Connectivity Management for HetNets based on the Principles of Autonomicity and Context-Awareness

Στο περιβάλλον του Διαδικτύου του Μέλλοντος, η Πέμπτη γενιά (5G) δικτύων έχει ήδη αρχίσει να καθιερώνεται. Τα δίκτυα 5G αξιοποιούν υψηλότερες συχνότητες παρέχοντας μεγαλύτερο εύρος ζώνης, ενώ υποστηρίζουν εξαιρετικά μεγάλη πυκνότητα σε σταθμούς βάσης και κινητές συσκευές, σχηματίζοντας ένα περιβάλλον ετερογενών δικτύων, το οποίο στοχεύει στο να καλυφθούν οι απαιτήσεις της απόδοσης ως προς την μικρότερη δυνατή συνολική χρονοκαθυστέρηση και κατανάλωση ενέργειας. Η αποδοτική διαχείριση της συνδεσιμότητας σε ένα τόσο ετερογενές δικτυακό περιβάλλον αποτελεί ανοιχτό πρόβλημα, με σκοπό να υποστηρίζεται η κινητικότητα των χρηστών σε δίκτυα διαφορετικών τεχνολογιών και βαθμίδων, αντιμετωπίζοντας θέματα πολυπλοκότητας και διαλειτουργικότητας, υποστηρίζοντας τις απαιτήσεις των τρεχουσών εφαρμογών και των προτιμήσεων των χρηστών και διαχειρίζοντας ταυτόχρονα πολλαπλές δικτυακές διεπαφές. Η συλλογή, η μοντελοποίηση, η διεξαγωγή συμπερασμάτων και η κατανομή πληροφορίας περιεχομένου σε σχέση με δεδομένα αισθητήρων θα παίξουν κρίσιμο ρόλο σε αυτήν την πρόκληση. Με βάση τα παραπάνω, κρίνεται σκόπιμη η αξιοποίηση των αρχών της επίγνωσης περιεχομένου και της αυτονομικότητας, καθώς επιτρέπουν στις δικτυακές οντότητες να είναι ενήμερες του εαυτού τους και του περιβάλλοντός τους, καθώς και να αυτοδιαχειρίζονται τις λειτουργίες τους ώστε να πετυχαίνουν συγκεκριμένους στόχους. Επιπλέον, χρειάζεται ακριβής ποσοτική αξιολόγηση της απόδοσης λύσεων διαχείρισης της συνδεσιμότητας για ετερογενή δίκτυα, οι οποίες παρουσιάζουν διαφορετικές στρατηγικές επίγνωσης περιβάλλοντος, απαιτώντας μια μεθοδολογία που να είναι περιεκτική και γενικά εφαρμόσιμη ώστε να καλύπτει διαφορετικές προσεγγίσεις, καθώς οι υπάρχουσες μεθοδολογίες στην βιβλιογραφία είναι σχετικά περιορισμένες. Tο σύνολο της μελέτης επικεντρώνεται σε δύο θεματικούς άξονες. Στο πρώτο θεματικό μέρος της διατριβής, αναλύεται ο ρόλος της επίγνωσης περιβάλλοντος και της αυτονομικότητας, σε σχέση με την διαχείριση της συνδεσιμότητας, αναπτύσσοντας ένα πλαίσιο ταξινόμησης και κατηγοριοποίησης, επεκτείνοντας την τρέχουσα βιβλιογραφία. Με βάση το προαναφερθέν πλαίσιο, ταξινομήθηκαν και αξιολογήθηκαν λύσεις για την υποστήριξη της κινητικότητας σε ετερογενή δίκτυα, οι οποίες δύνανται να θεωρηθούν ότι παρουσιάζουν επίγνωση περιβάλλοντος και αυτο-διαχειριστικά χαρακτηριστικά. Επιπλέον, μελετήθηκε κατά πόσον οι αποφάσεις που λαμβάνονται ως προς την επιλογή του κατάλληλου δικτύου, σύμφωνα με την κάθε λύση, είναι αποτελεσματικές και προτάθηκαν τρόποι βελτιστοποίησης των υπαρχουσών αρχιτεκτονικών, καθώς και προτάσεων προς περαιτέρω ανάπτυξη σχετικών μελλοντικών λύσεων. Στο δεύτερο θεματικό μέρος της διατριβής, αναπτύχθηκε μια ευέλικτη αναλυτική μεθοδολογία, περιλαμβάνοντας όλους τους παράγοντες που μπορούν να συνεισφέρουν στην συνολική χρονοκαθυστέρηση, λαμβάνοντας υπόψιν την σηματοδοσία, την επεξεργαστική επιβάρυνση και την συμφόρηση (μελέτη ουράς), επεκτείνοντας την τρέχουσα βιβλιογραφία. Η μεθοδολογία είναι περιεκτική, ενώ ταυτόχρονα προσφέρει κλειστού τύπου λύσεις και έχει την δυνατότητα να προσαρμόζεται σε διαφορετικές προσεγγίσεις. Προς απόδειξη αυτού, εφαρμόσαμε την μεθοδολογία σε δύο λύσεις με διαφορετική στρατηγική επίγνωσης περιβάλλοντος (μια μεταδραστική και μια προδραστική). Και για τις δύο προσεγγίσεις, τα αναλυτικά αποτελέσματα επιβεβαιώθηκαν από προσομοιώσεις, επιβεβαιώνοντας την αποτελεσματικότητα και την ακρίβεια της αναλυτικής μεθοδολογίας. Επιπλέον, αποδείχθηκε ότι η προδραστική προσέγγιση εμφανίζει καλύτερη απόδοση ως προς την συνολική χρονοκαθυστέρηση, ενώ χρειάζεται σημαντικά λιγότερους επεξεργαστικούς πόρους, παρουσιάζοντας πιθανά οφέλη και στην συνολική ενεργειακή κατανάλωση και στα λειτουργικά και κεφαλαιουχικά κόστη (OPEX και CAPEX)

