WiBACK: A back-haul network architecture for 5G networks

Recently both academic and industry worlds has started to define the successor of Long Term Evolution (LTE), so-called 5G networks, which will most likely appear by the end of the decade. It is widely accepted that those 5G networks will have to deal with significantly more challenging requirements in terms of provided bandwidth, latency and supported services. This will lead to not only modifications in access and parts of core networks, but will trigger changes throughout the whole network, including the Back-haul segment. In this work we present our vision of a 5G Back-haul network and identify the associated challenges. We then describe our Wireless Backhaul (WiBACK) architecture, which implements Software Defined Network (SDN) concepts and further extends them into the wireless domain. Finally we present a brief overview of our pilot installations before we conclude.This work has been supported by the BATS research project which is funded by the European Union Seventh Framework Programme under contract n317533

QoS Provisioning in Converged Satellite and Terrestrial Networks: A Survey of the State-of-the-Art

It has been widely acknowledged that future networks will need to provide significantly more capacity than current ones in order to deal with the increasing traffic demands of the users. Particularly in regions where optical fibers are unlikely to be deployed due to economical constraints, this is a major challenge. One option to address this issue is to complement existing narrow-band terrestrial networks with additional satellite connections. Satellites cover huge areas, and recent developments have considerably increased the available capacity while decreasing the cost. However, geostationary satellite links have significantly different link characteristics than most terrestrial links, mainly due to the higher signal propagation time, which often renders them not suitable for delay intolerant traffic. This paper surveys the current state-of-the-art of satellite and terrestrial network convergence. We mainly focus on scenarios in which satellite networks complement existing terrestrial infrastructures, i.e., parallel satellite and terrestrial links exist, in order to provide high bandwidth connections while ideally achieving a similar end user quality-of-experience as in high bandwidth terrestrial networks. Thus, we identify the technical challenges associated with the convergence of satellite and terrestrial networks and analyze the related work. Based on this, we identify four key functional building blocks, which are essential to distribute traffic optimally between the terrestrial and the satellite networks. These are the traffic requirement identification function, the link characteristics identification function, as well as the traffic engineering function and the execution function. Afterwards, we survey current network architectures with respect to these key functional building blocks and perform a gap analysis, which shows that all analyzed network architectures require adaptations to effectively support converged satellite and terrestrial networks. Hence, we conclude by formulating several open research questions with respect to satellite and terrestrial network convergence.This work was supported by the BATS Research Project through the European Union Seventh Framework Programme under Contract 317533

Towards QoS-aware load distribution in heterogeneous networks

Enabling broadband internet connectivity of 30 mbps and more is an ambiguous goal of the European Digital Agenda, particularly in rural and remote regions. Not relying on a single access technology but using multiple simultaneously is believed to be a promising option to meet this objective. However, simply using the available connections in parallel and distributing traffic arbitrarily among them despite their different characteristics might still lead to an unacceptable service quality due to the heterogeneity. Instead, methods that are sophisticated are required, which on one hand takes the Quality-of-Service (QoS) requirements of the various applications into account and on the other hand is aware of the different network characteristics. In this work, we discuss the main challenges which occur when utilizing multiple access technologies in parallel and we propose an architecture addressing those issues. Moreover, we present some preliminary validation results, which show the benefit of our approach.The BATS research project which is funded by the European Union Seventh Framework Programme under contract n31753

NETQOS policy management architecture for flexible QOS provisioning in Future Internet

This paper is focussed on the NETQOS architecture for automated QoS policy provisioning, which can be used in Future Internet scenarios by the different actors (i.e. network operators, service providers, and users) for flexible QoS configuration over combinations of mobile, fixed, sensor and broadcast networks. The NETQOS policy management architecture opens the possibility to specify QoS policies on a "business" level using ontology descriptions and policy management interfaces, which are specific to the actors. The business level policy specifications are translated by the NETQOS system into intermediate and operational QoS policies for automated QoS configuration at the managed heterogeneous network and transport entities. NETQOS allows QoS policy specification and dependency analysis considering Service Level Agreements (SLAs) between the actors, as well as automated policy provisioning and adaptation. The interaction of the NETQOS components is based on a common po licy repository. The particular focus of the paper is aimed to discuss ontology and actor oriented QoS policy specification and configuration for heterogeneous networks, as well as NETQOS QoS policy management interfaces at business level and automated translation of business QoS policies to intermediate and operational policy level

