On the use of prioritization and network slicing features for mission critical and commercial traffic multiplexing in 5G Radio Access Networks

© 2019 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.The Public Protection and Disaster Relief (PPDR) sector is undergoing an important transition with the deployment of Mission Critical (MC) mobile broadband technology based on 3GPP standards, with multiple initiatives on-going worldwide for providing PPDR agencies with broadband communications capabilities. One common approach being adopted is the delivery of MC services together with commercial traffic over public mobile networks and the use of prioritization mechanisms to protect the MC connections in congestion situations. However, this approach leaves commercial traffic unprotected in front of a noncontrolled surge of MC traffic in specific cells since all resources would be allocated to serve this traffic. In this context, this paper proposes a solution to properly multiplex MC and commercial services with congestion protection for both types of services. The solution is based on the exploitation of the network slicing features brought into the new 5G standards. In particular, the paper describes how different slices can be parameterized in a 5G Radio Access Network (RAN) so that radio load guarantees can be established for each type of service. The proposed solution is evaluated in an illustrative scenario by means of simulations. Obtained results show the improvements in traffic isolation achievable by the slicing configuration when compared to the solution that only relies on prioritization mechanismsPeer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

On soft/hard handoff for packet data services in cellular CDMA mobiles systems

Benefits of macrodiversity operation for packet data services in third generation mobile systems are not obvious. Retransmission procedures to enhance link performance and higher downlink bandwidth requirements could question macrodiversity usage. This paper describes a simple methodology to compare soft and hard handoff performance in terms of transmission delay for packet data services. The handover procedures are based exclusively on power criteria and hysteresis margins.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Multiple slot allocation for voice/data transmission over PRMA++ applied to FRAMES multiple access mode 1

This paper presents some simulation results of PRMA++ for voice and data transmission over a physical air interface platform defined in the ACTS European project FRAMES. Variations on the statistics of speech sources (activity factor, petition rate) are studied and conclusions are obtained for optimal frame dimensioning. For data transmission, a multiple slot allocation scheme is presented and results are shown for different source rates and packet lengths.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Contribución a la caracterización de los mecanismos de acceso y traspaso en sistemas móviles celulares basados en transmisión de paquetes

La estandarización del esquema de acceso radio para los futuros sistemas de telecomunicación está a punto de ser una realidad. En el calendario propuesto por ITU para llevar a cabo la elaboración del estándar, se prevé que las primeras versiones de las especificaciones técnicas puedan estar disponibles a principios del año 2000. Pero la llegada de la tercera generación, conocida bajo el concepto IMT-2000 dentro de ITU y como UMTS en el ámbito europeo, no estsupeditada únicamente a la incorporación del nuevo sistema de acceso radio, sino que existe una marcada tendencia de migración de los sistemas móviles actuales hacia la provisión de los diferentes servicios y prestaciones ambicionados en el sistema IMT-2000/UMTS.Por tanto, el sistema IMT-2000/UMTS se plantea como una convergencia de diferentes sistemas y nuevas tecnologías que, paulatinamente, van armonizando sus características para poder llegar a conseguir una única plataforma global de telecomunicaciones. Y una de las directrices seguidas en dicha convergencia es la adopción de las denominadas técnicas de transmisión en modo paquete en sustitución de las actuales soluciones basadas en conmutación de circuitos. Algunos de los argumentos esgrimidos a favor de la incorporación de mecanismos de transmisión en modo paquete son los siguientes:* La posibilidad de realizar un uso más eficiente de los recursos radio disponibles. La asignación fija durante el transcurso de toda una conexión puede resultar completamente ineficiente para servicios a ráfagas o con tasas de transmisión fluctuantes.* Mayor flexibilidad a la hora de integrar tráfico de diferente naturaleza, como por ejemplo, voz, datos, deñales de vídeo, etc.* La mayor imbricación de las tecnologías de la información (IT), orientadas a paquetes, en las tecnologías de telecomunicaciones.* La integración paulatina de las redes de acceso móviles a una plataforma.Postprint (published version

Next-generation softwarized wireless networks

© 2018 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.Fifth-generation (5G) systems are being designed not only to face the unprecedented growth of mobile data traffic forecasted for the coming years but also to support other multiple and diverse use cases associated with new market segments and vertical industries (e.g., connected cars, smart cities, e-health, and smart factories). Hence, 5G systems are envisioned to become flexible and versatile network infrastructures that can be leveraged through a wide range of service-delivery models (e.g., neutral network hosting, network as a service, and private networks) and operators can customize for different applications and customer needs using network slicing.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