Employing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for Improving Handoff using Cooperative Game Theory

Heterogeneous wireless networks that are used for seamless mobility are expected to face prominent problems in future 5G cellular networks. Due to their proper flexibility and adaptable preparation, remote-controlled Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) could assist heterogeneous wireless communication. However, the key challenges of current UAV-assisted communications consist in having appropriate accessibility over wireless networks via mobile devices with an acceptable Quality of Service (QoS) grounded on the users' preferences. To this end, we propose a novel method based on cooperative game theory to select the best UAV during handover process and optimize handover among UAVs by decreasing the (i) end-to-end delay, (ii) handover latency and (iii) signaling overheads. Moreover, the standard design of Software Defined Network (SDN) with Media Independent Handover (MIH) is used as forwarding switches in order to obtain seamless mobility. Numerical results derived from the real data are provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach in terms of number of handovers, cost and delay

Access Network Selection in Heterogeneous Networks

The future Heterogeneous Wireless Network (HWN) is composed of multiple Radio Access Technologies (RATs), therefore new Radio Resource Management (RRM) schemes and mechanisms are necessary to benefit from the individual characteristics of each RAT and to exploit the gain resulting from jointly considering the whole set of the available radio resources in each RAT. These new RRM schemes have to support mobile users who can access more than one RAT alternatively or simultaneously using a multi-mode terminal. An important RRM consideration for overall HWN stability, resource utilization, user satisfaction, and Quality of Service (QoS) provisioning is the selection of the most optimal and promising Access Network (AN) for a new service request. The RRM mechanism that is responsible for selecting the most optimal and promising AN for a new service request in the HWN is called the initial Access Network Selection (ANS). This thesis explores the issue of ANS in the HWN. Several ANS solutions that attempt to increase the user satisfaction, the operator benefits, and the QoS are designed, implemented, and evaluated. The thesis first presents a comprehensive foundation for the initial ANS in the H\VN. Then, the thesis analyses and develops a generic framework for solving the ANS problem and any other similar optimized selection problem. The advantages and strengths of the developed framework are discussed. Combined Fuzzy Logic (FL), Multiple Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) and Genetic Algorithms (GA) are used to give the developed framework the required scalability, flexibility, and simplicity. The developed framework is used to present and design several novel ANS algorithms that consider the user, the operator, and the QoS view points. Different numbers of RATs, MCDM tools, and FL inference system types are used in each algorithm. A suitable simulation models over the HWN with a new set of performance evolution metrics for the ANS solution are designed and implemented. The simulation results show that the new algorithms have better and more robust performance over the random, the service type, and the terminal speed based selection algorithms that are used as reference algorithms. Our novel algorithms outperform the reference algorithms in- terms of the percentage of the satisfied users who are assigned to the network of their preferences and the percentage of the users who are assigned to networks with stronger signal strength. The new algorithms maximize the operator benefits by saving the high cost network resources and utilizing the usage of the low cost network resources. Usually better results are achieved by assigning the weights using the GA optional component in the implemented algorithms

