Optimized LTE Data Transmission Procedures for IoT: Device Side Energy Consumption Analysis

The efficient deployment of Internet of Things (IoT) over cellular networks, such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) or the next generation 5G, entails several challenges. For massive IoT, reducing the energy consumption on the device side becomes essential. One of the main characteristics of massive IoT is small data transmissions. To improve the support of them, the 3GPP has included two novel optimizations in LTE: one of them based on the Control Plane (CP), and the other on the User Plane (UP). In this paper, we analyze the average energy consumption per data packet using these two optimizations compared to conventional LTE Service Request procedure. We propose an analytical model to calculate the energy consumption for each procedure based on a Markov chain. In the considered scenario, for large and small Inter-Arrival Times (IATs), the results of the three procedures are similar. While for medium IATs CP reduces the energy consumption per packet up to 87% due to its connection release optimization

Automated Network Service Scaling in NFV: Concepts, Mechanisms and Scaling Workflow

Next-generation systems are anticipated to be digital platforms supporting innovative services with rapidly changing traffic patterns. To cope with this dynamicity in a cost-efficient manner, operators need advanced service management capabilities such as those provided by NFV. NFV enables operators to scale network services with higher granularity and agility than today. For this end, automation is key. In search of this automation, the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) has defined a reference NFV framework that make use of model-driven templates called Network Service Descriptors (NSDs) to operate network services through their lifecycle. For the scaling operation, an NSD defines a discrete set of instantiation levels among which a network service instance can be resized throughout its lifecycle. Thus, the design of these levels is key for ensuring an effective scaling. In this article, we provide an overview of the automation of the network service scaling operation in NFV, addressing the options and boundaries introduced by ETSI normative specifications. We start by providing a description of the NSD structure, focusing on how instantiation levels are constructed. For illustrative purposes, we propose an NSD for a representative NS. This NSD includes different instantiation levels that enable different ways to automatically scale this NS. Then, we show the different scaling procedures the NFV framework has available, and how it may automate their triggering. Finally, we propose an ETSI-compliant workflow to describe in detail a representative scaling procedure. This workflow clarifies the interactions and information exchanges between the functional blocks in the NFV framework when performing the scaling operation.Comment: This work has been accepted for publication in the IEEE Communications Magazin

Analytic Analysis of Narrowband IoT Coverage Enhancement Approaches

The introduction of Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) as a cellular IoT technology aims to support massive Machine-Type Communications applications. These applications are characterized by massive connections from a large number of low-complexity and low-power devices. One of the goals of NB-IoT is to improve coverage extension beyond existing cellular technologies. In order to do that, NB-IoT introduces transmission repetitions and different bandwidth allocation configurations in uplink. These new transmission approaches yield many transmission options in uplink. In this paper, we propose analytical expressions that describe the influence of these new approaches in the transmission. Our analysis is based on the Shannon theorem. The transmission is studied in terms of the required Signal to Noise Ratio, bandwidth utilization, and energy per transmitted bit. Additionally, we propose an uplink link adaptation algorithm that contemplates these new transmission approaches. The conducted evaluation summarizes the influence of these approaches. Furthermore, we present the resulting uplink link adaptation from our proposed algorithm sweeping the device's coverage.Comment: Accepted in the 2018 Global IoT Summit (GIoTS) conferenc

Influenza virus differentially activates mTORC1 and mTORC2 signaling to maximize late stage replication

<div><p>Influenza A virus usurps host signaling factors to regulate its replication. One example is mTOR, a cellular regulator of protein synthesis, growth and motility. While the role of mTORC1 in viral infection has been studied, the mechanisms that induce mTORC1 activation and the substrates regulated by mTORC1 during influenza virus infection have not been established. In addition, the role of mTORC2 during influenza virus infection remains unknown. Here we show that mTORC2 and PDPK1 differentially phosphorylate AKT upon influenza virus infection. PDPK1-mediated phoshorylation of AKT at a distinct site is required for mTORC1 activation by influenza virus. On the other hand, the viral NS1 protein promotes phosphorylation of AKT at a different site via mTORC2, which is an activity dispensable for mTORC1 stimulation but known to regulate apoptosis. Influenza virus HA protein and down-regulation of the mTORC1 inhibitor REDD1 by the virus M2 protein promote mTORC1 activity. Systematic phosphoproteomics analysis performed in cells lacking the mTORC2 component Rictor in the absence or presence of Torin, an inhibitor of both mTORC1 and mTORC2, revealed mTORC1-dependent substrates regulated during infection. Members of pathways that regulate mTORC1 or are regulated by mTORC1 were identified, including constituents of the translation machinery that once activated can promote translation. mTORC1 activation supports viral protein expression and replication. As mTORC1 activation is optimal midway through the virus life cycle, the observed effects on viral protein expression likely support the late stages of influenza virus replication when infected cells undergo significant stress.</p></div

The Association of Blood Banks per City with Mortality Due to Traumatic Hemorrhagic Shock in Colombia: A Population-Based Analysis

