An opportunistic and non-anticipating size-aware scheduling proposal for mean holding cost minimization in time-varying channels

In this paper we study how to design a scheduling strategy aimed at minimizing the average holding cost for flows with general size distribution when the feasible transmission rate of each user varies randomly over time. We employ a Whittle-index-based approach in order to achieve an opportunistic and non-anticipating size-aware scheduling index rule proposal. When the flow size distribution belongs to the Decreasing Hazard Rate class, we propose the so-called Attained Service Potential Improvement index rule, which consists in giving priority to the flows with the highest ratio between the current attained-service-dependent completion probability and the expected potential improvement of this completion probability. We further analyze the performance of the proposed scheduler, concluding that it outperforms well-known opportunistic disciplines

Transport Protocol Performance and Impact on QoS while on the Move in Current and Future Low Latency Deployments

Transport protocols and mobile networks have evolved independently leading to a lack of adaptability and quality of service (QoS) degradation while running under the variability circumstances present in cellular access. This chapter evaluates the performance of state-of-the-art transmission control protocol (TCP) implementations in challenging mobility scenarios under 4G latencies and low delays that model the proximity service provisioning of forthcoming 5G networks. The evaluation is focused on selecting the most appropriate TCP flavor for each scenario taking into account two metrics: (1) the goodput-based performance and (2) a balanced performance metric that includes parameters based on goodput, delay and retransmitted packets. The results show that mobility scenarios under 4G latencies require more aggressive TCP solutions in order to overcome the high variability in comparison with low latency conditions. Bottleneck Bandwidth and Round-Trip Time-RTT (BBR) provides better scalability than others and Illinois is more capable of sustaining the goodput with big variability between consecutive samples. Besides, CUBIC performs better in lower available capacity scenarios and regarding the balanced metric. In reduced end-to-end latencies, the most suitable congestion control algorithms (CCAs) to maximize the goodput are NewReno (low available capacity) and CUBIC (high available capacity) when moving with continuous capacity increases. Additionally, BBR shows a balanced and controlled behavior in most of the scenarios

Quality of Service (QoS) oriented management system in 5G cloud enabled RAN

[EN] This paper analyze techniques to implement QoS/QoE on multi-tenant 5G networks. Describes the ar- chitecture of the next generation mobile network based on cloud-enabled small cell deployments and also proposes an hybrid-cloud solution coexisting with centralized cloud RAN(C-RAN), in order to achieve a gradual implementation of the technology. In this context, the work here presented deals with the challenges of preserving the quality of ex- perience in a multi-tenant cloud enable RAN bearing in mind the Key Performance Indicator(KPI) agreed in the SLA. To achieve this goal, QoS should be managed at different levels of the architecture. Feedback should be given between learning modules in order to analyze the results and infer enhanced decision rules which may conclude in an architecture replacement.The research leading to these results has been supported by the EU funded H2020 5G-PPP projects SESAME (Grant Agreement n 671596) and ESSENCE project (Grant Agreement no 761592) and by the Spanish Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad (MINECO) under grant TEC2016-80090-C2-2-R (5RANVIR).Solozabal, R.; Fajardo, JO.; Blanco, B.; Liberal, F. (2018). Quality of Service (QoS) oriented management system in 5G cloud enabled RAN. En XIII Jornadas de Ingeniería telemática (JITEL 2017). Libro de actas. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 170-175. https://doi.org/10.4995/JITEL2017.2017.6587OCS17017

Oportunidades para la transmisión de información médica en las nuevas redes de misión crítica

Tradicionalmente han existido dos familias de tecnología separadas para proporcionar comunicaciones inalámbricas de área amplia: redes celulares comerciales y sistemas de seguridad pública dedicados, generalmente basados en redes privadas de radio (PMR), y orientados fundamentalmente a la voz. Las redes de seguridad pública proporcionan comunicaciones para servicios como policía, bomberos y ambulancias. En este ámbito el requisito ha sido desarrollar sistemas que sean altamente robustos y puedan atender las necesidades específicas de comunicación de los servicios de emergencia. Esto ha fomentado las normas de seguridad pública - como TETRA, TETRAPOL y P25 - que proporcionan un conjunto de características que no eran compatibles con los sistemas celulares comerciales. Así, los clásicos walkie-talkies proporcionan servicios de voz (y datos de banda estrecha) que limitaban las posibles aplicaciones que los servicios de atención médica podían utilizar en la atención a emergencias. Para proporcionar el mejor servicio a ambas comunidades y aprovechar las capacidades de las redes de banda ancha, el organismo de estandarización 3GPP creó una plataforma para las comunicaciones de misión crítica. El establecimiento de normas técnicas comunes para la seguridad comercial y pública de la telefonía móvil ofrece ventajas a ambas comunidades: • La comunidad de seguridad pública obtiene acceso a las ventajas económicas y técnicas generadas por la escala de las redes celulares comerciales. • La comunidad celular comercial tiene la oportunidad de abordar partes del mercado de seguridad pública, así como obtener mejoras a sus sistemas que tienen aplicaciones interesantes para los consumidores y las empresas. Este nuevo panorama ofrece nuevas posibilidades para la transmisión de datos, imagen y sonido en aplicaciones médicas. Cuestiones como la seguridad de las comunicaciones y la velocidad y retardo mínimo necesarios, que generalmente han supuesto una barrera para el desarrollo de soluciones médicas para redes PMR, estarán disponibles ahora directamente por la propia plataforma estandarizada por el 3GPP. Este artículo pretende identificar esas nuevas posibilidades para el sector médico y el trabajo que están realizando los diferentes grupos de trabajo en el 3GPP de cara a garantizar los requisitos

