195 research outputs found
Algorithms for advance bandwidth reservation in media production networks
Media production generally requires many geographically distributed actors (e.g., production houses, broadcasters, advertisers) to exchange huge amounts of raw video and audio data. Traditional distribution techniques, such as dedicated point-to-point optical links, are highly inefficient in terms of installation time and cost. To improve efficiency, shared media production networks that connect all involved actors over a large geographical area, are currently being deployed. The traffic in such networks is often predictable, as the timing and bandwidth requirements of data transfers are generally known hours or even days in advance. As such, the use of advance bandwidth reservation (AR) can greatly increase resource utilization and cost efficiency. In this paper, we propose an Integer Linear Programming formulation of the bandwidth scheduling problem, which takes into account the specific characteristics of media production networks, is presented. Two novel optimization algorithms based on this model are thoroughly evaluated and compared by means of in-depth simulation results
NFV and SDN - Key Technology Enablers for 5G Networks
Communication networks are undergoing their next evolutionary step towards
5G. The 5G networks are envisioned to provide a flexible, scalable, agile and
programmable network platform over which different services with varying
requirements can be deployed and managed within strict performance bounds. In
order to address these challenges a paradigm shift is taking place in the
technologies that drive the networks, and thus their architecture. Innovative
concepts and techniques are being developed to power the next generation mobile
networks. At the heart of this development lie Network Function Virtualization
and Software Defined Networking technologies, which are now recognized as being
two of the key technology enablers for realizing 5G networks, and which have
introduced a major change in the way network services are deployed and
operated. For interested readers that are new to the field of SDN and NFV this
paper provides an overview of both these technologies with reference to the 5G
networks. Most importantly it describes how the two technologies complement
each other and how they are expected to drive the networks of near future.Comment: This is an accepted version and consists of 11 pages, 9 figures and
32 reference
Cloudifying the 3GPP IP Multimedia Subsystem for 4G and Beyond: A Survey
4G systems have been continuously evolving to cope with the emerging
challenges of human-centric and machine-to- machine (M2M) applications.
Research has also now started on 5G systems. Scenarios have been proposed and
initial requirements derived. 4G and beyond systems are expected to easily
deliver a wide range of human-centric and M2M applications and services in a
scalable, elastic, and cost efficient manner. The 3GPP IP multimedia subsystem
(IMS) was standardized as the service delivery platform for 3G networks.
Unfortunately, it does not meet several requirements for provisioning
applications and services in 4G and beyond systems. However, cloudifying it
will certainly pave the way for its use as a service delivery platform for 4G
and beyond. This article presents a critical overview of the architectures
proposed so far for cloudifying the IMS. There are two classes of approaches;
the first focuses on the whole IMS system, and the second deals with specific
IMS entities. Research directions are also discussed. IMS granularity and a
PaaS for the development and management of IMS functional entities are the two
key directions we currently foresee.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, 1 table, this paper has been accepted in IEEE
Communications Magazine and will appear in January 2016 issue of the Network
and Service Management Serie
Realizing the Tactile Internet: Haptic Communications over Next Generation 5G Cellular Networks
Prior Internet designs encompassed the fixed, mobile and lately the things
Internet. In a natural evolution to these, the notion of the Tactile Internet
is emerging which allows one to transmit touch and actuation in real-time. With
voice and data communications driving the designs of the current Internets, the
Tactile Internet will enable haptic communications, which in turn will be a
paradigm shift in how skills and labor are digitally delivered globally. Design
efforts for both the Tactile Internet and the underlying haptic communications
are in its infancy. The aim of this article is thus to review some of the most
stringent design challenges, as well as proposing first avenues for specific
solutions to enable the Tactile Internet revolution.Comment: IEEE Wireless Communications - Accepted for Publicatio
Integrated NFV/SDN Architectures: A Systematic Literature Review
Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) and Software-Defined Networking (SDN)
are new paradigms in the move towards open software and network hardware. While
NFV aims to virtualize network functions and deploy them into general purpose
hardware, SDN makes networks programmable by separating the control and data
planes. NFV and SDN are complementary technologies capable of providing one
network solution. SDN can provide connectivity between Virtual Network
Functions (VNFs) in a flexible and automated way, whereas NFV can use SDN as
part of a service function chain. There are many studies designing NFV/SDN
architectures in different environments. Researchers have been trying to
address reliability, performance, and scalability problems using different
architectural designs. This Systematic Literature Review (SLR) focuses on
integrated NFV/SDN architectures, with the following goals: i) to investigate
and provide an in-depth review of the state-of-the-art of NFV/SDN
architectures, ii) to synthesize their architectural designs, and iii) to
identify areas for further improvements. Broadly, this SLR will encourage
researchers to advance the current stage of development (i.e., the
state-of-the-practice) of integrated NFV/SDN architectures, and shed some light
on future research efforts and the challenges faced.Comment: Accepted for publication at ACM Computing Survey
End-to-end service quality for cloud applications
This paper aims to highlight the importance of End-to-End (E2E) service quality for cloud scenarios, with focus on telecom carrier-grade services. In multi-tenant distributed and virtualized cloud infrastructures, enhanced resource sharing raises issues in terms of performance stability and reliability. Moreover, the heterogeneity of business entities responsible for the cloud service delivery, threatens the possibility of offering precise E2E service levels. Setting up proper Service-Level Agreements (SLAs) among the involved players, may become overly challenging. However, problems may be mitigated by a thoughtful intervention of standardization. The paper reviews some of the most important efforts in research and industry to tackle E2E service quality and concludes with some recommendations for additional research and/or standardization effort required to be able to deploy mission critical or interactive real-time services with high demands on service quality, reliability and predictability on cloud platforms. © 2013 Springer International Publishing
