Morteza Karimzadeh

Performance evaluation of a SDN/OpenFlow-based Distributed Mobility Management (DMM) approach in virtualized LTE systems

Currently most of the mobility management solutions rely on a centralized mobility anchor entity, which is in charge of both mobility-related control plane and user data forwarding. This makes mobility management prone to several performance limitations such as suboptimal routing, low scalability, potential single point of failure and the lack of granularity for the mobility management service. Distributed Mobility Management (DMM) is a mobility management solution that can be applied to overcome these limitations. In this paper we introduce a novel Software Defined Networking (SDN)/OpenFlow based DMM approach that can be applied in virtualized LTE systems. Using NS-3 simulation experiments we show that the introduced approach meets the performance related mobility management requirements.

Applying SDN/OpenFlow in Virtualized LTE to Support Distributed Mobility Management (DMM)

Distributed Mobility Management (DMM) is a mobility management solution, where the mobility anchors are distributed instead of being centralized. The use of DMM can be applied in cloud-based (virtualized) Long Term Evolution (LTE) mobile network environments to (1) provide session continuity to users across personal, local, and wide area networks without interruption and (2) support traffic redirection when a virtualized LTE entity like a virtualized Packet Data Network Gateway (P-GW) running on an virtualization platform is migrated to another virtualization platform and the on-going sessions supported by this P-GW need to be maintained. In this paper we argue that the enabling technology that can efficiently be used for supporting DMM in virtualized LTE systems is the Software Defined Networking (SDN)/OpenFlow technology.

Mobility and bandwidth prediction as a service in virtualized LTE systems

Recently telecommunication industry benefits from infrastructure sharing, one of the most fundamental enablers of cloud computing, leading to emergence of the Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) concept. The most momentous intents by this approach are the support of on-demand provisioning and elasticity of virtualized mobile network components, based on data traffic load. To realize it, during operation and management procedures, the virtualized services need be triggered in order to scale-up/down or scale-out/in an service instance. In this paper we propose an architecture called MOBaaS (Mobility and Bandwidth Availability Prediction as a Service), comprising two algorithms in order to predict user(s) mobility and network link bandwidth availability, that can be implemented in cloud based mobile network structure and can be used as a support service by any other virtualized mobile network service. MOBaaS can provide prediction information in order to generate required triggers for on-demand deploying, provisioning, disposing of virtualized network components. This information can be used for self-adaptation procedures and optimal network function configuration during run-time operation, as well. Through the preliminary experiments with the prototype implementation on the OpenStack platform, we evaluated and confirmed the feasibility and the effectiveness of the prediction algorithms and the proposed architecture.

An architecture to offer cloud-based radio access network as a service

This paper addresses the novel notion of offering a radio access network as a service. Its components may be instantiated on general purpose platforms with pooled resources (both radio and hardware ones) dimensioned on-demand, elastically and following the pay-per-use principle. A novel architecture is proposed that supports this concept. The architectures success is in its modularity, well-defined functional elements and clean separation between operational and control functions. By moving much processing traditionally located in hardware for computation in the cloud, it allows the optimisation of hardware utilization and reduction of deployment and operation costs. It enables operators to upgrade their network as well as quickly deploy and adapt resources to demand. Also, new players may easily enter the market, permitting a virtual network operator to provide connectivity to its users.

Performance evaluation of ICN/CCN based service migration approach in virtualized LTE systems

The continuous growth in using mobile devices (e.g. smart phones, tablets, etc.) has increased the complexity in provisioning cellular network resources. Applying the cloud computing model in LTE (Long Term Evolution) systems could be a good solution to increase LTEs performance by building a shared distributed mobile network that can optimize the utilization of resources, minimize communication delays, and avoid bottlenecks. One of the most important concepts used in mobile networks is service continuity. Mobile users moving from one sub-network to another should be able to seamlessly continue to retrieve content and use services (e.g. video streaming, electronic games, VoIP, etc.) that they want. In this paper, the Information Centric Networking/Content Centric Networking (ICN/CCN) approach is proposed to be used as a solution for service continuity in virtualized LTE systems. By using NS3 simulation experiments it is shown that the introduced approach is able to satisfy the performance related service continuity requirements.