A Novel Scheduling Index Rule Proposal for QoE Maximization in Wireless Networks

This paper deals with the resource allocation problem aimed at maximizing users’ perception of quality in wireless channels with time-varying capacity. First of all, we model the subjective quality-aware scheduling problem in the framework of Markovian decision processes. Then, given that the obtaining of the optimal solution of this model is unachievable, we propose a simple scheduling index rule with closed-form expression by using a methodology based on Whittle approach. Finally, we analyze the performance of the achieved scheduling proposal in several relevant scenarios, concluding that it outperforms the most popular existing resource allocation strategies

A Robust Optimization Based Energy-Aware Virtual Network Function Placement Proposal for Small Cell 5G Networks with Mobile Edge Computing Capabilities

In the context of cloud-enabled 5G radio access networks with network function virtualization capabilities, we focus on the virtual network function placement problem for a multitenant cluster of small cells that provide mobile edge computing services. Under an emerging distributed network architecture and hardware infrastructure, we employ cloud-enabled small cells that integrate microservers for virtualization execution, equipped with additional hardware appliances. We develop an energy-aware placement solution using a robust optimization approach based on service demand uncertainty in order to minimize the power consumption in the system constrained by network service latency requirements and infrastructure terms. Then, we discuss the results of the proposed placement mechanism in 5G scenarios that combine several service flavours and robust protection values. Once the impact of the service flavour and robust protection on the global power consumption of the system is analyzed, numerical results indicate that our proposal succeeds in efficiently placing the virtual network functions that compose the network services in the available hardware infrastructure while fulfilling service constraints.The research leading to these results has been supported by the EU funded H2020 5G-PPP Project SESAME (Grant Agreement 671596) and the Spanish MINECO Project 5GRANVIR (TEC2016-80090-C2-2-R)

Improving Content Delivery Efficiency through Multi-Layer Mobile Edge Adaptation

This paper presents a novel architecture for optimizing the HTTP-based multimedia delivery in multi-user mobile networks. This proposal combines the usual client-driven dynamic adaptation scheme DASH-3GPP with network-assisted adaptation capabilities, in order to maximize the overall Quality of Experience. The foundation of this combined adaptation scheme is based on two state of the art technologies. On one hand, adaptive HTTP streaming with multi-layer encoding allows efficient media delivery and improves the experienced media quality in highly dynamic channels. Additionally, it enables the possibility to implement network-level adaptations for better coping with multi-user scenarios. On the other hand, mobile edge computing facilitates the deployment of mobile services close to the user. This approach brings new possibilities in modern and future mobile networks, such as close to zero delays and awareness of the radio status. The proposal in this paper introduces a novel element, denoted as Mobile Edge-DASH Adaptation Function, which combines all these advantages to support efficient media delivery in mobile multi-user scenarios. Furthermore, we evaluate the performance enhancements of this content- and user context-aware scheme through simulations of a mobile multimedia scenario.European Union H2020 programme: Grant Agreement H2020-ICT-671596. Spanish Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad (MINECO): grant TEC2013-46766-R

QoE-Oriented Mobile Edge Service Management Leveraging SDN and NFV

5G envisages a "hyperconnected society" where trillions of diverse entities could communicate with each other anywhere and at any time, some of which will demand extremely challenging performance requirements such as submillisecond low latency. Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) concept where application computing resources are deployed at the edge of the mobile network in proximity of an end user is a promising solution to improve quality of online experience. To make MEC more flexible and cost-effective Network Functions Virtualisation (NFV) and Software-Defined Networking (SDN) technologies are widely adopted. It leads to significant CAPEX and OPEX reduction with the help of a joint radio-cloud management and orchestration logic. In this paper we discuss and develop a reference architecture for the orchestration and management of the MEC ecosystem. Along with the lifecycle management flows of MEC services, indicating the interactions among the functional modules inside the Orchestrator and with external elements, QoS management with a focus on the channel state information technique is presented.The research leading to these results has been supported by the EU funded H2020 5G-PPP project SESAME under the Grant Agreement no. 671596 and National Spanish Projects QoEverage (no. TEC2013-46766-R) and ONOFRE (no. TEC2014-53071-C3-1-P)

Introducing mobile edge computing capabilities through distributed 5G Cloud Enabled Small Cells

Current trends in broadband mobile networks are addressed towards the placement of different capabilities at the edge of the mobile network in a centralised way. On one hand, the split of the eNB between baseband processing units and remote radio headers makes it possible to process some of the protocols in centralised premises, likely with virtualised resources. On the other hand, mobile edge computing makes use of processing and storage capabilities close to the air interface in order to deploy optimised services with minimum delay. The confluence of both trends is a hot topic in the definition of future 5G networks. The full centralisation of both technologies in cloud data centres imposes stringent requirements to the fronthaul connections in terms of throughput and latency. Therefore, all those cells with limited network access would not be able to offer these types of services. This paper proposes a solution for these cases, based on the placement of processing and storage capabilities close to the remote units, which is especially well suited for the deployment of clusters of small cells. The proposed cloud-enabled small cells include a highly efficient microserver with a limited set of virtualised resources offered to the cluster of small cells. As a result, a light data centre is created and commonly used for deploying centralised eNB and mobile edge computing functionalities. The paper covers the proposed architecture, with special focus on the integration of both aspects, and possible scenarios of application.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft