Service Shifting: a Paradigm for Service Resilience in 5G

Many real-world services can be provided through multiple virtual network function (VNF) graphs, corresponding, e.g., to high- and low-complexity variants of the service itself. Based on this observation, we extend the concept of service scaling in network orchestration to service shifting, i.e., upgrading or downgrading the VNF graph to use among those implementing the same service. Service shifting can serve multiple goals, from reducing operational costs to reacting to infrastructure problems. Furthermore, it enhances the flexibility of service-level agreements between network operators and third party content providers (“verticals”). In this paper, we introduce and describe the service shifting concept, its benefits, and the associated challenges, with special reference to how service shifting can be integrated within real-world 5G architectures and implementations. We conclude that existing network orchestration frameworks can be easily extended to support service shifting, and its adoption has the potential to make 5G network slices easier for the operators to manage under high-load conditions, while still meeting the verticals’ requirements.This work is supported by the European Commission through the H2020 projects 5G-TRANSFORMER (Project ID 761536) and 5G-GROWTH (Project ID 856709 )

Service Shifting: a Paradigm for Service Resilience in 5G

Many real-world services can be provided through multiple virtual network function (VNF) graphs, corresponding, e.g., to high- and low-complexity variants of the service itself. Based on this observation, we extend the concept of service scaling in network orchestration to service shifting, i.e., upgrading or downgrading the VNF graph to use among those implementing the same service. Service shifting can serve multiple goals, from reducing operational costs to reacting to infrastructure problems. Furthermore, it enhances the flexibility of service-level agreements between network operators and third party content providers (“verticals”). In this paper, we introduce and describe the service shifting concept, its benefits, and the associated challenges, with special reference to how service shifting can be integrated within real-world 5G architectures and implementations. We conclude that existing network orchestration frameworks can be easily extended to support service shifting, and its adoption has the potential to make 5G network slices easier for the operators to manage under high-load conditions, while still meeting the verticals’ requirements

An Optimization-enhanced MANO for Energy-efficient 5G Networks

5G network nodes, fronthaul and backhaul alike, will have both forwarding and computational capabilities. This makes energy-efficient network management more challenging, as decisions such as activating or deactivating a node impact on both the ability of the network to route traffic and the amount of processing it can perform. To this end, we formulate an optimization problem accounting for the main features of 5G nodes and the traffic they serve, allowing joint decisions about (i) the nodes to activate, (ii) the network functions they run, and (iii) the traffic routing. Our optimization module is integrated within the management and orchestration framework of 5G, thus enabling swift and high-quality decisions. We test our scheme with both a real-world testbed based on OpenStack and OpenDaylight, and a large-scale emulated network whose topology and traffic come from a real-world mobile operator, finding it to consistently outperform state-of-the art alternatives and closely match the optimum

An Application-aware SDN Controller for Hybrid Optical-electrical DC Networks

The adoption of optical switching technologies in Data Centre Networks (DCNs) offers a solution for high speed traffic and energy efficiency in Data Centre (DC) operational management, enabling an easy scaling of DC infrastructures. Flexible, slotted allocation of optical resources is fundamental to efficiently support the dynamicity of DC traffic. In this context, the NEPHELE project proposes a Time Division Multiple Access approach for optical resource allocation, orchestrated through a Software Defined Networking controller which coordinates the DCN configuration based on real-time cloud application requests

Demo: Composing Services in 5G-TRANSFORMER

This paper has been presented at: 20th International Symposium on Mobile Ad Hoc Networking and Computing (ACM MobiHoc'19)5G mobile networks need flexilibity, dynamicity and programmability to satisfy the needs of vertical industries. In such context, network services can be designed as integral units to be dynamically grouped among them to create tailored complex composite services or to allow the combination of services in a context of network slicing. In this demonstration, we present the service composition capabilities of the 5G-TRANSFORMER platform. In particular, we will show the instantiation of a composite network service using a previously instantiated service. When terminating the composite network service, the initial instantiated network service resumes its operation without disruption.This work has been partially funded by the EC H2020 5G-Transformer Project (grant no. 761536), by MINECO grant TEC2017-88373-R (5G-REFINE) and Generalitat de Catalunya grant 2017 SGR 1195

EVALUATION OF SHEEP GRAZING EFFECTS ON NEMATODE COMMUNITY, INSECT INFESTATION AND SOIL FERTILITY IN SWEET CHESTNUT ORCHARDS: A CASE OF STUDY

In sweet chestnut cultivation, important ecosystem in Europe, the moderate sheep grazing practice may have some beneficial effects in organic farming. Its impact, on soil fertility, soil nematode community and level of fruit infested by tortricids and curculionids was evaluated in a case of study in Tuscany (Central Italy). An organic farm with sheep grazing system (SG) based on long-term field application was compared with an adjacent organic farm with poultry manure system (PM). In both managements, no treatment to control pests and diseases was applied and 0.19 kg /plant of nitrogen were distributed. SG increased twice the amount of organic C, total N and available P than PM. Moreover, the salinity effect of uric acid significantly increased the pH values in SG (from 5.0 to 6.2). The greatest accumulation of organic matter under SG provided stability in nematode community structure and the plant parasitic nematodes decreased. The analysis on the nematodes emerged from Galleria mellonella larvae, revealed that the abundance of native entomopathogenic nematodes was low and not effective to control insect pests. The sheep demonstrated to be the effective predators of tortricid and weevil larvae and in November, the total infestation was significantly lower in SG (34.3%) than PM (54.3%)