Proton-proton bremsstrahlung below and above pion-threshold: the influence of the Δ\Delta-isobar

The proton-proton bremsstrahlung is investigated within a coupled-channel model with the $\Delta$ degree of freedom. The model is consistent with the $NN$ scattering up to 1 GeV and the $\gamma N\Delta$ vertex determined in the study of pion photoproduction reactions. It is found that the $\Delta$ excitation can significantly improve the agreements with the $pp \rightarrow pp\gamma$ at $E_{lab}=280$ MeV. Predictions at $E_{lab}=550$ and $800$ MeV are presented for future experimental tests.Comment: 26 pages Revtex, 12 figures are available from the authors upon request ([email protected]

Toward Traffic Offload in Converged Satellite and Terrestrial Networks

Whilst broadband Internet connectivity has become highly important, providing broadband connectivity nonetheless remains a considerable challenge, particularly in rural and remote regions where the deployment of optical fibers faces economical obstacles. A promising option to address this issue is that of the most recent satellite systems, capable of providing high capacities virtually everywhere. However, compared to most terrestrial systems, satellite networks have very different link and, more importantly, latency characteristics, which often render them only barely usable for delay intolerant traffic. Thus, convergence of terrestrial and satellite networks is required, so that only certain traffic flows can be offloaded onto a supplemental satellite connection. In this paper, we propose a network architecture relying on modern software defined network concepts, which enable dynamic traffic offloading in a converged satellite and terrestrial network, in order to relieve the load in a narrow-band terrestrial network. We show that with limited overhead, a traffic can be offloaded, leading to an increase in the user's quality-of-experience

Wireless Back-haul: a software defined network enabled wireless Back-haul network architecture for future 5G networks

Recently both academic and industry worlds have started to define the successor of long term evolution, socalled 5G networks, which will most likely appear by the end of the decade. It is widely accepted that those 5G networks will have to deal with significantly more challenging requirements in terms of provided bandwidth, latency and supported services. This will lead to not only modifications in the access segment and parts of core networks, but will trigger changes throughout the whole network, including the Back-haul segment. In this work the authors present their vision of a 5G Back-haul network and identify the associated challenges. They then describe their wireless Backhaul architecture, which implements software defined network concepts and further extends them into the wireless domain. Finally the authors present a brief overview of their evaluation results.BATS research project which is funded by the European Union Seventh Framework Programme under contract n31753

SDN in the wireless context - Towards full programmability of wireless network elements

The required flexibility of future wireless networks architectures is aimed at allowing more innovation, reducing complexity and improving service offerings. Software Defined Networking (SDN) has been identified as an enabler for this adoption. In order to grasp a better understanding of the challenges faced as well as the potential uses cases, we identify the need for flexible software defined wireless network, its applications and challenges and propose an architectural framework.This work has been supported by the BATS research project which is funded by the European Union Seventh Framework Programme under contract n317533

Connecting the unconnected Economic constraints and technical requirements towards a back-haul network for rural areas

Rural areas especially in emerging countries often lack affordable broadband Internet connectivity. This digital divide limits the access to knowledge, government services or health care. The major limiting factors are seen in the CAPEX and especially the OPEX related to traditional wireless carrier equipment, its relatively large energy footprint, the vast and sparsely populated areas and the low revenues to be collected. Since in many rural regions access to a power grid may not be available or highly instable, ensuring a 24/7 operation of a cell site is a very costly task. To address these issues we have developed a carrier-grade heterogeneous multi-radio back-haul architecture which may be deployed as an alternative to traditional operator equipment. As integral part of Detecon's PeopleConnect eKiosk business model, Fraunhofer FOKUS' Wireless Back-Haul (WiBACK) network technology provides punctual wireless back-haul connectivity while building on cost-effective and low-power equipment. In this paper we present a pilot scenario in Maseru, Lesotho, where an entrepreneur starts out with three WiBACK-connected eKiosk sites with the goal of providing broadband Internet access to incrementally larger parts of Maseru over time