Edge computing infrastructure for 5G networks: a placement optimization solution

This thesis focuses on how to optimize the placement of the Edge Computing infrastructure for upcoming 5G networks. To this aim, the core contributions of this research are twofold: 1) a novel heuristic called Hybrid Simulated Annealing to tackle the NP-hard nature of the problem and, 2) a framework called EdgeON providing a practical tool for real-life deployment optimization. In more detail, Edge Computing has grown into a key solution to 5G latency, reliability and scalability requirements. By bringing computing, storage and networking resources to the edge of the network, delay-sensitive applications, location-aware systems and upcoming real-time services leverage the benefits of a reduced physical and logical path between the end-user and the data or service host. Nevertheless, the edge node placement problem raises critical concerns regarding deployment and operational expenditures (i.e., mainly due to the number of nodes to be deployed), current backhaul network capabilities and non-technical placement limitations. Common approaches to the placement of edge nodes are based on: Mobile Edge Computing (MEC), where the processing capabilities are deployed at the Radio Access Network nodes and Facility Location Problem variations, where a simplistic cost function is used to determine where to optimally place the infrastructure. However, these methods typically lack the flexibility to be used for edge node placement under the strict technical requirements identified for 5G networks. They fail to place resources at the network edge for 5G ultra-dense networking environments in a network-aware manner. This doctoral thesis focuses on rigorously defining the Edge Node Placement Problem (ENPP) for 5G use cases and proposes a novel framework called EdgeON aiming at reducing the overall expenses when deploying and operating an Edge Computing network, taking into account the usage and characteristics of the in-place backhaul network and the strict requirements of a 5G-EC ecosystem. The developed framework implements several placement and optimization strategies thoroughly assessing its suitability to solve the network-aware ENPP. The core of the framework is an in-house developed heuristic called Hybrid Simulated Annealing (HSA), seeking to address the high complexity of the ENPP while avoiding the non-convergent behavior of other traditional heuristics (i.e., when applied to similar problems). The findings of this work validate our approach to solve the network-aware ENPP, the effectiveness of the heuristic proposed and the overall applicability of EdgeON. Thorough performance evaluations were conducted on the core placement solutions implemented revealing the superiority of HSA when compared to widely used heuristics and common edge placement approaches (i.e., a MEC-based strategy). Furthermore, the practicality of EdgeON was tested through two main case studies placing services and virtual network functions over the previously optimally placed edge nodes. Overall, our proposal is an easy-to-use, effective and fully extensible tool that can be used by operators seeking to optimize the placement of computing, storage and networking infrastructure at the users’ vicinity. Therefore, our main contributions not only set strong foundations towards a cost-effective deployment and operation of an Edge Computing network, but directly impact the feasibility of upcoming 5G services/use cases and the extensive existing research regarding the placement of services and even network service chains at the edge

A framework for the joint placement of edge service infrastructure and User Plane Functions for 5G

Achieving less than 1 ms end-to-end communication latency, required for certain 5G services and use cases, is imposing severe technical challenges for the deployment of next-generation networks. To achieve such an ambitious goal, the service infrastructure and User Plane Function (UPF) placement at the network edge, is mandatory. However, this solution implies a substantial increase in deployment and operational costs. To cost-effectively solve this joint placement problem, this paper introduces a framework to jointly address the placement of edge nodes (ENs) and UPFs. Our framework proposal relies on Integer Linear Programming (ILP) and heuristic solutions. The main objective is to determine the ENs and UPFs’ optimal number and locations to minimize overall costs while satisfying the service requirements. To this aim, several parameters and factors are considered, such as capacity, latency, costs and site restrictions. The proposed solutions are evaluated based on different metrics and the obtained results showcase over 20% cost savings for the service infrastructure deployment. Moreover, the gap between the UPF placement heuristic and the optimal solution is equal to only one UPF in the worst cases, and a computation time reduction of over 35% is achieved in all the use cases studied.Postprint (author's final draft

Latency-aware cost optimization of the service infrastructure placement in 5G networks

