5,189 research outputs found
A Novel Design for Advanced 5G Deployment Environments with Virtualized Resources at Vehicular and MEC Nodes
IoT and edge computing are profoundly changing the information era, bringing
a hyper-connected and context-aware computing environment to reality. Connected
vehicles are a critical outcome of this synergy, allowing for the seamless
interconnection of autonomous mobile/fixed objects, giving rise to a
decentralized vehicle-to-everything (V2X) paradigm. On this front, the European
Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) proposed the Multi-Access Edge
Computing (MEC) standard, addressing the execution of cloud-like services at
the very edge of the infrastructure, thus facilitating the support of
low-latency services at the far-edge. In this article, we go a step further and
propose a novel ETSI MEC-compliant architecture that fully exploits the
synergies between the edge and far-edge, extending the pool of virtualized
resources available at MEC nodes with vehicular ones found in the vicinity. In
particular, our approach allows vehicle entities to access and partake in a
negotiation process embodying a rewarding scheme, while addressing resource
volatility as vehicles join and leave the resource pool. To demonstrate the
viability and flexibility of our proposed approach, we have built an ETSI
MEC-compliant simulation model, which could be tailored to distribute
application requests based on the availability of both local and remote
resources, managing their transparent migration and execution. In addition, the
paper reports on the experimental validation of our proposal in a 5G network
setting, contrasting different service delivery modes, by highlighting the
potential of the dynamic exploitation of far-edge vehicular resources
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
SDN/NFV-enabled satellite communications networks: opportunities, scenarios and challenges
In the context of next generation 5G networks, the satellite industry is clearly committed to revisit and revamp the role of satellite communications. As major drivers in the evolution of (terrestrial) fixed and mobile networks, Software Defined Networking (SDN) and Network Function Virtualisation (NFV) technologies are also being positioned as central technology enablers towards improved and more flexible integration of satellite and terrestrial segments, providing satellite network further service innovation and business agility by advanced network resources management techniques. Through the analysis of scenarios and use cases, this paper provides a description of the benefits that SDN/NFV technologies can bring into satellite communications towards 5G. Three scenarios are presented and analysed to delineate different potential improvement areas pursued through the introduction of SDN/NFV technologies in the satellite ground segment domain. Within each scenario, a number of use cases are developed to gain further insight into specific capabilities and to identify the technical challenges stemming from them.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft
Random Linear Network Coding for 5G Mobile Video Delivery
An exponential increase in mobile video delivery will continue with the
demand for higher resolution, multi-view and large-scale multicast video
services. Novel fifth generation (5G) 3GPP New Radio (NR) standard will bring a
number of new opportunities for optimizing video delivery across both 5G core
and radio access networks. One of the promising approaches for video quality
adaptation, throughput enhancement and erasure protection is the use of
packet-level random linear network coding (RLNC). In this review paper, we
discuss the integration of RLNC into the 5G NR standard, building upon the
ideas and opportunities identified in 4G LTE. We explicitly identify and
discuss in detail novel 5G NR features that provide support for RLNC-based
video delivery in 5G, thus pointing out to the promising avenues for future
research.Comment: Invited paper for Special Issue "Network and Rateless Coding for
Video Streaming" - MDPI Informatio
Introducing mobile edge computing capabilities through distributed 5G Cloud Enabled Small Cells
Current trends in broadband mobile networks are addressed towards the placement of different capabilities at the edge of the mobile network in a centralised way. On one hand, the split of the eNB between baseband processing units and remote radio headers makes it possible to process some of the protocols in centralised premises, likely with virtualised resources. On the other hand, mobile edge computing makes use of processing and storage capabilities close to the air interface in order to deploy optimised services with minimum delay. The confluence of both trends is a hot topic in the definition of future 5G networks. The full centralisation of both technologies in cloud data centres imposes stringent requirements to the fronthaul connections in terms of throughput and latency. Therefore, all those cells with limited network access would not be able to offer these types of services. This paper proposes a solution for these cases, based on the placement of processing and storage capabilities close to the remote units, which is especially well suited for the deployment of clusters of small cells. The proposed cloud-enabled small cells include a highly efficient microserver with a limited set of virtualised resources offered to the cluster of small cells. As a result, a light data centre is created and commonly used for deploying centralised eNB and mobile edge computing functionalities. The paper covers the proposed architecture, with special focus on the integration of both aspects, and possible scenarios of application.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft
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