Network slicing with flexible mobility and QoS/QoE support for 5G networks

Proceeding of: 2017 IEEE International Conference on Communications. Workshops (ICC Workshops)Network slicing is an emerging area of research, featuring a logical arrangement of resources to operate as individual networks, thus allowing for massively customizable service and tenant requirements. The focus of this paper is to present the design of a flexible 5G architecture for network slicing, building on SDN and NFV technologies as enablers. More specifically, we place the emphasis on techniques that provide efficient utilization of substrate resources for network slicing, ultimately optimizing network performance. The key areas of consideration in our architecture revolve around flexible service-tailored mobility, service-aware QoS/QoE control as well as network-wide orchestrationThis research work has been performed in the framework of H2020-ICT-2014-2 project 5G NORMA

SDN for 5G Mobile Networks: NORMA perspective

Proceeding of: 11th EAI International Conference on Cognitive Radio Oriented Wireless Networks (CROWNCOM 2016)To build a flexible and an adaptable architecture network supporting variety of services and their respective requirements, 5G NORMA introduced a network of functions based architecture breaking the major design principles followed in the current network of entities based architecture. This revolution exploits the advantages of the new technologies like Software-Defined Networking (SDN) and Network Function Virtualization (NFV) in conjunction with the network slicing and multitenancy concepts. In this paper we focus on the concept of Software Defined for Mobile Network Control (SDM-C) network: its definition, its role in controlling the intra network slices resources, its specificity to be QoE aware thanks to the QoE/QoS monitoring and modeling component and its complementarity with the orchestration component called SDM-O. To operate multiple network slices on the same infrastructure efficiently through controlling resources and network functions sharing among instantiated network slices, a common entity named SDM-X is introduced. The proposed design brings a set of new capabilities to make the network energy efficient, a feature that is discussed through some use casesThis work has been performed in the framework of the H2020-ICT-2014-2 project 5G NORMA

Identifying 5G system enhancements: enabling technologies for multi-service networks

Proceeding of: 2018 IEEE Conference on Standards for Communications and Networking (CSCN)The fifth generation (5G) of mobile and wireless communications networks aims at addressing a diverse set of use cases, services, and applications with a particular focus on enabling new business cases via network slicing. The development of 5G has thus advanced quickly with research projects and standardization efforts resulting in the 5G baseline architecture. Nevertheless, for the realization of native end-to-end (E2E) network slicing, further features and optimizations shall still be introduced. In this paper, we provide a gap analysis of current 5G system (5GS) with respect to some specific enhancements and detail our insights on the enabling innovations that can fill the identified gaps. We will then discuss the essential building blocks and design principles of an evolved 5G baseline architecture capitalizing on the innovations that are being developed.This work has been performed in the framework of the H2020 project 5G-MoNArch co-funded by the EU

A flexible network architecture for 5G systems

In this paper, we define a flexible, adaptable, and programmable architecture for 5G mobile networks, taking into consideration the requirements, KPIs, and the current gaps in the literature, based on three design fundamentals: (i) split of user and control plane, (ii) service-based architecture within the core network (in line with recent industry and standard consensus), and (iii) fully flexible support of E2E slicing via per-domain and cross-domain optimisation, devising inter-slice control and management functions, and refining the behavioural models via experiment-driven optimisation. The proposed architecture model further facilitates the realisation of slices providing specific functionality, such as network resilience, security functions, and network elasticity. The proposed architecture consists of four different layers identified as network layer, controller layer, management and orchestration layer, and service layer. A key contribution of this paper is the definition of the role of each layer, the relationship between layers, and the identification of the required internal modules within each of the layers. In particular, the proposed architecture extends the reference architectures proposed in the Standards Developing Organisations like 3GPP and ETSI, by building on these while addressing several gaps identified within the corresponding baseline models. We additionally present findings, the design guidelines, and evaluation studies on a selected set of key concepts identified to enable flexible cloudification of the protocol stack, adaptive network slicing, and inter-slice control and management.This work has been performed in the framework of the H2020 project 5G-MoNArch co-funded by the E

Design e implementação de um broker para uma arquitetura de gerência e distribuição de contexto orientada a serviços