Software Defined Networking to Improve Mobility Management Performance

In mobile networks, efficient IP mobility management is a crucial issue for the mobile users changing their mobility anchor points during handover. In this regard several mobility management methods have been proposed. However, those are insufficient for the future mobile Internet in terms of scalability and resource utilization as they mostly follow the centralized management approach owning several inherent restrictions. In this research a novel mobility management approach relying on the OpenFlow-based SDN architecture is proposed. Such an approach manages mobility in a scalable fashion while optimally utilizing the available resources. This approach is also appropriate for the cloud-based Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, in order to (i) keeping sessions active during handover, and (ii) providing traffic redirection when a virtual machine (e.g., a mobility anchor point), migrates from one virtualization platform to another, while keeping the on-going sessions running, as well. This research is currently in its initial phase and is planned to eventuate as a Ph.D. thesis at the end of a four year period.

Utilizing ICN/CCN for Service and VM Migration Support in Virtualized LTE Systems

One of the most important concepts used in mobile networks, like LTE (Long Term Evolution) is service continuity. A mobile user moving from one network to another network should not lose an on-going service. In cloud-based (virtualized) LTE systems, services are hosted on Virtual Machines (VMs) that can be moved and migrated across multiple networks to such locations where these services can be well delivered to mobile users. The migration of the (1) VMs and (2) the services running on such VMs, should happen in such a way that the disruption of an on-going service is minimized. In this paper we argue that a technology that can efficiently be used for supporting service and VM migration is the ICN/CCN (Information Centric Networking / Content Centric Networking) technology.

Mobility and bandwidth prediction in virtualized LTE systems: Architecture and challenges

Long Term Evolution (LTE) represents the fourth generation (4G) technology which is capable of providing high data rates as well as support of high speed mobility. The EU FP7 Mobile Cloud Networking (MCN) project integrates the use of cloud computing concepts in LTE mobile networks in order to increase LTEs performance. In this way a shared distributed virtualized LTE mobile network is built that can optimize the utilization of virtualized computing, storage and network resources and minimize communication delays. Two important features that can be used in such a virtualized system to improve its performance are the user mobility and bandwidth prediction. This paper introduces the architecture and challenges that are associated with user mobility and bandwidth prediction approaches in virtualized LTE systems.

Software Defined Networking to support IP address mobility in future LTE network

The existing LTE network architecture dose not scale well to increasing demands due to its highly centralized and hierarchical composition. In this paper we discuss the major modifications required in the current LTE network to realize a decentralized LTE architecture. Next, we develop two IP address mobility support schemes for this architecture. The proposed solutions can handle traffic redirecting and seamless IP address continuity for the nodes moving among the distributed anchor points in a resource efficient manner. Our approaches are based on the SDN (Software Defined Networking) paradigm which is also one of the most important candidate technologies to realize 5G mobile networks. We extend the NS3-LENA simulation software to implement a decentralized LTE network as well as the proposed IP mobility support schemes. The evaluation results show that the proposed solutions efficiently fulfill the functionality and performance requirements (e.g., latency and packet loss) related to mobility management.

Enabling a Mobility Prediction-Aware Follow-Me Cloud Model

The location of data centres is crucial when mobile network operators are moving towards cloudified mobile networks to optimize resource utilization and to improve performance of services. Quality of Experience (QoE) can be enhanced in terms of content access latency, by placing user content at locations where they will be present in the future. The Follow-Me Cloud (FMC) concept aims at optimising operations of moving Mobile Network Operators Services towards cloudified environments, where Information Centric Networking (ICN) and the appropriate content migration policies are of paramount importance. However, several factors need to be considered, including user movements and mobility prediction (MP), content popularity, and migration. This paper addresses all these aspects by implementing a fully integrated multi-criteria FMC and mobility prediction mechanisms (MP-FMC) on a cloud infrastructure. Experimental evaluation shows that MP-FMC can be orchestrated on-demand within a reasonable time frame, and it could deliver ≈ 33% improvement of content retrieval time.