Building Programmable Wireless Networks: An Architectural Survey

In recent times, there have been a lot of efforts for improving the ossified Internet architecture in a bid to sustain unstinted growth and innovation. A major reason for the perceived architectural ossification is the lack of ability to program the network as a system. This situation has resulted partly from historical decisions in the original Internet design which emphasized decentralized network operations through co-located data and control planes on each network device. The situation for wireless networks is no different resulting in a lot of complexity and a plethora of largely incompatible wireless technologies. The emergence of "programmable wireless networks", that allow greater flexibility, ease of management and configurability, is a step in the right direction to overcome the aforementioned shortcomings of the wireless networks. In this paper, we provide a broad overview of the architectures proposed in literature for building programmable wireless networks focusing primarily on three popular techniques, i.e., software defined networks, cognitive radio networks, and virtualized networks. This survey is a self-contained tutorial on these techniques and its applications. We also discuss the opportunities and challenges in building next-generation programmable wireless networks and identify open research issues and future research directions.Comment: 19 page

A simplified optimization for resource management in cognitive radio network-based internet-of-things over 5G networks

With increasing evolution of applications and services in internet-of-things (IoT), there is an increasing concern of offering superior quality of service to its ever-increasing user base. This demand can be fulfilled by harnessing the potential of cognitive radio network (CRN) where better accessibility of services and resources can be achieved. However, existing review of literature shows that there are still open-end issues in this regard and hence, the proposed system offers a solution to address this problem. This paper presents a model which is capable of performing an optimization of resources when CRN is integrated in IoT using five generation (5G) network. The implementation uses analytical modeling to frame up the process of topology construction for IoT and optimizing the resources by introducing a simplified data transmission mechanism in IoT environment. The study outcome shows proposed system to excel better performance with respect to throughput and response time in comparison to existing schemes

Heterogeneous Dynamic Spectrum Access in Cognitive Radio enabled Vehicular Networks Using Network Softwarization

Dynamic spectrum access (DSA) in cognitive radio networks (CRNs) is regarded as an emerging technology to solve the spectrum scarcity problem created by static spectrum allocation. In DSA, unlicensed users access idle channels opportunistically, without creating any harmful interference to licensed users. This method will also help to incorporate billions of wireless devices for different applications such as Internet-of-Things, cyber-physical systems, smart grids, etc. Vehicular networks for intelligent transportation cyber-physical systems is emerging concept to improve transportation security and reliability. IEEE 802.11p standard comprising of 7 channels is dedicated for vehicular communications. These channels could be highly congested and may not be able to provide reliable communications in urban areas. Thus, vehicular networks are expected to utilize heterogeneous wireless channels for reliable communications. In this thesis, real-time opportunistic spectrum access in cloud based cognitive radio network (ROAR) architecture is used for energy efficiency and dynamic spectrum access in vehicular networks where geolocation of vehicles is used to find idle channels. Furthermore, a three step mechanism to detect geolocation falsification attacks is presented. Performance is evaluated using simulation results

