Software-Driven and Virtualized Architectures for Scalable 5G Networks

In this dissertation, we argue that it is essential to rearchitect 4G cellular core networks–sitting between the Internet and the radio access network–to meet the scalability, performance, and flexibility requirements of 5G networks. Today, there is a growing consensus among operators and research community that software-defined networking (SDN), network function virtualization (NFV), and mobile edge computing (MEC) paradigms will be the key ingredients of the next-generation cellular networks. Motivated by these trends, we design and optimize three core network architectures, SoftMoW, SoftBox, and SkyCore, for different network scales, objectives, and conditions. SoftMoW provides global control over nationwide core networks with the ultimate goal of enabling new routing and mobility optimizations. SoftBox attempts to enhance policy enforcement in statewide core networks to enable low-latency, signaling-efficient, and customized services for mobile devices. Sky- Core is aimed at realizing a compact core network for citywide UAV-based radio networks that are going to serve first responders in the future. Network slicing techniques make it possible to deploy these solutions on the same infrastructure in parallel. To better support mobility and provide verifiable security, these architectures can use an addressing scheme that separates network locations and identities with self-certifying, flat and non-aggregatable address components. To benefit the proposed architectures, we designed a high-speed and memory-efficient router, called Caesar, for this type of addressing schemePHDComputer Science & EngineeringUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/146130/1/moradi_1.pd

A Quantum Internet Architecture

Entangled quantum communication is advancing rapidly, with laboratory and metropolitan testbeds under development, but to date there is no unifying Quantum Internet architecture. We propose a Quantum Internet architecture centered around the Quantum Recursive Network Architecture (QRNA), using RuleSet-based connections established using a two-pass connection setup. Scalability and internetworking (for both technological and administrative boundaries) are achieved using recursion in naming and connection control. In the near term, this architecture will support end-to-end, two-party entanglement on minimal hardware, and it will extend smoothly to multi-party entanglement and the use of quantum error correction on advanced hardware in the future. For a network internal gateway protocol, we recommend (but do not require) qDijkstra with seconds per Bell pair as link cost for routing; the external gateway protocol is designed to build recursively. The strength of our architecture is shown by assessing extensibility and demonstrating how robust protocol operation can be confirmed using the RuleSet paradigm.Comment: 17 pages, 7 numbered figure

Investigation of performance issues affecting optical circuit and packet switched WDM networks

Optical switching represents the next step in the evolution of optical networks. This thesis describes work that was carried out to examine performance issues which can occur in two distinct varieties of optical switching networks. Slow optical switching in which lightpaths are requested, provisioned and torn down when no longer required is known as optical circuit switching (OCS). Services enabled by OCS include wavelength routing, dynamic bandwidth allocation and protection switching. With network elements such as reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexers (ROADMs) and optical cross connects (OXCs) now being deployed along with the generalized multiprotocol label switching (GMPLS) control plane this represents the current state of the art in commercial networks. These networks often employ erbium doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs) to boost the optical signal to noise ratio of the WDM channels and as channel configurations change, wavelength dependent gain variations in the EDFAs can lead to channel power divergence that can result in significant performance degradation. This issue is examined in detail using a reconfigurable wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) network testbed and results show the severe impact that channel reconfiguration can have on transmission performance. Following the slow switching work the focus shifts to one of the key enabling technologies for fast optical switching, namely the tunable laser. Tunable lasers which can switch on the nanosecond timescale will be required in the transmitters and wavelength converters of optical packet switching networks. The switching times and frequency drifts, both of commercially available lasers, and of novel devices are investigated and performance issues which can arise due to this frequency drift are examined. An optical packet switching transmitter based on a novel label switching technique and employing one of the fast tunable lasers is designed and employed in a dual channel WDM packet switching system. In depth performance evaluations of this labelling scheme and packet switching system show the detrimental impact that wavelength drift can have on such systems

Optical performance monitoring in optical packet-switched networks

Para poder satisfacer la demanda de mayores anchos de banda y los requisitos de los nuevos servicios, se espera que se produzca una evolución de las redes ópticas hacia arquitecturas reconfigurables dinámicamente. Esta evolución subraya la importancia de ofrecer soluciones en la que la escalabilidad y la flexibilidad sean las principales directrices. De acuerdo a estas características, las redes ópticas de conmutación de paquetes (OPS) proporcionan altas capacidades de transmisión, eficiencia en ancho de banda y excelente flexibilidad, además de permitir el procesado de los paquetes directamente en la capa óptica. En este escenario, la solución all-optical label switching (AOLS) resuelve el cuello de botella impuesto por los nodos que realizan el procesado en el dominio eléctrico. A pesar de los progresos en el campo del networking óptico, las redes totalmente ópticas todavía se consideran una solución lejana . Por tanto, es importante desarrollar un escenario de migración factible y gradual desde las actuales redes ópticas basadas en la conmutación de circuitos (OCS). Uno de los objetivos de esta tesis se centra en la propuesta de escenarios de migración basados en redes híbridas que combinan diferentes tecnologías de conmutación. Además, se analiza la arquitectura de una red OPS compuesta de nodos que incorporan nuevas funcionalidades relacionadas con labores de monitorización y esquemas de recuperación. Las redes ópticas permiten mejorar la transparencia de la red, pero a costa de aumentar la complejidad de las tareas de gesión. En este escenario, la monitorización óptica de prestaciones (OPM) surge como una tecnología capaz de facilitar la administración de las redes OPS, en las que cada paquete sigue su propia ruta en la red y sufre un diferente nivel de degradación al llegar a su destino. Aquí reside la importancia de OPM para garantizar los requisitos de calidad de cada paquete.Vilar Mateo, R. (2010). Optical performance monitoring in optical packet-switched networks [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/8926Palanci

Heterogeneous Self-Reconfiguring Robotics

Self-reconfiguring (SR) robots are modular systems that can autonomously change shape, or reconfigure, for increased versatility and adaptability in unknown environments. In this thesis, we investigate planning and control for systems of non-identical modules, known as heterogeneous SR robots. Although previous approaches rely on module homogeneity as a critical property, we show that the planning complexity of fundamental algorithmic problems in the heterogeneous case is equivalent to that of systems with identical modules. Primarily, we study the problem of how to plan shape changes while considering the placement of specific modules within the structure. We characterize this key challenge in terms of the amount of free space available to the robot and develop a series of decentralized reconfiguration planning algorithms that assume progressively more severe free space constraints and support reconfiguration among obstacles. In addition, we compose our basic planning techniques in different ways to address problems in the related task domains of positioning modules according to function, locomotion among obstacles, self-repair, and recognizing the achievement of distributed goal-states. We also describe the design of a novel simulation environment, implementation results using this simulator, and experimental results in hardware using a planar SR system called the Crystal Robot. These results encourage development of heterogeneous systems. Our algorithms enhance the versatility and adaptability of SR robots by enabling them to use functionally specialized components to match capability, in addition to shape, to the task at hand

Control Plane in Software Defined Networks and Stateful Data Planes

L'abstract è presente nell'allegato / the abstract is in the attachmen