Esse trabalho apresenta o design e implementação de um Broker para uma Arquitetura Orientada a Serviços. Essa arqwuitetura gerencia e distribui informação de contexto. O objetivo final é ter uma implementação que provê todos os serviços requiridos pela arquitetura onde esse Broker opera. Ele será um ponto central para informação de contexto no sistema como um todo, tendo um papel maior do que um Broker comum em uma Arquitetura Orientada a Serviços. Inicialmente, uma base conceitual para esse trabalho será apresentada. O Broker opera em um ambiente consciente de contexto. Uma definição de contexto e de consciência de contexto são apresentadas. Além disso, os possíveis estilos de arquitetura e modos como contexto pode ser modelado e representado também serão apresentados e discutidos. Subsequentemente, a arquitetura onde o Broker opera será descrita e detalhada. Será a partir dessa arquitetura que os requerimentos funcionais do Broker serão determinados e extraídos. Ele é um componente chave da arquitetura, e deve preencher todos os requerimentos eficientemente. Todo o design e funcionamento serão então apresentados. As escolhas pertinentes ao design serão discutidas e argumentadas. Finalmente, possíveis expansões e melhorias serão discutidas. Após o fim deste trabalho, é possível concluir que o componente proposto satisfaz todos os requisitos funcionais. É uma solução que provê um gerente de contexto de alto nível, não estando atrelada a nenhum grupo específico de aplicações. Qualquer cliente do sistema pode procurar e acessar informação contextual facilmente.This work presents the design and implementation of a Broker for a Service-Oriented Architecture. This architecture manages and distributes context information. The goal is to have an implementation that provides all the services required by the architecture where the Broker resides. It will act as a central point for context information in the whole system, going further than the role normally assigned to a Broker in a SOA. First, the conceptual base for this work will be presented. The Broker operates in a context aware environment, and has to manage context information. A definition of context and context awareness are presented. Besides, the possible architectural styles and ways for context to be modelled and represented are also presented and discussed. Subsequently, the architecture in which the Broker operates will be describe and detailed. It’s from that architecture that all functional requirements for the Broker shall be determined and extracted. It constitutes a key component to the system, and it should fulfill all requirements in an efficient manner. All the design and functioning will be then presented. The design choices will be discussed and argued for. Finally, possible expansions and improvements will be discussed. After the end of this work, it is possible to conclude that the proposed component fulfills all functional requirements. It is a solution that provides a high level context manager, and in no way binded to a specific set of applications. Any client of the system can easily search and access contextual information

Design e implementação de um broker para uma arquitetura de gerência e distribuição de contexto orientada a serviços

Esse trabalho apresenta o design e implementação de um Broker para uma Arquitetura Orientada a Serviços. Essa arqwuitetura gerencia e distribui informação de contexto. O objetivo final é ter uma implementação que provê todos os serviços requiridos pela arquitetura onde esse Broker opera. Ele será um ponto central para informação de contexto no sistema como um todo, tendo um papel maior do que um Broker comum em uma Arquitetura Orientada a Serviços. Inicialmente, uma base conceitual para esse trabalho será apresentada. O Broker opera em um ambiente consciente de contexto. Uma definição de contexto e de consciência de contexto são apresentadas. Além disso, os possíveis estilos de arquitetura e modos como contexto pode ser modelado e representado também serão apresentados e discutidos. Subsequentemente, a arquitetura onde o Broker opera será descrita e detalhada. Será a partir dessa arquitetura que os requerimentos funcionais do Broker serão determinados e extraídos. Ele é um componente chave da arquitetura, e deve preencher todos os requerimentos eficientemente. Todo o design e funcionamento serão então apresentados. As escolhas pertinentes ao design serão discutidas e argumentadas. Finalmente, possíveis expansões e melhorias serão discutidas. Após o fim deste trabalho, é possível concluir que o componente proposto satisfaz todos os requisitos funcionais. É uma solução que provê um gerente de contexto de alto nível, não estando atrelada a nenhum grupo específico de aplicações. Qualquer cliente do sistema pode procurar e acessar informação contextual facilmente.This work presents the design and implementation of a Broker for a Service-Oriented Architecture. This architecture manages and distributes context information. The goal is to have an implementation that provides all the services required by the architecture where the Broker resides. It will act as a central point for context information in the whole system, going further than the role normally assigned to a Broker in a SOA. First, the conceptual base for this work will be presented. The Broker operates in a context aware environment, and has to manage context information. A definition of context and context awareness are presented. Besides, the possible architectural styles and ways for context to be modelled and represented are also presented and discussed. Subsequently, the architecture in which the Broker operates will be describe and detailed. It’s from that architecture that all functional requirements for the Broker shall be determined and extracted. It constitutes a key component to the system, and it should fulfill all requirements in an efficient manner. All the design and functioning will be then presented. The design choices will be discussed and argued for. Finally, possible expansions and improvements will be discussed. After the end of this work, it is possible to conclude that the proposed component fulfills all functional requirements. It is a solution that provides a high level context manager, and in no way binded to a specific set of applications. Any client of the system can easily search and access contextual information

Context-Awareness Enhances 5G Multi-Access Edge Computing Reliability

The fifth-generation mobile telecommunication network is expected to support multi-access edge computing (MEC), which intends to distribute computation tasks and services from the central cloud to the edge clouds. Toward ultra-responsive, ultra-reliable, and ultra-low-latency MEC services, the current mobile network security architecture should enable a more decentralized approach for authentication and authorization processes. This paper proposes a novel decentralized authentication architecture that supports flexible and low-cost local authentication with the awareness of context information of network elements such as user equipment and virtual network functions. Based on a Markov model for backhaul link quality as well as a random walk mobility model with mixed mobility classes and traffic scenarios, numerical simulations have demonstrated that the proposed approach is able to achieve a flexible balance between the network operating cost and the MEC reliability