Using a normative framework to explore the prototyping of wireless grids

The capacity for normative frameworks to capture the essential features of interactions between components in open architectures suggests they might also be of assistance in an early, rapid prototyping phase of system development, helping to refine concepts, identify actors, explore policies and evaluate feasibility. As an exercise to examine this thesis, we investigate the concept of the wireless grid. Wireless grids have been proposed to address the energy issues arising from a new generation of mobile phones, the idea being that local communication with other mobile phones, being cheaper, can be used in combination with network communication to achieve common goals while at the same time extending the battery duty cycle. This results in a social dilemma, as it is advantageous for rational users to benefit from the energy savings without any contribution to the cooperation, as every commitment has its price. We present a necessarily simplified model, whose purpose is to provide us with the foundation to explore issues in the management of such a framework, policies to encourage collaborative behaviour, and the means to evaluate the effects on energy consumption

Secure Virtual Mobile Small Cells: A Stepping Stone Towards 6G

YesAs 5th Generation research reaches the twilight, the research community must go beyond 5G and look towards the 2030 connectivity landscape, namely 6G. In this context, this work takes a step towards the 6G vision by proposing a next generation communication platform, which aims to extend the rigid coverage area of fixed deployment networks by considering virtual mobile small cells (MSC) that are created on demand. Relying on emerging computing paradigms such as NFV (Network Function Virtualization) and SDN (Software Defined Networking), these cells can harness radio and networking capability locally reducing protocol signalling latency and overhead. These MSCs constitute an intelligent pool of networking resources that can collaborate to form a wireless network of MSCs providing a communication platform for localized, ubiquitous and reliable connectivity. The technology enablers for implementing the MSC concept are also addressed in terms of virtualization, lightweight wireless security, and energy efficient RF. The benefits of the MSC architecture towards reliable and efficient cell-offloading are demonstrated as a use-case.This project has received funding from the European Union's H2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement H2020-MCSAITN- 2016-SECRET 722424 [2]