Vertical handoff and mobility — system architecture and transition analysis

Abstract The contemporary information age is equipped with rich and affordable telecommunication services. In the future, people have even more flexibility when true wireless Internet and real-time multimedia are provided seamlessly over heterogeneous wireless networks. Optimally combining the capacity and services of the current and emerging networks requires a holistic view of mobility, resource and service management. This thesis contributes to the research and development of these hybrid systems with three main contributions. Firstly, a system architecture for vertical handoff in location-aware heterogeneous wireless networks is proposed. The proposed architecture enables the mobile node to prepare for approaching vertical handoffs and wake-up a hotspot interface. The needed communication procedures are discussed, and inter-related issues of mobility and geolocation information are considered in proportion to usability, advantages and limitations. Secondly, a framework for the analysis of vertical handoff algorithm sensitivity to various mobility parameters including velocity, handoff delay and dwell time is introduced. Handoff smoothing with a dwell-timer is analyzed as one potential scheme for optimizing vertical handoff locally. It is compared to a power based algorithm to find out its sensitivity to the changes in effective data rates, velocity of the terminal and the amount of handoff delay. The analysis focuses on the transition region, having case studies on both moving-in and moving-out scenarios. An optimal value for dwell-timer is found through simulations, showing a performance gain over power based algorithm as a function of mean throughput. The analysis is extended also to a multiple network scenario. Thirdly, experimental results on the behaviour of protocols used in wireless IP networks are presented. Prototype systems demonstrate results of using Mobile IP with a fuzzy logic algorithm for vertical handoff in a heterogeneous network environment and the role of IPv6 when using a voice application in a wireless LAN environment. Latest contributions include developing plug-and-play middleware functionalities for Symbian mobile devices, extending the use of the earlier results to state-of-the-art mobile devices

Fast transmission mechanism for secure VPLS architectures

Abstract Ethernet based secure VPLS (Virtual Private LAN Services) networks require to establish full mesh of VPLS tunnels between the customer sites. However, the tunnel establishment between geographically distant customer sites introduces a significantly high delay to the user traffic transportation. In this article, we propose a novel fast transmission mechanism for secure VPLS architectures to reduce the waiting time before transmitting the data and the average data transmission delay between geographically distant customer sites. The performance of proposed mechanism is analyzed by using a simulation model and a testbed implementation

Enhancing security, scalability and flexibility of virtual private LAN services

Abstract Ethernet based VPLS (Virtual Private LAN Service) networks are now becoming attractive in many enterprise applications due to simple, protocol-independent and cost efficient operation. However, new VPLS applications demand additional requirements, such as elevated security, enhanced scalability and improved flexibility. This paper summarized the results of a thesis which focused to increase the scalability, flexibility and compatibility of secure VPLS networks. First, we propose a scalable secure flat-VPLS architecture based on Host Identity Protocol (HIP) to increase the forwarding and security plane scalability. Then, a secure hierarchical-VPLS architecture has been proposed by extending the previous proposal to achieve control plane scalability as well. To solve the compatibility issues of Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) in VPLS networks, a novel Distributed STP (DSTP) is proposed. Lastly, we propose a novel SDN (Software Defined Networking) based VPLS (SoftVPLS) architecture to overcome tunnel management limitations in legacy secure VPLS architectures. Simulation models and testbed implementations are used to verify the performance of proposed solutions

Software defined VPLS architectures:opportunities and challenges

Abstract Virtual Private LAN Services (VPLS) is an Ethernet based VPN (Virtual Private Network) service which provides protocol independent and high speed multipoint-to-multipoint connectivity. In this article, we discuss the possibility to use emerging networks concepts such as Software Defined Networking (SDN) and Network Function Virtualization (NFV) to improve the performance, flexibility and adaptability of VPLS networks. SDN and NFV based VPLS (SoftVPLS) architectures offer new features such as centralized control, network programmability and abstraction to improve the performance, flexibility and automation of traffic, security and network management functions for future VPLS networks

Survey on blockchain based smart contracts:applications, opportunities and challenges