Enhanced mobility management mechanisms for 5G networks

Many mechanisms that served the legacy networks till now, are being identified as being grossly sub-optimal for 5G networks. The reason being, the increased complexity of the 5G networks compared previous legacy systems. One such class of mechanisms, important for any wireless standard, is the Mobility Management (MM) mechanisms. MM mechanismsensure the seamless connectivity and continuity of service for a user when it moves away from the geographic location where it initially got attached to the network. In this thesis, we firstly present a detailed state of the art on MM mechanisms. Based on the 5G requirements as well as the initial discussions on Beyond 5G networks, we provision a gap analysis for the current technologies/solutions to satisfy the presented requirements. We also define the persistent challenges that exist concerning MM mechanisms for 5G and beyond networks. Based on these challenges, we define the potential solutions and a novel framework for the 5G and beyond MM mechanisms. This framework specifies a set of MM mechanisms at the access, core and the extreme edge network (users/devices) level, that will help to satisfy the requirements for the 5G and beyond MM mechanisms. Following this, we present an on demand MM service concept. Such an on-demand feature provisions the necessary reliability, scalability and flexibility to the MM mechanisms. It's objective is to ensure that appropriate resources and mobility contexts are defined for users who will have heterogeneous mobility profiles, versatile QoS requirements in a multi-RAT network. Next, in this thesis we tackle the problem of core network signaling that occurs during MM in 5G/4G networks. A novel handover signaling mechanism has been developed, which eliminates unnecessary handshakes during the handover preparation phase, while allowing the transition to future softwarized network architectures. We also provide a handover failure aware handover preparation phase signaling process. We then utilize operator data and a realistic network deployment to perform a comparative analysis of the proposed strategy and the 3GPP handover signaling strategy on a network wide deployment scenario. We show the benefits of our strategy in terms of latency of handover process, and the transmission and processing cost incurred. Lastly, a novel user association and resource allocation methodology, namely AURA-5G, has been proposed. AURA-5G addresses scenarios wherein applications with heterogeneous requirements, i.e., enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) and massive Machine Type Communications (mMTC), are present simultaneously. Consequently, a joint optimization process for performing the user association and resource allocation while being cognizant of heterogeneous application requirements, has been performed. We capture the peculiarities of this important mobility management process through the various constraints, such as backhaul requirements, dual connectivity options, available access resources, minimum rate requirements, etc., that we have imposed on a Mixed Integer Linear Program (MILP). The objective function of this established MILP problem is to maximize the total network throughput of the eMBB users, while satisfying the minimum requirements of the mMTC and eMBB users defined in a given scenario. Through numerical evaluations we show that our approach outperforms the baseline user association scenario significantly. Moreover, we have presented a system fairness analysis, as well as a novel fidelity and computational complexity analysis for the same, which express the utility of our methodology given the myriad network scenarios.Muchos mecanismos que sirvieron en las redes actuales, se están