Reducing service creation time leveraging on network function virtualization

Fifth-generation (5G) networks are envisioned to simultaneously support several services with different connectivity requirements. In this respect, service creation time is a key performance indicator (KPI) for service providers when planning the migration to 5G. For example, the European 5G infrastructure public private partnership (5G-PPP) suggests to reduce this time from 90 hours to 90 minutes, in the different phases of the service creation time KPI identified by this organization. This reduction can be achieved by leveraging on 5G state-of-the-art technologies: network function virtualization, network slicing, software-defined networking, and cloud computing, among others. Although some authors and projects have already studied the service creation time KPI in 5G, there is no literature that comprehensively analyzes and presents results related to each phase of this KPI. In this article, we explore the potential of network function virtualization technologies to reduce service creation time. To this end, we investigate the various phases of the service creation time KPI by designing and implementing, a realistic as well as complex network service that leverages on network function virtualization and related technologies. For our use case, we chose a content delivery network service specifically designed to distribute video. This decision was based on an analysis where we considered several parameters, like the complexity in the phases of design, fulfillment, and service assurance. We dissected all phases of the service creation time KPI required to turn our service blueprint into a deployment by utilizing network function virtualization tools. Henceforth, we defined and conducted several experiments, which were oriented to analyzing the different phases of the service creation time KPI. After analyzing the obtained results, we can conclude that using these new tools permits a substantial reduction in the time taken by each phase of the service creation time KPI.publishe

Deployment and evaluation of an Industry 4.0 use case over 5G

The arrival of 5G paves the way for the deployment of the so-called Industry 4.0, which is a new paradigm devoted to the digital transformation of manufacturing and factory production. Because of the resources required to perform this transformation, the importance of field trials and experimentation cannot be overstated, both to support the design of novel methodologies and to validate these designs. In this article, we leverage the 5G EVE end-to-end open platform to design and validate a novel operation approach for automated guided vehicles (AGVs). This use case consists of the placement of the intelligence that controls the AGV in a remote entity. This movement could improve and simplify the operation of industrial processes. The customizability of the 5G validation platform proves fundamental to evaluate the solution under different deployment architectures and to assess its performance under hazardous radio conditions. Our results demonstrate the ability of 5G to handle latency-constrained use cases with superior performance compared to the current state-of-the-art mobile technology.This work was partly funded by the European Commission under the European Union's Horizon 2020 program, grant agreement number 815074 (5G EVE project). The article solely reflects the views of the authors. The Commission is not responsible for the contents of this article or any use made thereof. The authors would like to thank Ignacio Berberana and Neftali Gonzalez from the 5TONIC Laboratory for their support in setting up the Spanish site

Transparent reallocation of control functions in IMS deployments

In this article we present a novel solution to transfer users between IMS network elements. This solution enables a home operator to perform an appropriate redistribution of load among the call session control functions of the IMS, which can be deployed as virtualized network functions or over dedicated machines. This way, the operator is enabled to adequately accommodate the instantaneous load generated by users to the available control resources, which may dynamically be activated or deactivated as necessary, as well as to enhance the resilient operation of the IMS deployment. Additionally, our solution does not require any change to the IMS specifications, and at the same time, the procedures are transparent to the end-user applications running at the IMS terminals. Finally, we describe some results obtained with a proof-ofconcept implementation of the procedures presented in the article in order to show the viability and correctness of our proposal

Supporting mobility in an IMS-based P2P IPTV service: A proactive context transfer mechanism

Abstract In recent years, IPTV has received an increasing amount of interest from the industry, commercial providers and the research community, alike. In this context, standardization bodies, such as ETSI and ITU-T, are specifying the architecture of IPTV systems based on IP multicast. An interesting alternative to support the IPTV service delivery relies on the peer-to-peer (P2P) paradigm to distribute and push the streaming effort towards the network edge. However, while P2P IPTV was studied in fixed access technologies, there has been little attention paid to the implications arising in mobile environments. One of these involves the service handover when the user moves to a different network. By analyzing previous work from the perspective of an IPTV service, we concluded that a proactive approach is necessary for the handling of inter-network handovers. In this paper, we propose a new general handover mechanism for the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), while studying its applicability to a P2P IPTV service. Our solution, called Proactive Context Transfer Service, incorporates the existing IEEE 802.21 technology in order to minimize the handover delay. The proposal is validated by comparing it against solutions derived from previous work

Clinical outcome and risk factors for failure in late acute prosthetic joint infections treated with debridement and implant retention

Objectives: Debridement, antibiotics and implant retention (DAIR) is the recommended treatment for all acute prosthetic joint infections (PJI), but its efficacy in patients with late acute (LA) PJI is not well described. Methods: Patients diagnosed with LA PJI between 2005 and 2015 were retrospectively evaluated. LA PJI was defined as the development of acute symptoms (= 3 months after arthroplasty. Failure was defined as: (i) the need for implant removal, (ii) infection related death, (iii) the need for suppressive antibiotic therapy and/or (iv) relapse or reinfection during follow-up. Results: 340 patients from 27 centers were included. The overall failure rate was 45.0% (153/340). Failure was dominated by Staphylococcus aureus PJI (54.7%, 76/139). Significant independent preoperative risk factors for failure according to the multivariate analysis were: fracture as indication for the prosthesis (odds ratio (OR) 5.4), rheumatoid arthritis (OR 5.1), age above 80 years (OR 2.6), male gender (OR 2.0) and C-reactive protein > 150 mg/L (OR 2.0). Exchanging the mobile components during DAIR was the strongest predictor for treatment success (OR 0.35). Conclusion: LA PJIs have a high failure rate. Treatment strategies should be individualized according to patient's age, comorbidity, clinical presentation and microorganism causing the infection. (C) 2018 The British Infection Association. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Peer reviewe