Network functions virtualization: the long road to commercial deployments
Network operators are under pressure to offer efficient network-based services while keeping
service deployment costs to a minimum. Network functions virtualization (NFV) can potentially revolutionize network-based services bringing low-deployment costs for network operators. The NFV has been
introduced to ultimately extend the non-proprietary and open-standard-based model to network and service
deployments, significant improvements to today’s proprietary locked implementations. Notwithstanding the
continuous efforts of both academia and industry to support the NFV paradigm, the current NFV solutions
offered are still in its infancy. In this survey, we provide a detailed background of NFV to establish a
comprehensive understanding of the subject, ranging from the basics to more advanced topics. Moreover,
we offer a comprehensive overview of the NFV main concepts, standardization efforts, the benefits of NFV,
and discussions of the NFV architecture as defined by the European telecommunications standardization
institute (ETSI). Furthermore, we discuss the NFV applicability and current open source projects. We then
highlight NFV requirements, design considerations, and developmental architectural impairments and
barriers to commercial NFV deployments. Finally, we conclude enumerating future directions for NFV
developmentpublishe
Container network functions: bringing NFV to the network edge
In order to cope with the increasing network utilization driven by new mobile clients, and to satisfy demand for new network services and performance guarantees, telecommunication service providers are exploiting virtualization over their network by implementing network services in virtual machines, decoupled from legacy hardware accelerated appliances. This effort, known as NFV, reduces OPEX and provides new business opportunities. At the same time, next generation mobile, enterprise, and IoT networks are introducing the concept of computing capabilities being pushed at the network edge, in close proximity of the users. However, the heavy footprint of today's NFV platforms prevents them from operating at the network edge. In this article, we identify the opportunities of virtualization at the network edge and present Glasgow Network Functions (GNF), a container-based NFV platform that runs and orchestrates lightweight container VNFs, saving core network utilization and providing lower latency. Finally, we demonstrate three useful examples of the platform: IoT DDoS remediation, on-demand troubleshooting for telco networks, and supporting roaming of network functions
Toward a fully cloudified mobile network infrastructure
Cloud computing enables the on-demand delivery of resources for a multitude of services and gives the opportunity for small agile companies to compete with large industries. In the telco world, cloud computing is currently mostly used by mobile network operators (MNO) for hosting non-critical support services and selling cloud services such as applications and data storage. MNOs are investigating the use of cloud computing to deliver key telecommunication services in the access and core networks. Without this, MNOs lose the opportunities of both combining this with over-the-top (OTT) and value-added services to their fundamental service offerings and leveraging cost-effective commodity hardware. Being able to leverage cloud computing technology effectively for the telco world is the focus of mobile cloud networking (MCN). This paper presents the key results of MCN integrated project that includes its architecture advancements, prototype implementation, and evaluation. Results show the efficiency and the simplicity that a MNO can deploy and manage the complete service lifecycle of fully cloudified, composed services that combine OTT/IT- and mobile-network-based services running on commodity hardware. The extensive performance evaluation of MCN using two key proof-of-concept scenarios that compose together many services to deliver novel converged elastic, on-demand mobile-based but innovative OTT services proves the feasibility of such fully virtualized deployments. Results show that it is beneficial to extend cloud computing to telco usage and run fully cloudified mobile-network-based systems with clear advantages and new service opportunities for MNOs and end-users
Deployment of NFV and SFC scenarios
Aquest Ãtem conté el treball original, defensat públicament amb data de 24 de febrer de 2017, aixà com una versió millorada del mateix amb data de 28 de febrer de 2017. Els canvis introduïts a la segona versió són 1) correcció d'errades 2) procediment del darrer annex.Telecommunications services have been traditionally designed linking hardware devices and providing mechanisms so that they can interoperate. Those devices are usually specific to a single service and are based on proprietary technology. On the other hand, the current model works by defining standards and strict protocols to achieve high levels of quality and reliability which have defined the carrier-class provider environment. Provisioning new services represent challenges at different levels because inserting the required devices involve changes in the network topology. This leads to slow deployment times and increased operational costs. To overcome the current burdens network function installation and insertion processes into the current service topology needs to be streamlined to allow greater flexibility. The current service provider model has been disrupted by the over-the-top Internet content providers (Facebook, Netflix, etc.), with short product cycles and fast development pace of new services. The content provider irruption has meant a competition and stress over service providers' infrastructure and has forced telco companies to research new technologies to recover market share with flexible and revenue-generating services. Network Function Virtualization (NFV) and Service Function Chaining (SFC) are some of the initiatives led by the Communication Service Providers to regain the lost leadership. This project focuses on experimenting with some of these already available new technologies, which are expected to be the foundation of the new network paradigms (5G, IOT) and support new value-added services over cost-efficient telecommunication infrastructures. Specifically, SFC scenarios have been deployed with Open Platform for NFV (OPNFV), a Linux Foundation project. Some use cases of the NFV technology are demonstrated applied to teaching laboratories. Although the current implementation does not achieve a production degree of reliability, it provides a suitable environment for the development of new functional improvements and evaluation of the performance of virtualized network infrastructures
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