Under 5G use case scenarios latency is a main challenge that must be addressed, since mission critical environments are mostly delay sensitive. To achieve this goal, the service infrastructure placement optimization is needed in the interest of minimizing the delays in the service access layer. To solve this problem, this paper mathematically models the placement problem in a Fog Computing/NFV environment as a Mixed-Integer Linear Programming problem and proposes a heuristic-based solution considering 5G mobile network requirements. As a practical result, an application was developed to achieve usability and flexibility while ensuring operational applicability of the proposed methods.Postprint (published version

Network-aware Placement Optimization for Edge Computing infrastructure under 5G

© 2020 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.Edge Computing has grown into a key solution for coping with the stringent latency requirements of 5G scenarios. Nevertheless, the edge node placement problem raises critical concerns regarding deployment and operational expenditures (i.e., mainly due to the number of nodes to be deployed),current backhaul network capabilities, non-technical placement limitations, etc. In this paper, a novel framework called EdgeON is presented aiming at reducing the overall expenses when deploying and operating an Edge Computing (EC) network, taking into account the usage and characteristics of the in-place backhaul network. The framework implements several placement and optimization strategies targeting the heavily constrained network-aware Edge Node Placement Problem (ENPP). The results obtained by our solution are promising, achieving an average of30%less Edge Nodes (ENs) deployed and 25% higher average usage ratio when compared to other widely used heuristics. Furthermore, our strategy achieved as core offset of less than2%in comparison to the implemented Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP).Postprint (author's final draft

Reply: Response to Wilson et al. Comments on Lopez-Jaramillo et al. DivinylSulfone Cross-Linked Cyclodextrin-Based Polymeric Materials: Synthesis and Applications as Sorbents and Encapsulating Agents. Molecules, 2015, 20, 3565–3581

Reply: Response to Wilson et al. Comments on Lopez-Jaramillo et al. DivinylSulfone Cross-Linked Cyclodextrin-Based Polymeric Materials: Synthesis and Applications as Sorbents and Encapsulating Agents. Molecules, 2015, 20, 3565–3581The authors acknowledge the Ministerio de Ciencia and Innovacion for financial support (Grant CTQ2011-29299-CO2-01)

Vinyl sulfone: a multi-purpose function in proteomics

The chapter is organized in three sections. In a first instance, a general overview of the vinyl sulfone chemistry in terms of the most relevant methods of synthesis and aspects of their reactivity will be followed by a discussion of the application of this chemical behaviour with proteins. Their advantages and disadvantages with other currently available methodologies to modify amine and thiol groups naturally present in proteins will be compared. In a second section the applications of vinyl sulfones to Proteomics will be enumerated. Finally, the wide scope of the vinyl sulfone chemistry in other omic sciences will be discussed.The authors acknowledge Dirección General de Investigación Científica y Técnica (DGICYT) (CTQ2008-01754) and Junta de Andalucía (P07-FQM-02899) for financial support

Vinyl sulfonyl chemistry-driven unidirectional transport of a macrocycle through a [2]rotaxane

This work has been financially supported by FEDER(EDRF)/Junta de Andalucia-Consejeria de Transformacion Economica, Industria, Conocimiento y Universidades (P18-FR-2877), grant PID2020-112906GA-I00 funded by MCIN/AIE (/10.13039/501100011033) and Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad (MINECO, Spain) (CTQ2014-55474-C2-2-R and CTQ2017-86125P, co-financed by FEDER funds). Funding for open access APCs provided by Universidad de Granada through a Paid by Read & Publish agreement with RSC.By applying a combination of the coupling-and-decoupling (CAD) chemistry of the vinyl sulfonate group with the click thia-Michael addition to the vinyl sulfone group (MAVS) we performed the irreversible unidirectional transportation of the ring through the linear component in a [2]rotaxane by a chemically and pH-driven flashing energy ratchet mechanism. The design is based on a monostoppered thread precursor bearing a sulfonate stopper, a vinyl sulfone group on the unstoppered end and a dibenzylammonium unit as recognition site for the dibenzo-24-crown-8 macrocycle. First, the ring enters from the vinyl sulfone side and the rotaxane is capped through a thia-Michael addition reaction. Then, the cleavage of the sulfonate group of the opposite stopper using MgBr2 as chemical stimulus and subsequent addition of base (Et3N) promoted the controlled and directional release of the macrocycle into the bulk under mild conditions. The efficiency of the system allowed the in situ operation as demonstrated by NMR and HRMS techniques.FEDER(EDRF)/Junta de Andalucia-Consejeria de Transformacion Economica, Industria, Conocimiento y Universidades - MCIN/AIE P18-FR-2877Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad (MINECO, Spain) (FEDER funds) CTQ2014-55474-C2-2-R; CTQ2017-86125PUniversidad de GranadaRSCMCIN/AIE PID2020-112906GA-I0