Abstract Blockchain is one of the disruptive technical innovation in the recent computing paradigm. Many applications already notoriously hard and complex are fortunate to ameliorate the service with the blessings of blockchain and smart contracts. The decentralized and autonomous execution with in-built transparency of blockchain based smart contracts revolutionize most of the applications with optimum and effective functionality. The paper explores the significant applications which already benefited from the smart contracts. We also highlight the future potential of the blockchain based smart contracts in these applications perspective

Securing edge services for future smart healthcare and industrial IoT applications

Abstract Secure and intelligent environments are crucial for fostering future IoT applications such as digital healthcare and Industry 4.0. Such smart environments must enable needed digital services to the respective users ubiquitously and fulfill critical requirements such as ensuring security, privacy, and low latency. This paper summarizes the dissertation work [1] through three major contributions, i) a lightweight biometrics-based user authentication mechanism in the smart and gadget-less healthcare environment, ii) a conceptual three-tier mechanism for secure nodes bootstrapping and secure users access for digital services, and iii) a Blockchain and Edge computing based network architecture for IIoT use case to fulfill the needed requirements such as low-latency, trust management, and security among others. The performance evaluation of the proposed framework is carried out, and the obtained results highlight valuable insight of this work for enabling a secure future hyperconnected environment for various applications

Performance analysis of blockchain based smart grids with Ethereum and Hyperledger implementations

Abstract Smart grids lay the foundation for future communities. Smart homes, smart buildings, smart streets, and smart offices are built when intelligent devices piles on intelligent devices. To reach the maximum capacity, they all must be supported by an intelligent power supply. For optimal and real-time electricity consumption, monitoring and trading, blockchain posses several potential benefits in its application to electricity infrastructure. To analyze the performance of the blockchain-based smart grid, this paper presents a virtual smart grid. A smart grid equipped with smart contracts, capable of executing virtual activities is evaluated and possible strengths and weaknesses are discussed. The paper draws a performance analysis of the blockchain-based smart grid by using the Ethereum and Hyperledger Fabric-based implementations

The role of 5G for digital healthcare against COVID-19 pandemic:opportunities and challenges

Abstract COVID-19 pandemic caused a massive impact on healthcare, social life, and economies on a global scale. Apparently, technology has a vital role to enable ubiquitous and accessible digital health services in pandemic conditions as well as against “re-emergence” of COVID-19 disease in a post-pandemic era. Accordingly, 5G systems and 5G-enabled e-health solutions are paramount. This paper highlights methodologies to effectively utilize 5G for e-health use cases and its role to enable relevant digital services. It also provides a comprehensive discussion of the implementation issues, possible remedies and future research directions for 5G to alleviate the health challenges related to COVID-19

SDN based operator assisted offloading platform for multi-controller 5G networks

Abstract This paper presents an operator-assisted data offloading platform for 5G mobile networks by using Software Defined Networking (SDN). By enabling lateral communication between multiple SDN controllers, operators are able to perform the offloading process without the intervention of the user. Moreover, the offloading decision of proposed platform is based on accurate real time network conditions. The proposed mechanism is implemented on a testbed to verify feasibility and performance

Multi-access edge computing and blockchain-based secure telehealth system connected with 5G and IoT

Abstract There is a global hype in the development of digital healthcare infrastructure to cater the massive elderly population and infectious diseases. The digital facilitation is expected to ensure the patient privacy, scalability, and data integrity on the sensitive life critical healthcare data, while aligning to the global healthcare data protection standards. The patient data sharing to third parties such as research institutions and universities is also concerned as a significant contribution to the society to sharpen the research and investigations. The emergence of 5G communication technologies eradicates the borders between patients, hospital and other institutions with high end service standards. In patients’ perspective, healthcare service delivery through the digital medium is beneficial in terms of time, costs, and risks. In this paper, we propose a novel Multi-access Edge Computing(MEC) and blockchain based service architecture utilizing the lightweight ECQV (Elliptic Curve Qu-Vanstone) certificates for the realtime data privacy, integrity, and authentication between IoT, MEC, and cloud. We further attached storage offloading capability to the blockchain to ensure scalability with a massive number of connected medical devices to the cloud. We introduced a rewarding scheme to the patients and hospitals through the blockchain to encourage data sharing. The access control is handled through the smart contracts. We evaluated the proposed system in a near realistic implementation using Hyperledger Fabric blockchain platform with Raspberry Pi devices to simulate the activity of the medical sensors