Roberto Francescangeli

NetServ Framework Design and Implementation 1.0

Eyeball ISPs today are under-utilizing an important asset: edge routers. We present NetServ, a programmable node architecture aimed at turning edge routers into distributed service hosting platforms. This allows ISPs to allocate router resources to content publishers and application service providers motivated to deploy content and services at the network edge. This model provides important benefits over currently available solutions like CDN. Content and services can be brought closer to end users by dynamically installing and removing custom modules as needed throughout the network. Unlike previous programmable router proposals which focused on customizing features of a router, NetServ focuses on deploying content and services. All our design decisions reflect this change in focus. We set three main design goals: a wide-area deployment, a multi-user execution environment, and a clear economic benefit. We built a prototype using Linux, NSIS signaling, and the Java OSGi framework. We also implemented four prototype applications: ActiveCDN provides publisher-specific content distribution and processing; KeepAlive Responder and Media Relay reduce the infrastructure needs of telephony providers; and Overload Control makes it possible to deploy more flexible algorithms to handle excessive traffic.

An enabling platform for autonomic management of the future internet

This article shows an autonomic management solution based on the recently defined programmable node architecture NetServ. The article starts with a general description of the classical network management requirements and their adaptation to the expected network evolution. After a description of the major issues characterizing the management of the expected Future Internet, the main autonomic management paradigms, and some recently introduced autonomic service platforms, we show and demonstrate the effectiveness of the NetServ architecture. Born as a means to deploy and execute networked services at runtime over programmable routers, NetServ has proved to be a suitable environment for hosting an autonomic management architecture.

Gossip-based signaling dissemination extension for next steps in signaling

In this paper, we propose a new gossip-based signaling dissemination method for the Next Steps in Signaling protocol family. In more detail, we propose to extend the General Internet Signaling Transport (GIST) protocol, so as to leverage these new dissemination capabilities from all NSIS Signaling Layer Protocol applications using its transport capabilities. The extension consists of two main procedures: a bootstrap procedure, during which new GIST-enabled nodes discover each other, and a dissemination procedure, which is used to effectively disseminate signaling messages within an Autonomous System. To this aim, we defined three dissemination models, bubble, balloon, and hose, so as to fulfill requirements of different network and service management scenarios. An experimental campaign carried out on GENI shows the effectiveness of the proposed solution.

Design, Implementation, and Performance Evaluation of an Advanced SIP-Based Call Control for VoIP Services

The growing interest in developing value-added services based on Internet Telephony brings into sharp focus several issues related to service creation. It becomes compelling for developers to take advantage of a platform that could offer high-level APIs and standard interfaces, in order to reduce the time-to-market and extend the service portability over multiple networks and devices. The Java community is tackling those issues within the Java APIs for Integrated Networks (JAIN) activity, utilizing Java Enterprise Edition technologies in order to ease the development process of telecommunication services. This paper describes a SIP-based call control service for Internet Telephony, designed for an IP-PSTN converged scenario. The service has a Back-To-Back User Agent (B2BUA) architecture and is deployed into a Service Logic Execution Environment (SLEE). Our SLEE is based on Mobicents, an open-source platform for telecom applications, which offers an implementation of the JAIN SLEE specifications. We present the design and a comparative performance evaluation of different architectural implementations of the service, carried out with SIPp, an open-source SIP traffic generation tool.

Extending the NetServ autonomic management capabilities using OpenFlow

Autonomic management capabilities of the Future Internet can be provided through a recently proposed service architecture called NetServ. It consists of the interconnection of programmable nodes which enable dynamic deployment and execution of network and application services. This paper shows how this architecture can be further improved by introducing the OpenFlow architecture and implementing the OpenFlow controller as a NetServ service, thus improving both the NetServ management performance and its flexibility. These achievements are demonstrated experimentally on the GENI environment, showing the platform self-protecting capabilities in case of a SIP DoS attack.

Advanced caching for distributing sensor data through programmable nodes

This paper shows an innovative solution for distributing dynamic sensor data by using distributed caches. Our proposal is based on the concepts of service modularization and virtualization of network nodes made available by the NetServ hosting environment, which has been defined and implemented with the aim of extending the functions of the network nodes. Through a lab experiment involving tens of nodes, we have demonstrated a significant performance improvements in term of traffic saving and download time in comparison with a legacy, Internet-based, approach. Beyond this performance improvements, the proposed solution holds also functional improvements, in terms of dynamic deployment and easy integration with services making use of sensor data.

Implementation and performance analysis of advanced IT services based on open source JAIN SLEE

The standard framework proposed by the JAIN SLEE specifications is emerging as a viable alternative for the development of advanced telecom services. The Mobicents JSLEE platform is the only open source implementation of those specifications. Its tuning is not trivial since it relies on several Java technologies implemented in multiple abstract layers. In this paper, we present the implementation of two realistic benchmark services and the relevant test campaign for the performance analysis of the Mobicents JAIN SLEE platform, with the aim of optimizing the achievable system throughput, for using it in a carrier-grade environment.

Fault management for VoIP applications over wireless and wired NGN networks: An operational prospective

This paper shows the practical aspects to be considered in order to face the Fault Management problem in a network deploying VoIP services for both wireless and wired access. The real network analyzed includes all the entities necessary for implementing a plain VoIP service, according to the NGN architecture. We provide the KPI definition, along with a detailed description which refers to the practical experience of a real nation wide network, and their usage within a Fault management framework.

Implementation of third party media server controller for IMS networks

In this paper, we describe the implementation of a media server controller that is used for implementing multimedia services by third parties of IMS networks. This implementation is done by using the well established Mobicents framework. The functionality of the server has been tested by using the Open IMS technology developed at the Fraunhofer Fokus institute. Results show the effectiveness of this implementation.

A signaling architecture for multimedia MBS over WiMAX

In this article, we design and demonstrate a signaling architecture for multicast and broadcast services over a laboratory-emulated worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) network. WiMAX is a broadband wireless access technology which includes different quality of service levels. Currently, a significant research effort focuses on data transmission optimization and mobility support for multicast and broadcast services. Our proposal is fully IP-based, and the relevant signaling architecture is modular in all its entities and extensible to other, non-WiMAX, IP access networks. We specifically address the non-trivial support of multicast services, which has been demonstrated through a prototype implementation of our proposal for an Internet protocol television (IPTV) service. This prototype has been implemented by using open source technologies and its signaling is orchestrated by a JAIN SLEE server. The results obtained show that the implemented system is scalable, can achieve both high signaling throughput and low service latency, and has a signaling overhead lower than similar IMS-based solutions.