On-demand network slicing using SDN/NFV-enabled satellite ground segment systems

© 2018 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.This paper proposes an architecture framework for the realization of on-demand satellite network slicing that is built on the introduction of Software Defined Networking (SDN) and Network Function Virtualization (NFV) technologies. In this way, service delivery with satellite networks is shifted from a network for connectivity model to a network for service model with a high degree of service customization and adaptability, including satellite bandwidth on-demand. Under this framework, we study the resource orchestration of satellite network services by formulating the on-demand network slicing as an optimization problem that provides flexible service chaining and provisioning taking into account diversified service requirements. The objective is to determine the optimal resource allocation for supporting a satellite network slice that minimizes resources consumption while meeting service specification requirements such as the end-to-end delay.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Alternativas de despliegue y asignación de espectro para las redes radio de emergencia de banda ancha

La definición e implementación de una solución de banda ancha móvil que satisfaga las necesidades operativas de los cuerpos de seguridad pública y de emergencias (PPDR – Public Protection and Disaster Relief) es esencial para sustentar la adopción de servicios de transmisión de vídeo, imágenes y datos en muchos de sus procedimientos, mejorando su efectividad y eficiencia. Múltiples iniciativas están ya en marcha en diferentes países para dotar de soluciones de banda ancha móvil al sector (BB-PPDR), reflejando diferentes aproximaciones en cuanto a modelos de despliegue de servicios y redes, frecuencias de operación, etc. En este contexto, el presente artículo proporciona una panorámica de las diferentes alternativas de despliegue e iniciativas en progreso en otros países, que pueden ser relevantes en la definición de una solución en España. Además, puesto que la disponibilidad de espectro radioeléctrico juega un papel fundamental en la concepción y configuración de cualquier planteamiento, este artículo también analiza diferentes opciones de uso del espectro para servicios de banda ancha BB-PPDR y destaca la relevancia de armonizar un rango de frecuencias para el despliegue de estos servicios, cuestión que está previsto tratar en la próxima Conferencia Mundial de Radiocomunicaciones WRC’15.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

A traffic distribution scheme for 5G resilient backhauling using integrated satellite networks

© 2017 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.Resilience and high availability are being considered as essential requirements in 5G networks. To fullfil these requirements, the integration of a satellite component within mobile backhaul networks is regarded as a compelling proposition to provide backup connectivity to critical cell sites and divert traffic from congested areas so that a limited capacity in their terrestrial links could be supplemented during peak-time or even replaced in case of total/partial failure or maintenance. Sustained in an architectural framework that enables the integration and management of the satellite capacity as a constituent part of a SDN-based traffic engineered mobile backhaul network, this paper develops and assesses a traffic distribution strategy that exploits the dynamically steerable satellite capacity provisioned for resilience purposes to maximize a network utility function under both failure and non-failure conditions in the terrestrial links.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

SDN-based traffic engineering for improved resilience in integrated satellite-terrestrial backhaul networks

© 2017 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.Resilience and high availability are considered as essential requirements in 5G networks. To fullfil these requirements, the integration of a satellite component within mobile backhaul networks arises as a compelling proposition to provide backup connectivity to critical cell sites and divert traffic from congested areas so that a limited capacity in their terrestrial links could be supplemented during peak-time or even replaced in case of total/partial failure or maintenance. This is especially of interest for public protection and disaster relief (PPDR) communications in remote/rural areas that might require the fast deployment of nework capacity as well as in distressed areas where the terrestrial backhaul infrastructure might have suffered damages. This paper first describes an architectural framework that enables the integration and management of the satellite capacity as a constituent part of a Software Defined Networking (SDN) -based traffic engineered mobile backhaul network. Then, a SDN-based Traffic Engineering (TE) application is proposed to manage some amount of dynamically steerable satellite capacity provisioned for resilience purposes to maximize a network utility function under both failure and nonfailure conditions in the terrestrial links. Numerical results are presented to assess the benefits of the proposed TE application and its performance is compared to that of a traditional overflow solution.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Provisión de banda ancha móvil para seguridad pública y emergencias

El acceso de banda ancha móvil es fundamental para mejorar la eficiencia y efectividad de las comunicaciones de seguridad pública y emergencias. En este artículo se identifican y argumentan los tres pilares básicos sobre los que, en opinión de los autores, debe cimentarse la necesaria evolución de los servicios y sistemas de comunicaciones actuales: (1) adopción y alineamiento con las tecnologías de banda ancha móvil utilizadas en el entorno comercial; (2) explotación de estrategias de compartición de infraestructura y redes con actores comerciales; y (3) incorporación de principios de compartición de espectro.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version