Hans Joachim Einsiedler

The 'pure-IP' Moby Dick 4G architecture

Network operators, service providers and customers are players who have different interests and raise different requirements on the functionality of future mobile communication networks. However, some new capabilities, such as mobility, security, ubiquity and quality are spelled out by all, which means that there exist some fundamental mechanisms which are in fact needed in every network. This paper concentrates on critical elements of the network infrastructure which need to be deployed in 4G networks before services can be offered. In the paper we discuss these elements, and show how they can be combined to satisfy versatile service requirements. Furthermore, the paper shows how to combine these mechanisms of three traditionally quite separate architectures-for Authentication, Authorisation, Accounting and Charging (AAAC), for Mobility (Mobile IP with Fast Handover), and Quality-of-Service (QoS). A technology-independent paging concept is also integrated in this system. The resulting integrated system architecture is general and can be deployed in heterogeneous environments. Our implementation has recently been completed, validated and verified with applications such as data transfer, voice-over-IP, video streaming and real time concurrent gaming. This prototypical implementation incorporates TD-CDMA, 802.11 WLANs and Ethernet, and treats all transmission technologies as physical and data-link layers, while higher-level functions are supported in a uniform way with an all-IPv6-based signalling.

Energy optimisation in heterogeneous multi-RAT networks

To be able to serve the traffic demand in todays mobile networks, more than 123.000 base stations (BSs) have been deployed by the different network providers in Germany. These BSs are working 24/7 and are dimensioned to serve capacity demand during busy hours. Currently no mechanisms for a load adaptive network reconfiguration are implemented. As a result, much energy is wasted during times in which the capacity demand is low. This paper describes an adaptive, context-aware, and technology-comprehensive system architecture for power management in modern radio networks. The results presented are developed within the project Communicate Green (ComGreen). A major goal of ComGreen is the development of a testbed in order to investigate and demonstrate the main achievements of the project. The aim of this paper is twofold: First, it highlights the ComGreen concepts for power management in heterogeneous radio networks. Second, a detailed description of the testbed is provided.

A Linux Implementation of a Differentiated Services Router

The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) is currently working on the development of Differentiated Services (DiffServ). DiffServ seems to be a promising technology for next-generation IP networks supporting Quality-of-Services (QoS). Emerging applications such as IP telephony and time-critical business applications can benefit significantly from the DiffServ approach since the current Internet often can not provide the required QoS. This paper describes an implementation of Differentiated Services for Linux routers and end systems. The implementation is based on the Linux traffic control package and is, therefore, very flexible. It can be used in different network environments as first-hop, boundary or interior router for Differentiated Services. In addition to the implementation architecture, the paper describes performance results demonstrating the usefulness of the DiffServ concept in general and the implementation in particular.

FUZPAG: A fuzzy-controlled packet aggregation scheme for wireless mesh networks

Wireless mesh networks (WMNs) are wireless multi-hop backhaul networks in which mesh routers relay traffic on behalf of clients or other routers. Due to large MAC layer overhead, applications such as Voice over IP, which send many small packets, show poor performance in WMNs. Packet aggregation increases the capacity of IEEE 802.11-based WMNs by aggregating small packets into larger ones and thereby reducing overhead. In order to have enough packets to aggregate, packets need to be delayed and buffered. Current aggregation mechanisms use fixed buffer delays or do not take into account the delay characteristics of the saturated IEEE 802.11 MAC layer. In this work, we present FUZPAG, a novel packet aggregation architecture for IEEE 802.11-based wireless mesh networks. It uses fuzzy control to determine the optimum aggregation buffer delay under the current channel utilization. By cooperation among neighboring nodes FUZPAG distributes the buffer delay in a fair way. We implemented and evaluated the system in a wireless mesh testbed. For different network topologies we show that FUZPAG outperforms standard aggregation in terms of end-to-end latency under a wide range of traffic patterns.

System design for 5G converged networks

This paper presents high level design concepts for the control plane (C-plane) of the upcoming 5G networks, in the framework of Fixed-Mobile Convergence (FMC). This control plane is enabled by SDN and NFV technologies in order to offer a very flexible environment able to optimally deploy network infrastructure(s) that will cope with multiple service provisions scenarios. Furthermore, our innovative control plane will be able to support fast deployment of novel services depending on the requirements from different use case and application scenarios and enabling the operators to provide fast answers to the society challenges ahead.

VirtuWind: virtual and programmable industrial network prototype deployed in operational wind park

With anticipated exponential growth of connected devices, future industrial networks require an open solutions architecture facilitated by standards and a strong ecosystem. Such solutions should also deal with range of quality of service requirements imposed by industrial networks. Preserving strict quality of service is particularly challenging when services pass across domains of multiple provides. VirtuWindVirtuWind: http://www.virtuwind.eu. aims to develop and demonstrate a Software Defined Networking and Network Function Virtualization ecosystem, based on an open, modular and secure framework to address stringent requirements of the industrial networks. A prototype of the framework for intra-domain and inter-domain scenarios will be showcased in real Wind Parks, as a representative use case of industrial networks. This paper details this vision and explains steps forward. Copyright

Playout-buffer aware hand-off control for wireless video streaming

Wireless hand-off control typically considers only connectivity strength from the mobile terminal to alternative access points. In wireless video streaming, however, where video freezing must be avoided at the mobile terminal, the playout buffer level should also be considered by hand-off control.

Efficient Transmission of Smartphone Application Traffic in Wireless Access Networks

Smartphones together with the respective applications (apps) and services have become an integral part of our daily life. The feature set of smartphones, such as sensors, cameras, processing speed, memory, etc. is constantly increasing and apps exploit these features to offer even more intelligent services for the customers. However, there is only less inter-working between the network and mobile devices as well as the apps. They are considering the wireless access as a bit-pipe without taking into account the characteristics of each wireless technology. This leads to an inefficient use of wireless resources. In this paper we present the concept and the implementation of a context-and policy based interface and traffic management approach which aims to tackle this problem. This approach exploits the feature set of the smartphone as well as the context information available on the smartphone to improve the overall resource usage. Intelligent interface and traffic management mechanisms are envisioned on the device in order to improve the network efficiency as well as the battery runtime on smartphones without affecting the delivered application service quality at the same time.

An Operational Conceptual Model for Global Communication Infrastructures

The global communication infrastructure has taken an increased relevance for the future global multimedia village. This global infrastructure has suffered from a mismatch between the conceptual models being used, and the effective operational networks deployed to support it. This mismatch is now affecting the much needed developments to support a global village. This paper presents a novel model for structuring communication networks which closely reflects the visions and needs from an operational network. This model shows a path for protocol evolutions for the global communication infrastructure.

Broadband wireless service provisioning through a wireless mesh backhaul

This paper describes results achieved within recently successfully completed EU projects CARMEN (CARrier grade MEsh Networks) and PANLABII (PAN European LABoratory for next generation networks and services). The main contribution of the CARMEN project is the design and prototype of a wireless mesh network that allows quality of service provisioning. Currently, CARMEN functionalities are evaluated using a 9-node mesh testbed. However, thanks to the PANLABII project, which develops a federation platform for independent distributed testbeds, now, CARMEN functions can be tested in various network environments and under different traffic conditions. Through such performance evaluation versatility, it becomes possible to prove the scalability and efficiency of mesh technology for providing broadband services.