Issues and Challenges for Network Virtualisation

In recent years, network virtualisation has been of great interest to researchers, being a relatively new and major paradigm in networking. This has been reflected in the IT industry where many virtualisation solutions are being marketed as revolutionary and purchased by enterprises to exploit these promised performances. Adversely, there are certain drawbacks like security, isolation and others that have conceded the network virtualisation. In this study, an investigation of the different state-of-the-art virtualisation technologies, their issues and challenges are addressed and besides, a guideline for a quintessential Network Virtualisation Environment (NVE) is been proposed. A systematic review was effectuated on selectively picked research papers and technical reports. Moreover a comparative study is performed on different Network Virtualisation technologies which include features like security, isolation, stability, convergence, outlay, scalability, robustness, manageability, resource management, programmability, flexibility, heterogeneity, legacy Support, and ease of deployment. The virtualisation technologies comprise Virtual Private Network (VPN), Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN), Virtual Extensible Local Area Network (VXLAN), Software Defined Networking (SDN) and Network Function Virtualisation (NFV). Conclusively the results exhibited the disparity as to the gaps of creating an ideal network virtualisation model which can be circumvented using these as a benchmark

Resource Allocation in 4G and 5G Networks: A Review

The advent of 4G and 5G broadband wireless networks brings several challenges with respect to resource allocation in the networks. In an interconnected network of wireless devices, users, and devices, all compete for scarce resources which further emphasizes the fair and efficient allocation of those resources for the proper functioning of the networks. The purpose of this study is to discover the different factors that are involved in resource allocation in 4G and 5G networks. The methodology used was an empirical study using qualitative techniques by performing literature reviews on the state of art in 4G and 5G networks, analyze their respective architectures and resource allocation mechanisms, discover parameters, criteria and provide recommendations. It was observed that resource allocation is primarily done with radio resource in 4G and 5G networks, owing to their wireless nature, and resource allocation is measured in terms of delay, fairness, packet loss ratio, spectral efficiency, and throughput. Minimal consideration is given to other resources along the end-to-end 4G and 5G network architectures. This paper defines more types of resources, such as electrical energy, processor cycles and memory space, along end-to-end architectures, whose allocation processes need to be emphasized owing to the inclusion of software defined networking and network function virtualization in 5G network architectures. Thus, more criteria, such as electrical energy usage, processor cycle, and memory to evaluate resource allocation have been proposed.  Finally, ten recommendations have been made to enhance resource allocation along the whole 5G network architecture

Sentiment Analysis from Facebook Comments using Automatic Coding in NVivo 11

The number and size of social networks have grown significantly as years have passed. With its 1.5 billion active users, Facebook is by far the most popular social networks on the planet. From kindergarten kids to grandparents to teenagers, Facebook attracts users of all ages, religions, personalities and social status. Facebook users are sharing their personal information, their lifestyle, their precious moments and their feelings online. In this paper, we download a set of comments from the page ‘Opposing Views’ from Facebook. These were then categorised into either a positive comment or a negative comment using the auto code feature in NVivo 11. Comments where no positive or negative sentiments are found are considered to be neutral. Out of 626 comments, 29.6% were found to contain positive sentiments while 62.0% were found to contain negative sentiments. The outcome of this work can be used by businesses to assess public reviews about their products. This will help them understand what is working and what is not. Thus, they can improve their products and respond to customer demands sufficiently quickly

IPV6 Deployment - Mauritius to benefit from Opportunities and World-wide Experiences

The current standard protocol, IPV4, has reached its limit in terms of addressing possibilities, being limited by the 32-bits addressing scheme. Its successor, IPV6, had been devised since the mid 1990’s. In addition to handling the address limitations, IPV6 also includes a number of improved features, making it superior to IPV4 in several aspects. However, its deployment has taken much longer than expected. This paper presents how the design IPV6 improved over IPV4, the additional benefits of the newdesign, and challenges faced for the deployment of IPV6. It then outlines the deployment strategies adopted by different countries. It finally discusses how Mauritius can benefit from the IPV6 deployment and what lessons it can draw from deployment experiences obtained elsewhere

Forgotten, excluded or included? Students with disabilities: A case study at the University of Mauritius

Background: Students with disabilities in the tertiary education sector are more than a just a phenomenon, they are a reality. In general, little attention is devoted to their needs despite the fact that they need more care and attention. Objectives: This paper, through a case study at the University of Mauritius, sought to answer some pertinent questions regarding students with disabilities. Does the University of Mauritius have sufficient facilities to support these students? Are students aware of existing facilities? What additional structures need to be put in place so that students with any form of disability are neither victimised, nor their education undermined? Are there any local laws about students with disabilities in higher education? Method: To answer these questions and others, an online questionnaire was sent to 500 students and the responses were then analysed and discussed. The response rate was 24.4% which showed that students were not reticent to participate in this study. Results: Our survey revealed that most students were not aware of existing facilities and were often neglected in terms of supporting structures and resources. ICT facilities were found to be the best support that is provided at the University of Mauritius. The right legal framework for tertiary education was also missing. Conclusion: Ideally, students with disabilities should have access to special facilities to facilitate their learning experiences at tertiary institutions. Awareness about existing facilities must also be raised in order to offer equal opportunities to them and to enable a seamless inclusion