A QoE-driven Vertical Handover Management Framework for Multimedia Services over Wireless Networks

With advances in wireless technology and mobile devices, the number of mobile users using multimedia services has increased significantly in recent years. Mobile devices can be connected and roam on heterogeneous wireless networks. The IEEE 802.21 group has designed a Media Independent Handover (MIH) standard to ensure seamless Vertical Handover (VHO) in heterogeneous networks. However, the standard currently depends on features of the network (e.g. the type of network and available bandwidth) to achieve seamless VHO. This approach is limited, as it does not consider how a Quality of Experience (QoE) can be provided and maintained for customers when delivering multimedia services in heterogeneous wireless networks. The aim of the project is to develop a novel QoE-driven VHO management framework for providing and maintaining an appropriate level of QoE of multimedia services as the mobile user’s actual requirements in heterogeneous wireless networks. A QoE-driven VHO algorithm is more efficient for maintaining this acceptable QoE of multimedia services than traditional network-based or QoS-based VHO algorithms. There are three main contributions during this project. Firstly, A thorough evaluation of the performance of voice and video services via Skype was carried out in terms of the QoE metric (i.e. MOS). This work identified the impact of video content and packet loss on the QoE metric for voice and video communication services over wireless networks. Secondly, a QoE-driven VHO algorithm was developed to provide and maintain an acceptable QoE of mobile video services for mobile users. Compared to a traditional network-based VHO algorithm, this algorithm can provide better QoE and maintain acceptable QoE. Lastly, the User-centric QoE-driven (UCQoE) VHO framework to provide satisfactory QoE of multimedia services according to the mobile user’s requirements. The framework allows users to set their own preferences (e.g. quality-guarantee or cost-free) and carry out VHO operations accordingly. The evaluation showed that the proposed framework can provide a better QoE for delivered video services than QoS-based and network-based VHO algorithms. Furthermore, the proposed framework can be used to avoid unnecessary cost of mobile data when the option of cost-free is preferred by the user. During this project, three international conference papers had been published and a journal paper has been submitted to IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing. The main contribution-UCQoE VHO management framework can be developed to maintain QoE of all mobile services in the future

A survey of machine learning techniques applied to self organizing cellular networks

In this paper, a survey of the literature of the past fifteen years involving Machine Learning (ML) algorithms applied to self organizing cellular networks is performed. In order for future networks to overcome the current limitations and address the issues of current cellular systems, it is clear that more intelligence needs to be deployed, so that a fully autonomous and flexible network can be enabled. This paper focuses on the learning perspective of Self Organizing Networks (SON) solutions and provides, not only an overview of the most common ML techniques encountered in cellular networks, but also manages to classify each paper in terms of its learning solution, while also giving some examples. The authors also classify each paper in terms of its self-organizing use-case and discuss how each proposed solution performed. In addition, a comparison between the most commonly found ML algorithms in terms of certain SON metrics is performed and general guidelines on when to choose each ML algorithm for each SON function are proposed. Lastly, this work also provides future research directions and new paradigms that the use of more robust and intelligent algorithms, together with data gathered by operators, can bring to the cellular networks domain and fully enable the concept of SON in the near future

Prise de décision de handover vertical pour la gestion de mobilité dans les réseaux hétérogènes sans fil

L évolution des technologies réseaux sans fil, des terminaux mobiles ainsi que des contenus et des services créent des environnements hétérogènes de plus en plus complexes. Dans ce contexte, un compromis entre la mobilité, la transparence et la performance apparaît. Des utilisateurs mobiles, ayant différents profils et préférences, voudraient être toujours connectés au meilleur réseau à tout moment, sans avoir à se soucier des différentes transitions entre réseaux hétérogènes. Face à cette complexité, il parait nécessaire de proposer de nouvelles approches afin de rendre ces systèmes plus autonomes et de rendre les décisions de handover vertical plus efficaces. Cette thèse se concentre sur la gestion de mobilité verticale, plus précisément sur la prise de décision de handover vertical dans un environnement de réseaux hétérogènes sans fil. Après l identification des différents paramètres de prise de décision et l analyse de l état de l art relié à la gestion de la mobilité verticale, nous avons proposé un système de réputation qui permet de réduire les délais de prise de décision. La réputation d un réseau est introduite comme une nouvelle métrique de prise de décision qui peut être recueillie à partir des expériences précédentes des utilisateurs sur ce réseau. Nous montrons que la réputation est une métrique efficace qui permet l anticipation du handover et accélère la prise de décision. Bien que l objectif principal soit de garantir la meilleure qualité de service et l utilisation optimale des ressources radios, les aspects économiques doivent également être considérés, y compris la minimisation des coûts pour les utilisateurs et la maximisation des revenus pour les fournisseurs de services ou les opérateurs. Nous proposons alors, dans la deuxième partie de la thèse, un mécanisme de prise de décision basé sur la théorie des jeux. Ce dernier permet la maximisation des utilités des réseaux et des utilisateurs. Dans cette solution, chaque réseau disponible joue un jeu de Stackelberg avec un ensemble d utilisateurs, tandis que les utilisateurs jouent un jeu de Nash entre eux pour partager les ressources radios limitées. Un point d équilibre de Nash, qui maximise l utilité de l utilisateur et les revenus des fournisseurs de services, est trouvé et utilisé pour le contrôle d admission et la prise de décision de handover vertical. Dans la troisième partie de cette thèse, nous proposons et discutons deux différentes solutions architecturales sur lesquelles nos mécanismes de prise de décision proposés peuvent être intégrés. La première architecture proposée est basée sur la norme IEEE 802.21 à laquelle nous proposons certaines extensions. La seconde architecture proposée est basée sur un niveau de contrôle composé de deux couches de virtualisation. La virtualisation est assurée via des agents capables de faire un raisonnement et de prendre des décisions pour le compte d entités physiques qu ils représentent au sein du système. Cette architecture permet une plus grande flexibilitéMobility management over heterogeneous wireless networks is becoming a major interest area as new technologies and services continue to proliferate within the wireless networking market. In this context, seamless mobility is considered to be crucial for ubiquitous computing. Service providers aim to increase the revenue and to improve users satisfaction. However there are still many technical and architectural challenges to overcome before achieving the required interoperability and coexistence of heterogeneous wireless access networks. Indeed, the context of wireless networks is offering multiple and heterogeneous technologies (e.g. 2G to 4G, WiFi, Wimax, TETRA,...). On the one hand, this rich environment allows users to take profit from different capacities and coverage characteristics. Indeed, this diversity can provide users with high flexibility and allow them to seamlessly connect at any time and any where to the access technology that best fits their requirements. Additionally, cooperation between these different technologies can provide higher efficiency in the usage of the scarce wireless resources offering more economic systems for network providers. On the other hand, the heterogeneity of technologies and architectures and the multiplication of networks and service providers creates a complex environment where cooperation becomes challenging at different levels including and not limited to mobility management, radio resource provisioning, Quality of Service and security guarantees. This thesis is focusing on mobility management and mainly on decision making for Vertical handover within heterogeneous wireless network environments. After the analysis of the related state of the art, we first propose a reputation based approach that allows fast vertical handover decision making. A decision making scheme is then built on that approach. Network s reputation, is a new metric that can be gathered from previous users experiences in the networks. We show that it is an efficient construct to speed up the vertical handover decision making thanks to anticipation functionalities. While the main objective remains guaranteeing the best Quality of Service and optimal radio resource utilization, economical aspects have also to be considered including cost minimization for users and revenue maximization for network providers. For this aim, we propose, in the second part of the thesis, a game theoretic based scheme that allows maximizing benefits for both networks and users. In this solution, each available network plays a Stackelberg game with a finite set of users, while users are playing a Nash game among themselves to share the limited radio resources. A Nash equilibrium point, that maximizes the user s utility and the service provider revenue, is found and used for admission control and vertical handover decision making. The analyses of the optimal bandwidth/prices and the revenue at the equilibrium point show that there are some possible policies to use according to user s requirements in terms of QoS and to network capacities. For instance, we pointed out that networks having same capacities and different reputation values should charge users with different prices which makes reputation management very important to attract users and maximize networks revenue. In the third part of this thesis, we provide and discuss two different architectural and implementation solutions on which our proposed vertical handover decision mechanisms can be integrated. The first proposed architecture is a centralized one. It is based on the IEEE 802.21 standard to which some extensions are proposed. The second proposed architecture is distributed. It is based on an overlay control level composed of two virtualization layers able to make reasoning on behalf of physical entities within the system. This architecture allows higher flexibility especially for loosely coupled interconnected networksEVRY-INT (912282302) / SudocSudocFranceF

