Thomas Volkert

Requirement driven prospects for realizing user-centric network orchestration

The Internet’s infrastructure shows severe limitations when an optimal end user experience for multimedia applications should be achieved in a resource-efficiently way. In order to realize truly user-centric networking, an information exchange between applications and networks is required. To this end, network-application interfaces need to be deployed that enable a better mediation of application data through the Internet. For smart multimedia applications and services, the application and the network should directly communicate with each other and exchange information in order to ensure an optimal Quality of Experience (QoE). In this article, we follow a use-case driven approach towards user-centric network orchestration. We derive user, application, and network requirements for three complementary use cases: HD live TV streaming, video-on-demand streaming and user authentication with high security and privacy demands, as typically required for payed multimedia services. We provide practical guidelines for achieving an optimal QoE efficiently in the context of these use cases. Based on these results, we demonstrate how to overcome one of the main limitations of today’s Internet by introducing the major steps required for user-centric network orchestration. Finally, we show conceptual prospects for realizing these steps by discussing a possible implementation with an inter-network architecture based on functional blocks.

Hierarchical routing management for improving multimedia transmissions and QoE

This paper proposes a proof-of-concept demonstration of the hierarchical routing management (HRM) system as a new routing management approach for application requirement oriented routing. Its main goal is the improvement of packet routing in order to optimize networks for future multimedia streaming. Application data streams are directed by the HRM system along paths, which provide only those network resources which are actually needed. This leads to an improved quality of experience (QoE) of received multimedia streams.

Mobile Prototyping Platforms for Remote Engineering Applications

This paper describes a low-cost mobile communication platform as a universal rapid-prototyping system, which is based on the Quadrocopter concept. At the Integrated Hardware and Software Systems Group at the Ilmenau University of Technology these mobile platforms are used to motivate bachelor and master students to study Computer Engineering sciences. This could be done by increasing their interest in technical issues, using this platform as integral part of a new ad-hoc lab to demonstrate different aspects in the area of Mobile Communication as well as universal rapid prototyping nodes to investigate different mechanisms for self-organized mobile communication systems within the International Graduate School on Mobile Communications. Beside the three fields of application, the paper describes the current architecture concept of the mobile prototyping platform as well as the chosen control mechanism and the assigned sensor systems to fulfill all the required tasks.

A Universal Communication Framework and Navigation Control Software for Mobile Prototyping Platforms

In our contribution we would like to describe two new aspects of our low-cost mobile prototyping platform concept: a new hardware communication framework as well as new software features for navigation and control of our mobile platform. The paper is an extension of the ideas proposed in REV2009 [1] and is based on the therein used hardware platform and the monitoring and management software. This platform is based on the Quadrocopter concept â?? autonomous flying helicopter-style robots â?? and includes additional off-the-shelf parts. This leads to a universal mobile prototyping platform for communication tasks providing both mobile phone and WiFi access. However, the platform can provide these functions far more quickly than a technician on the ground might be able to. We will show that with our concept we can easily adapt the platform to the individual needs of the user, which leads to a very flexible and semi-autonomous system.