identificando como extremadamente subóptimos para las redes 5G. Esto es debido a la mayor complejidad de las redes 5G. Un tipo de mecanismo importante para cualquier estándar inalámbrico, consiste en el mecanismo de gestión de la movilidad (MM). Los mecanismos MM aseguran la conectividad sin interrupciones y la continuidad del servicio para un usuario cuando éste se aleja de la ubicación geográfica donde inicialmente se conectó a la red. En esta tesis, presentamos, en primer lugar, un estado del arte detallado de los mecanismos MM. Bas ándonos en los requisitos de 5G, así como en las discusiones iniciales sobre las redes Beyond 5G, proporcionamos un análisis de las tecnologías/soluciones actuales para satisfacer los requisitos presentados. También definimos los desafíos persistentes que existen con respecto a los mecanismos MM para redes 5G y Beyond 5G. En base a estos desafíos, definimos las posibles soluciones y un marco novedoso para los mecanismos 5G y Beyond 5G de MM. Este marco especifica un conjunto de mecanismos MM a nivel de red acceso, red del núcleo y extremo de la red (usuarios/dispositivos), que ayudarán a satisfacer los requisitos para los mecanismos MM 5G y posteriores. A continuación, presentamos el concepto de servicio bajo demanda MM. Tal característica proporciona la confiabilidad, escalabilidad y flexibilidad necesarias para los mecanismos MM. Su objetivo es garantizar que se definan los recursos y contextos de movilidad adecuados para los usuarios que tendrán perfiles de movilidad heterogéneos, y requisitos de QoS versátiles en una red multi-RAT. Más adelante, abordamos el problema de la señalización de la red troncal que ocurre durante la gestión de la movilidad en redes 5G/4G. Se ha desarrollado un nuevo mecanismo de señalización de handover, que elimina los intercambios de mensajes innecesarios durante la fase de preparación del handover, al tiempo que permite la transición a futuras arquitecturas de red softwarizada. Utilizamos los datos de operadores y consideramos un despliegue de red realista para realizar un análisis comparativo de la estrategia propuesta y la estrategia de señalización de 3GPP. Mostramos los beneficios de nuestra estrategia en términos de latencia del proceso de handover y los costes de transmisión y procesado. Por último, se ha propuesto una nueva asociación de usuarios y una metodología de asignación de recursos, i.e, AURA-5G. AURA-5G aborda escenarios en los que las aplicaciones con requisitos heterogéneos, i.e., enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) y massive Machine Type Communications (mMTC), están presentes simultáneamente. En consecuencia, se ha llevado a cabo un proceso de optimización conjunta para realizar la asociación de usuarios y la asignación de recursos mientras se tienen en cuenta los requisitos de aplicaciónes heterogéneas. Capturamos las peculiaridades de este importante proceso de gestión de la movilidad a través de las diversas restricciones impuestas, como son los requisitos de backhaul, las opciones de conectividad dual, los recursos de la red de acceso disponibles, los requisitos de velocidad mínima, etc., que hemos introducido en un Mixed Integer Linear Program (MILP). La función objetivo de este problema MILP es maximizar el rendimiento total de la red de los usuarios de eMBB, y a la vez satisfacer los requisitos mínimos de los usuarios de mMTC y eMBB definidos en un escenario dado. A través de evaluaciones numéricas, mostramos que nuestro enfoque supera significativamente el escenario de asociación de usuarios de referencia. Además, hemos presentado un análisis de la justicia del sistema, así como un novedoso análisis de fidelidad y complejidad computacional para el mismo, que expresa la utilidad de nuestra metodología.Postprint (published version