Mobility management in 5G heterogeneous networks

In recent years, mobile data traffic has increased exponentially as a result of widespread popularity and uptake of portable devices, such as smartphones, tablets and laptops. This growth has placed enormous stress on network service providers who are committed to offering the best quality of service to consumer groups. Consequently, telecommunication engineers are investigating innovative solutions to accommodate the additional load offered by growing numbers of mobile users. The fifth generation (5G) of wireless communication standard is expected to provide numerous innovative solutions to meet the growing demand of consumer groups. Accordingly the ultimate goal is to achieve several key technological milestones including up to 1000 times higher wireless area capacity and a significant cut in power consumption. Massive deployment of small cells is likely to be a key innovation in 5G, which enables frequent frequency reuse and higher data rates. Small cells, however, present a major challenge for nodes moving at vehicular speeds. This is because the smaller coverage areas of small cells result in frequent handover, which leads to lower throughput and longer delay. In this thesis, a new mobility management technique is introduced that reduces the number of handovers in a 5G heterogeneous network. This research also investigates techniques to accommodate low latency applications in nodes moving at vehicular speeds

Intelligent Technique for Seamless Vertical Handover in Vehicular Networks

Seamless mobility is a challenging issue in the area of research of vehicular networks that are supportive of various applications dealing with the intelligent transportation system (ITS). The conventional mobility management plans for the Internet and the mobile ad hoc network (MANET) is unable to address the needs of the vehicular network and there is severe performance degradation because of the vehicular networks’ unique characters such as high mobility. Thus, vehicular networks require seamless mobility designs that especially developed for them. This research provides an intelligent algorithm in providing seamless mobility using the media independent handover, MIH (IEEE 802.21), over heterogeneous networks with different access technologies such as Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi), as well as the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) for improving the quality of service (QoS) of the mobile services in the vehicular networks. The proposed algorithm is a hybrid model which merges the biogeography-based optimization or BBO with the Markov chain. The findings of this research show that our method within the given scenario can meet the requirements of the application as well as the preferences of the users