Filipe Cabral Pinto

Supporting Context-Aware Multiparty Sessions in Heterogeneous Mobile Networks

The article addresses context-aware, adaptive multiparty sessions in a heterogeneous system through such elements as adaptivity and context-awareness. The effective usage of context information can lead to context-aware content casting, especially context-aware, adaptive multicasting. Therefore, regarding the multicast service, the key functionality of an enhanced Session Management is to motivate the creation of user subgroups, subsets of the same content group based on network, user and environment context to the extent that these are necessary for efficiency. Their characteristics in the form of content descriptions are communicated to the media delivery to obtain the appropriate content for each session. The article presents in detail the initiation, modification, termination and mobility of an adaptive, context-aware multicast session.

Architecture for context-aware multiparty delivery in mobile heterogeneous networks

Future networks are envisioned to satisfy the user needs and improve their quality of experience. This requires the networks to support context-aware information, where context of the user, session, network and environment will greatly influence the way the session is delivered: new approaches are required to deal with the overall context information and network reaction to constantly context changes. This paper presents a context-aware architecture that provides delivery of multiparty services in heterogeneous and mobile environments. The architecture, its elements and functionalities are described through a specific application to a context-driven use case scenario. We show that this architecture is able to provide personalized and multiparty services to the users, addressing their characteristics and preferences, and optimizing network support while mobility and heterogeneous environments are in place.

Context Aware Multiparty Session Support for Adaptive Multicasting in Heterogeneous Mobile Networks

The paper addresses the issue of achieving context-aware, adaptive multiparty sessions in a heterogeneous system by illustrating how to add elements of adaptivity and context-awareness to the session management functionality of such systems. The effective usage of situation/context information can lead to context-aware content casting, especially context-aware, adaptive multicasting. Therefore, regarding the multicast service, the key functionality of the enhanced session management is to create network subgroups based on network information as well as general user and environment context information to the extent that these are considered necessary for forming network-efficient groups, and in turn communicating the characteristics of these subgroups in the form of content stream descriptions to the media delivery function for obtaining the appropriate content for each subgroup.

Context-Aware Self-optimization in Multiparty Converged Mobile Environments

The increase of networking complexity requires the design of new performance optimization schemes for delivering different types of sessions to users under different conditions. In this scope, special attention is given to multi-homed environments, where mobile devices cross areas with overlapping access technologies (Wi-Fi, 3G, WiMax). In such scenario, efficient multiparty delivery depends upon the grouping operation (creation of a set of users to receive a given session), which must be done based on several parameters. We propose sub-grouping of content-based service groups, so that the same service session can be delivered using different codings of the same content, to adapt to the current network, users, session and environment context. The context-aware information is used to improve the sub-grouping process. This paper aims to describe these sub-grouping techniques, in particular how they improve network performance and user experience in the future Internet, in the scope of cognitive autonomic networks.

Session and Network Support for Autonomous Context-Aware Multiparty Communications in Heterogeneous Mobile Systems

The increase of networking complexity requires the design of new performance optimization schemes for delivering different types of sessions to users under different conditions. In this regard, special attention is given to multi-homed environments, where mobile devices cross areas with overlapping access technologies Wi-Fi, 3G, WiMax. In such a scenario, efficient multiparty delivery depends upon the grouping operation, which must be done based on several parameters. In this paper, the authors propose context-aware sub-grouping of content-based service groups so that the same service session can be delivered using different codings of the same content, adapting to current network, users, session, and environment context. The context-aware information is used to improve the sub-grouping process. This paper aims to describe these sub-grouping techniques, and in particular how they improve network performance and user experience in the future Internet by focusing on the improved network-level and session-level mechanisms.

Context-Aware Multimedia Distribution for Multiparty Communications

The increasing attractiveness of multimedia group communications forces Mobile Operators to provide more useful services and to evolve their networking technologies to effectively distribute rich-media content to mobile communities. Context information shall have a highlight role on next generation networks when dealing with communications’ groups such as the ones target by MBMS and E-MBMS systems. Users’ situation information shall be used to increase the system effectiveness while augmenting the user experience. This paper proposes a convergent context-aware architecture where IMS is used to convey context information and to control MBMS and E-MBMS multimedia channels allowing Mobile Operators to easily offer innovative services over efficient networks.

Enabling IMS with Multicast and Broadcast Capabilities

The evolution of third generation cellular network focuses on the provision of enriched multimedia services and the support of QoS (quality of service) guarantees. The IMS (IP multimedia subsystem) is specified as subsystem providing resource, admission and charging control. Enabling GPRS (general packet radio service) and UMTS (universal mobile telecommunications system) to support multicast and broadcast transmissions, 3GPP (third generation partnership project) has recently standardised the MBMS (multimedia broadcast multicast services) framework. Up to now, IMS and MBMS are separated subsystems sharing no common interfaces in order to utilise each other. However, 3GPP is working currently on release 7 to integrate IMS and MBMS. In this paper we present an efficient integration of IMS and MBMS which supports several phases of unicast, multicast and broadcast transmissions. Furthermore, an integrated solution framework is introduced. Several end-to-end signalling procedures are finally discussed.

IP-based content delivery over Next Generation Networks

Trends towards Next Generation Networks (NGN) are also changing the fundamental nature of TV services. Entertainment is becoming an increasingly participative experience, both with user feedback, and with user-generated content. Furthermore, the diversity of delivery mechanisms is increasing, reaching the mobile environment. The diversity of actors and technologies is now leading to a trend into IP-based content delivery, as a solution to heterogeneity management. We present an architecture for future environments, which bridges the gap between the content production and communication infrastructures, able to operate across different networks. This architecture resorts to the notion of Service Enablers deployed above evolved converged multimedia networks, based on the IP protocol. We demonstrated this architecture by laboratory prototyping.

Management of User Generated Multicast Sessions in IMS-Based Networks

Factors such as the growing number of multimedia terminals, the constant increase of bandwidth available per user, and the large number of existing data sharing applications, are compelling users to generate and distribute their own content to restricted groups of other users. In order to support such scenario, we present an IMS-based solution that enables content distribution, in multicast, to groups of users, where the source of the content is also an end-user. The proposed solution allows the source of content to configure the service, indicating a list of authorized receivers and both the transmission date and duration. Moreover, the proposed solution also allows the operator to manage the registered user profiles, to impose access control and to validate the configurations Passed QA by the users.

Context-Aware Session and Network Control in Future Internet

With the rapidly increasing interest of citizens and businesses in multimedia group services, personalization, context- awareness and seamless mobility, the communication can no longer be limited to high speed network or devices. In future scenarios, context-aware services and multicasting will together drive a new trend, since context-awareness can exploit situations in which users share the same interests and request similar services, increasing the effectiveness of session and network control. However, context-aware networks impose several challenges: any change to context, such as, location, mobility, velocity, preferences, presence, etc., can change the overall services and network environments, requiring completely restructuring of the network and multicast sessions in a very dynamic way. This dynamicity imposes scalability problems in current networks. In this paper, we present an initial future Internet architecture for context-aware network and service control, which enables the support of context-aware users and services, seamless reacting to the context changes with minimal impacts to the services and multicast control. For this purpose, we provide a network that is able to interact with context-based services, choose and change the session and network characteristics based on the context, both for the environment, user, network, and sessions. To address the dynamicity of the network, we provide the support of multicast abstract transport trees able to abstract the network changes to the running sessions transport, and limiting the impact of all the context dynamics in the user sessions.