Enhanced mobility management mechanisms for 5G networks

Many mechanisms that served the legacy networks till now, are being identified as being grossly sub-optimal for 5G networks. The reason being, the increased complexity of the 5G networks compared previous legacy systems. One such class of mechanisms, important for any wireless standard, is the Mobility Management (MM) mechanisms. MM mechanismsensure the seamless connectivity and continuity of service for a user when it moves away from the geographic location where it initially got attached to the network. In this thesis, we firstly present a detailed state of the art on MM mechanisms. Based on the 5G requirements as well as the initial discussions on Beyond 5G networks, we provision a gap analysis for the current technologies/solutions to satisfy the presented requirements. We also define the persistent challenges that exist concerning MM mechanisms for 5G and beyond networks. Based on these challenges, we define the potential solutions and a novel framework for the 5G and beyond MM mechanisms. This framework specifies a set of MM mechanisms at the access, core and the extreme edge network (users/devices) level, that will help to satisfy the requirements for the 5G and beyond MM mechanisms. Following this, we present an on demand MM service concept. Such an on-demand feature provisions the necessary reliability, scalability and flexibility to the MM mechanisms. It's objective is to ensure that appropriate resources and mobility contexts are defined for users who will have heterogeneous mobility profiles, versatile QoS requirements in a multi-RAT network. Next, in this thesis we tackle the problem of core network signaling that occurs during MM in 5G/4G networks. A novel handover signaling mechanism has been developed, which eliminates unnecessary handshakes during the handover preparation phase, while allowing the transition to future softwarized network architectures. We also provide a handover failure aware handover preparation phase signaling process. We then utilize operator data and a realistic network deployment to perform a comparative analysis of the proposed strategy and the 3GPP handover signaling strategy on a network wide deployment scenario. We show the benefits of our strategy in terms of latency of handover process, and the transmission and processing cost incurred. Lastly, a novel user association and resource allocation methodology, namely AURA-5G, has been proposed. AURA-5G addresses scenarios wherein applications with heterogeneous requirements, i.e., enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) and massive Machine Type Communications (mMTC), are present simultaneously. Consequently, a joint optimization process for performing the user association and resource allocation while being cognizant of heterogeneous application requirements, has been performed. We capture the peculiarities of this important mobility management process through the various constraints, such as backhaul requirements, dual connectivity options, available access resources, minimum rate requirements, etc., that we have imposed on a Mixed Integer Linear Program (MILP). The objective function of this established MILP problem is to maximize the total network throughput of the eMBB users, while satisfying the minimum requirements of the mMTC and eMBB users defined in a given scenario. Through numerical evaluations we show that our approach outperforms the baseline user association scenario significantly. Moreover, we have presented a system fairness analysis, as well as a novel fidelity and computational complexity analysis for the same, which express the utility of our methodology given the myriad network scenarios.Muchos mecanismos que sirvieron en las redes actuales, se están identificando como extremadamente subóptimos para las redes 5G. Esto es debido a la mayor complejidad de las redes 5G. Un tipo de mecanismo importante para cualquier estándar inalámbrico, consiste en el mecanismo de gestión de la movilidad (MM). Los mecanismos MM aseguran la conectividad sin interrupciones y la continuidad del servicio para un usuario cuando éste se aleja de la ubicación geográfica donde inicialmente se conectó a la red. En esta tesis, presentamos, en primer lugar, un estado del arte detallado de los mecanismos MM. Bas ándonos en los requisitos de 5G, así como en las discusiones iniciales sobre las redes Beyond 5G, proporcionamos un análisis de las tecnologías/soluciones actuales para satisfacer los requisitos presentados. También definimos los desafíos persistentes que existen con respecto a los mecanismos MM para redes 5G y Beyond 5G. En base a estos desafíos, definimos las posibles soluciones y un marco novedoso para los mecanismos 5G y Beyond 5G de MM. Este marco especifica un conjunto de mecanismos MM a nivel de red acceso, red del núcleo y extremo de la red (usuarios/dispositivos), que ayudarán a satisfacer los requisitos para los mecanismos MM 5G y posteriores. A continuación, presentamos el concepto de servicio bajo demanda MM. Tal característica proporciona la confiabilidad, escalabilidad y flexibilidad necesarias para los mecanismos MM. Su objetivo es garantizar que se definan los recursos y contextos de movilidad adecuados para los usuarios que tendrán perfiles de movilidad heterogéneos, y requisitos de QoS versátiles en una red multi-RAT. Más adelante, abordamos el problema de la señalización de la red troncal que ocurre durante la gestión de la movilidad en redes 5G/4G. Se ha desarrollado un nuevo mecanismo de señalización de handover, que elimina los intercambios de mensajes innecesarios durante la fase de preparación del handover, al tiempo que permite la transición a futuras arquitecturas de red softwarizada. Utilizamos los datos de operadores y consideramos un despliegue de red realista para realizar un análisis comparativo de la estrategia propuesta y la estrategia de señalización de 3GPP. Mostramos los beneficios de nuestra estrategia en términos de latencia del proceso de handover y los costes de transmisión y procesado. Por último, se ha propuesto una nueva asociación de usuarios y una metodología de asignación de recursos, i.e, AURA-5G. AURA-5G aborda escenarios en los que las aplicaciones con requisitos heterogéneos, i.e., enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) y massive Machine Type Communications (mMTC), están presentes simultáneamente. En consecuencia, se ha llevado a cabo un proceso de optimización conjunta para realizar la asociación de usuarios y la asignación de recursos mientras se tienen en cuenta los requisitos de aplicaciónes heterogéneas. Capturamos las peculiaridades de este importante proceso de gestión de la movilidad a través de las diversas restricciones impuestas, como son los requisitos de backhaul, las opciones de conectividad dual, los recursos de la red de acceso disponibles, los requisitos de velocidad mínima, etc., que hemos introducido en un Mixed Integer Linear Program (MILP). La función objetivo de este problema MILP es maximizar el rendimiento total de la red de los usuarios de eMBB, y a la vez satisfacer los requisitos mínimos de los usuarios de mMTC y eMBB definidos en un escenario dado. A través de evaluaciones numéricas, mostramos que nuestro enfoque supera significativamente el escenario de asociación de usuarios de referencia. Además, hemos presentado un análisis de la justicia del sistema, así como un novedoso análisis de fidelidad y complejidad computacional para el mismo, que expresa la utilidad de nuestra metodología