Structure of concanavalin A at pH 8: bound solvent and crystal contacts

9 pages, 3 figures, 4 tables.Concanavalin A has been crystallized in the presence of the ligand (6-S-[beta]-D-galactopyranosyl-6-thio)-cyclomaltoheptaose. The crystals are isomorphous to those reported for ConA complexed with peptides at low resolution (3.00-2.75 Å). The structure was solved at 1.9 Å, with free R and R values of 0.201 and 0.184, respectively. As expected, no molecules of the ligand were bound to the protein. Soaking in the cryobuffer left its fingerprint as 25 molecules of glycerol in the bound solvent, most of them at specific positions. The fact that a glycerol molecule is located in the sugar-binding pocket of each of the four subunits in the asymmetric unit and another is located in two of the peptide-binding sites suggests a recognition phenomenon rather than a displacement of water molecules by glycerol. Crystal contact analysis shows that a relation exists between the residues that form hydrogen bonds to other asymmetric units and the space group: contact Asp58-Ser62 is a universal feature of ConA crystals, while Ser66-His121, Asn69-Asn118 and Tyr100-His205 contacts are general features of the C2221 crystal form.We thank Professor GarcõÂa-Ruiz for his constant support and helpful discussions and suggestions, Dr Cartwright for reviewing the manuscript and Professor Kabsch for providing XDS free of charge.We acknowledge EMBO/DESY for beam time, Professor Martinez Ripoll for his kind support in the preliminary X-ray characterization using the rotating-anode generator at the Instituto de QuõÂmica Fisica Roca Solano (CSIC) and the referees for valuable comments.Work in AA's laboratory is funded by Spanish Plan Nacional grant BMC- 2002-04011-C03.Peer reviewe

LA COMPETITIVIDAD DE LAS PYMES MORELIANAS

En las últimas décadas, se ha presentado una gran variedad de trabajos orientados al estudio de la competitividad, los cuales requieren ser abordados desde muy diversas perspectivas: el análisis financiero, el de mercado y el sistémico. Se han hecho estudios micro y macroeconómicos. El análisis de la competitividad de las PyMES es complejo y constituye un reto para proponer nuevas metodologías fáciles de implementar que permitan su adecuado estudio y que garanticen buenas soluciones. En el presente artículo, se realiza un trabajo empírico que permite conocer el estado de las PyMES de Morelia (México) que aportará nuevos conocimientos para su potenciación y desarrollo, en el corto, mediano y largo plazo. Palabras clave: competitividad empresarial, desarrollo PyMES. Abstract In the last decades, there has been a number of works oriented to the study of competitiveness, which need to be analyzed from different points of view, a financial analysis, a marketing or systemic perspective. Applications from a micro/macroeconomical approach have been developed. Competitiveness analysis is complex when dealing with SMEs, and this represents a challenge to establish and propose new methodologies with an easy implementation that allow its proper study and guarantee good solutions. In this paper an empirical study is presented, which enables us to know the status of SMEs in Morelia, México. It provides new knowledge for their empowerment and development in the short, medium and long term. Keywords: Competitiveness, development of SMEs

Fuzzy logic in the design of public policies: application of law

This paper presents a methodological proposal in the field of uncertainty management, FuzzyLogic, to support efficient and effective decision-making in the field of Legal Sciences. We aim to contribute to provide more elements to a better guidance in law application. We apply the methodology to assign a sanction in years of imprisonment to a given felony; in this case to parricide. This work aims to foster the design of new public policies to qualify the sentences of felonies in all areas of justice in order to establish databases of felonies characterizations to provide the judge a greater number of elements to make more deficient and effective decisions