Background: Hemorrhagic shock is the second leading cause of death for injured people and disproportionately affects low resource economies. The potential role of spatial allocation of blood banks and the unmet transfusion needs of patients are yet to be characterized. We aimed to estimate the effect of the number of blood banks in mortality due to traumatic hemorrhagic shock (THS) in Colombia. Methods: We performed a population-based cross-sectional study using secondary data from the Colombian Government: including annual reports from the Blood Bank Network, mortality, and population estimates for 2015-2016. International Classification of Disease 10th code T79.4 identified THS as the primary cause of death. A city-clustered multivariate negative binomial regression, weighted by violent deaths rate, was used to obtain incidence rate ratios (IRR) of death due to THS with 95% confidence intervals (95%CI). Results: Of the 59,030 violent deaths in Colombia in 2015-2016, 36.76% were due to THS. Only 3.13% of Colombian municipalities had a blood bank. THS incidence decreased as the number of blood banks in a city increased, and the lowest incidence was observed at ten banks (IRR:0.18, 95%CI:0.15-0.22). Receiving medical care in a city with blood banks had a more substantial impact on THS (IRR:0.85; 95%CI:0.76-0.96). Conclusion: The number of blood banks per city was associated with lower incidence of THS deaths. These findings may highlight the inequitable distribution of blood systems and their association with preventable deaths. Further studies with more focused clinical and geographical data might clarify the geographic determinants of blood products’ availability

THERMAL ACTIVATED CARRIER TRANSFER BETWEEN InAs QUANTUM DOTS IN VERY LOW DENSITY SAMPLES

During the last decade, a great effort has been made studying the temperature evolution of QD emission, obtaining good agreements between experimental data and theoretical models. Thermal escape through wetting layer (WL) or by phonon assisted tunneling is usually claimed to describe carrier transfer in monomodal and bimodal QDs distributions. In the present study we have analyzed this phenomenon in two different samples containing a very low density of InAs/GaAs QDs, namely 16.5 and 25 QD/?m2 (Samples I and II, respectively). A detailed experimental study as a function of temperature has been carried out by using ensemble photoluminescence (PL), micro-PL and time resolved PL (TRPL) techniques. In both samples coexist two QD size distributions: (i) a small size one emitting in the region 1.25-1.35 eV (SQD family) and (ii) a large size one emitting in the region 1.05-1.20 eV (LQD family), as shown in Figs. 1.a-b. In sample I the SQD family dominates in intensity and the opposite is observed in Sample II, yet their temperature evolution is similar. An increase of the LQD integrated intensity is observed simultaneously with the decrease of the SDQ band, as observed in Figs. 1.c-d. This behavior is corroborated by the first time by Micro-PL of single QDs (see Fig. 1.e) belonging to both families detected simultaneously. The experiment is performed by using a multimode optical fiber in the detection arm of our confocal microscope and a monomode optical fiber to excite the SQD. A set of balance equations is used to reproduce the measured temperature evolution of the whole PL spectrum by introducing the transfer between SQD towards neighbor LQDs via WL states and the measured TRPL data

JANUS: an FPGA-based System for High Performance Scientific Computing

This paper describes JANUS, a modular massively parallel and reconfigurable FPGA-based computing system. Each JANUS module has a computational core and a host. The computational core is a 4x4 array of FPGA-based processing elements with nearest-neighbor data links. Processors are also directly connected to an I/O node attached to the JANUS host, a conventional PC. JANUS is tailored for, but not limited to, the requirements of a class of hard scientific applications characterized by regular code structure, unconventional data manipulation instructions and not too large data-base size. We discuss the architecture of this configurable machine, and focus on its use on Monte Carlo simulations of statistical mechanics. On this class of application JANUS achieves impressive performances: in some cases one JANUS processing element outperfoms high-end PCs by a factor ~ 1000. We also discuss the role of JANUS on other classes of scientific applications.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures. Improved version, largely rewritten, submitted to Computing in Science & Engineerin

Implementación de mecanismos de mitigación de tormentas de broadcast en redes de área local mediante Redes Definidas por Software

[ES] El uso de Ethernet como tecnologı́a de red pararedes corporativas se justifica por su bajo coste y facilidadde configuración y mantenimiento. Sin embargo, estas redesno son muy escalables, debido en parte a las inundacioneso tormentas de broadcasts, que afectan al rendimiento tantode los dispositivos de red como finales. Para mitigar elimpacto de las inundaciones por broadcast, se ha previstoutilizar técnicas de filtrado y caché en distintos nodos dela red. Sin embargo, el paradigma de Redes Definidas porSoftware permite definir nuevas aproximaciones, gracias ala capacidad de reprogramar la red de forma centralizaday flexible que proporciona. En este trabajo se aborda laimplementación de una red de área local con soporte parafiltrar algunos paquetes broadcast mediante la utilizaciónde Redes Definidas por Software. Esta solución permitirı́adesplegar redes de área local más amplias, adecuadas paralos requisitos de redes corporativas. Para ello, se describe eldesarrollo de filtros para varios protocolos de red, su imple-mentación en el controlador OpendayLight, y la evaluacióndel rendimiento obtenido.Este trabajo esta parcialmente financiado por el Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad y el Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional FEDER (proyectos TEC2016-76795-C6-4-R y TIN2013-46223-P).Valera Muros, B.; Prados Garzón, J.; Ramos-Munoz, JJ.; Navarro-Ortiz, J. (2017). Implementación de mecanismos de mitigación de tormentas de broadcast en redes de área local mediante Redes Definidas por Software. En XIII Jornadas de Ingeniería telemática (JITEL 2017). Libro de actas. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 216-223. https://doi.org/10.4995/JITEL2017.2017.6585OCS21622