernels

Algorithmes d'adressage et routage pour des réseaux fortement mobiles à grande échelle

After successfully connecting machines and people later (world wide web), the new era of In-ternet is about connecting things. Due to increasing demands in terms of addresses, mobility, scalability, security and other new unattended challenges, the evolution of current Internet archi-tecture is subject to major debate worldwide. The Internet Architecture Board (IAB) workshop on Routing and Addressing report described the serious scalability problems faced by large backbone operators in terms of routing and addressing, illustrated by the unsustainable growth of the Default Free Zone (DFZ) routing tables. Some proposals tackled the scalability and IP semantics overload issues with two different approaches: evolutionary approach (backward com-patibility) or a revolutionary approach. Several design objectives (technical or high-level) guided researchers in their proposals. Mobility is definitely one of the main challenges.Inter-Vehicle Communication (IVC) attracts considerable attention from the research com-munity and the industry for its potential in providing Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) and passengers services. Vehicular Ad-Hoc Networks (VANETs) are emerging as a class of wire-less network, formed between moving vehicles equipped with wireless interfaces (cellular and WiFi) employing heterogeneous communication systems. A VANET is a form of mobile ad-hoc network that provides IVC among nearby vehicles and may involve the use of a nearby fixed equipment on the roadside. The impact of Internet-based vehicular services (infotainment) are quickly developing. Some of these applications, driver assistance services or traffic reports, have been there for a while. But market-enabling applications may also be an argument in favor of a more convenient journey. Such use cases are viewed as a motivation to further adoption of the ITS standards developed within IEEE, ETSI, and ISO.This thesis focuses on applying Future Internet paradigm to vehicle-to-Internet communica-tions in an attempt to define the solution space of Future Vehicular Internet. We first introduce two possible vehicle-to-Internet use cases and great enablers for IP based services : eHealth and Fully-electric Vehicles. We show how to integrate those use cases into IPv6 enabled networks. We further focus on the mobility architectures and determine the fundamental components of a mobility architecture. We then classify those approaches into centralized and distributed to show the current trends in terms of network mobility extension, an essential component to vehicular networking. We eventually analyze the performance of these proposals. In order to define an identifier namespace for vehicular communications, we introduce the Vehicle Identification Numbers are possible candidates. We then propose a conversion algorithm that preserves the VIN characteristics while mapping it onto usable IPv6 networking objects (ad-dresses, prefixes, and Mobile Node Identifiers). We make use of this result to extend LISP-MN protocol with the support of our VIN6 addressing architecture. We also apply those results to group IP-based communications, when the cluster head is in charge of a group of followers.Cette thèse a pour objectif de faire avancer l'état de l'art des communications basée sur Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) dans le domaine des réseaux véhiculaires, et ce dans le cadre des évolutions récentes de IP, notamment l'avènement du Future Internet. Le Future Internet (F.I.) définit un ensemble d'approches pour faire évoluer l'Internet actuel , en particulier l'émergence d'un Internet mobile exigeant en ressources. Les acteurs de ce domaine définissent les contraintes inhérentes aux approches utilisées historiquement dans l'évolution de l'architecture d'Internet et tentent d'y remédier soit de manière évolutive soit par une rupture technologique (révolutionnaire). Un des problèmes au centre de cette nouvelle évolution d'Internet est la question du nommage et de l'adressage dans le réseau. Nous avons entrepris dans cette thèse l'étude de ce problème, dans le cadre restreint des communications véhiculaires Internet.Dans ce contexte, l'état de l'art du Future Internet a mis en avant les distinctions des approches révolutionnaires comparées aux propositions évolutives basées sur IPv6. Les réseaux véhiculaires étant d'ores-et-déjà dotés de piles protocolaires comprenant une extension IPv6, nous avons entamé une approche évolutive visant à intégrer les réseaux véhiculaires au Future Internet. Une première proposition a été de convertir un identifiant présent dans le monde automobile (VIN, Numéro d'Identification de Véhicule) en un lot d'adresses réseau propres à chaque véhicule (qui est donc propriétaire de son adressage issu de son identifiant). Cette proposition étant centrée sur le véhicule, nous avons ensuite intégré ces communications basés dans une architecture globale Future Internet basée sur IPv6 (protocole LISP). En particulier, et avec l'adressage VIN, nous avons défini un espace d'adressage indépendant des fournisseurs d'accès à Internet où le constructeur automobile devient acteur économique fournissant des services IPv6 à sa flotte de véhicules conjointement avec les opérateurs réseau dont il dépend pour transporter son trafic IP. Nous nous sommes ensuite intéressés à l'entourage proche du véhicule afin de définir un nouveau mode de communication inter-véhiculaire à Internet: le V2V2I (Angl. Vehicle-to-Vehicle-to-Infrastructure). Jusqu'à présent, les modes de transmission de données à Internet dans le monde du véhicule consistaient en des topologies V2I, à savoir véhicule à Internet, où le véhicule accède à l'infrastructure directement sans intermédiaire. Dans le cadre des communications véhiculaires à Internet, nous proposons une taxonomie des méthodes existantes dans l'état de l'art. Les techniques du Future Internet étant récentes, nous avons étendu notre taxonomie par une nouvelle approche basée sur la séparation de l'adressage topologique dans le cluster de celui de l'infrastructure. Le leader du cluster s'occupe d'affecter les adresses (de son VIN) et de gérer le routage à l'intérieur de son cluster. La dernière contribution consiste en la comparaison des performances des protocoles de gestion de mobilité, notamment pour les réseaux de véhicules et des communications de type vehicule-à-Internet. Dans ce cadre, nous avons proposé une classification des protocoles de gestion de mobilité selon leur déploiement: centralisé (basé réseau ou host) et distribué. Nous avons ensuite évalué les performances en modélisant les durées de configurations et de reconfigurations des différents protocoles concernés

Network virtualization as an integrated solution for emergency communication

In this paper the Virtual Private Ad Hoc Networking (VPAN) platform is introduced as an integrated networking solution for many applications that require secure transparent continuous connectivity using heterogeneous devices and network technologies. This is done by creating a virtual logical self-organizing network on top of existing network technologies reducing complexity and maintaining session continuity right from the start. One of the most interesting applications relies in the field of emergency communication with its specific needs which will be discussed in this paper and matched in detail against the architecture and features of the VPAN platform. The concept and dynamics are demonstrated and evaluated with measurements done on real hardware