Local 5G Operator Architecture for Delay Critical Telehealth Applications

ELECTR NETWORKNetwork softwarization enables the novel concept of Local 5G Operator (L5GO) networks, for deploying localized 5G solutions to serve case and location specific communication needs. This paper proposes a L5GO network architecture for delay critical future telehealth services, considering two use cases on augmented reality assisted and robotic aided surgery. The paper compares the latency performance of the proposed L5GO architecture with a traditional legacy network and a network equipped with Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC). The results highlight the unique advantages of utilizing an L5GO to cater the communication needs of delay critical telehealth, compared to a traditional network.European Commission Horizon 2020Academy of Finland in 6Genesis FlagshipEuropean Union in RESPONSE 5G5GEARSecureConnec

Evaluation of IEEE 802.1 Time Sensitive Networking Performance for Microgrid and Smart Grid Power System Applications

Proliferation of distributed energy resources and the importance of smart energy management has led to increased interest in microgrids. A microgrid is an area of the grid that can be disconnected and operated independently from the main grid when required and can generate some or all of its own energy needs with distributed energy resources and battery storage. This allows for the microgrid area to continue operating even when the main grid is unavailable. In addition, often a microgrid can utilize waste heat from energy generation to drive thermal loads, further improving energy utilization. This leads to increased reliability and overall efficiency in the microgrid area.As microgrids (and by extension the smart grid) become more widespread, new methods of communication and control are required to aid in management of many different distributed entities. One such communication architecture that may prove useful is the set of IEEE 802.1 Time Sensitive Networking (TSN) standards. These standards specify improvements and new capabilities for LAN based communication networks that previously made them unsuitable for widespread deployment in a power system setting. These standards include specifications for low latency guarantees, clock synchronization, data frame redundancy, and centralized system administration. These capabilities were previously available on proprietary or application specific solutions. However, they will now be available as part of the Ethernet standard, enabling backwards compatibility with existing network architecture and support with future advances.Two of the featured standards, IEEE 802.1AS (governing time-synchronization) and IEEE 802.1Qbv (governing time aware traffic shaping), will be tested and evaluated for their potential utility in power systems and microgrid applications. These tests will measure the latency achievable using TSN over a network at various levels of congestion and compare these results with UDP and TCP protocols. In addition, the ability to use synchronized clocks to generate waveforms for microgrid inverter synchronization will be explored

Constraint Programming with External Worst-Case Traversal Time Analysis

peer reviewedThe allocation of software functions to processors under compute capacity and network links constraints is an important optimization problem in the field of embedded distributed systems. We present a hybrid approach to solve the allocation problem combining a constraint solver and a worst-case traversal time (WCTT) analysis that verifies the network timing constraints. The WCTT analysis is implemented as an industrial black-box program, which makes a tight integration with constraint solving challenging. We contribute to a new multi-objective constraint solving algorithm for integrating external under-approximating functions, such as the WCTT analysis, with constraint solving, and prove its correctness. We apply this new algorithm to the allocation problem in the context of automotive service-oriented architectures based on Ethernet networks, and provide a new dataset of realistic instances to evaluate our approach

QoS-aware architectures, technologies, and middleware for the cloud continuum

The recent trend of moving Cloud Computing capabilities to the Edge of the network is reshaping how applications and their middleware supports are designed, deployed, and operated. This new model envisions a continuum of virtual resources between the traditional cloud and the network edge, which is potentially more suitable to meet the heterogeneous Quality of Service (QoS) requirements of diverse application domains and next-generation applications. Several classes of advanced Internet of Things (IoT) applications, e.g., in the industrial manufacturing domain, are expected to serve a wide range of applications with heterogeneous QoS requirements and call for QoS management systems to guarantee/control performance indicators, even in the presence of real-world factors such as limited bandwidth and concurrent virtual resource utilization. The present dissertation proposes a comprehensive QoS-aware architecture that addresses the challenges of integrating cloud infrastructure with edge nodes in IoT applications. The architecture provides end-to-end QoS support by incorporating several components for managing physical and virtual resources. The proposed architecture features: i) a multilevel middleware for resolving the convergence between Operational Technology (OT) and Information Technology (IT), ii) an end-to-end QoS management approach compliant with the Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) standard, iii) new approaches for virtualized network environments, such as running TSN-based applications under Ultra-low Latency (ULL) constraints in virtual and 5G environments, and iv) an accelerated and deterministic container overlay network architecture. Additionally, the QoS-aware architecture includes two novel middlewares: i) a middleware that transparently integrates multiple acceleration technologies in heterogeneous Edge contexts and ii) a QoS-aware middleware for Serverless platforms that leverages coordination of various QoS mechanisms and virtualized Function-as-a-Service (FaaS) invocation stack to manage end-to-end QoS metrics. Finally, all architecture components were tested and evaluated by leveraging realistic testbeds, demonstrating the efficacy of the proposed solutions

Time Sensitive Networking over 5G Networks

Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN IEEE 802.1Q), is an Ethernet technology that provides deterministic messaging on standard Ethernet. When centrally managed, the TSN technology offers the capability of guaranteed delivery of messages with reduced jitter. TSN uses time-scheduling in providing deterministic communications and works at Layer 2 (L2) of the Open System Interconnection. The advantage of TSN working at L2 is that TSN entities (switches and bridges) only need the information contained in Ethernet headers to make forwarding decisions. In addition, the information carried in Ethernet frame payloads does not have to be limited to IP only, making TSN applicable in industrial applications with different application payloads. The goal of the thesis was to come up with a state-of-the-art design of IEEE TSN modules. This goal involved designing a topology for testing TSN, prototyping the TSN modules, and testing the modules when completed. The thesis evaluates how the developed TSN module's performance compares to IEEE WG set standards. I carried out the experimentation based on the IEEE Working Group (WG) recommendations and publications which provided the necessary modifications to Precision Time Protocol version 2 (PTPv2) regarding packets that needed to be modified to develop generalized Precision Time Protocols (gPTP). Before entering and exiting the 5G System (5GS), the gPTP messages are changed. These encompass all the needed packet header modifications and necessary calculations to achieve the synchronization accuracies of 900 nanoseconds as stipulated by the IEEE 802.1AS standard. The project's findings were that the functionalities stipulated by the IEEE TSN WG were possible to implement and even achieve synchronization between the different TSN modules. The thesis did not accomplish the synchronization accuracy levels specified by the IEEE TSN. This low synchronization accuracy level was understandable, considering that the 5GS and equipment needed to improve performance were missing. The thesis evaluates the exactness with which gPTP packets arriving at the TSN modules could be detected, captured, modified, and sent to end stations successfully and provides an in-depth explanation for why the synchronization accuracy levels achieved were low