Titus Balan

LISP Optimisation of Mobile Data Streaming in Connected Societies

Mobility mechanisms are key elements of “always connected” smart environments. Since the first mobile IPv4 protocols, the IP mobility solutions have evolved from host mobility to network mobility and migration to IPv6, but there are still use-cases to be covered, especially for redundant multihomed scenarios. Also mobility does not refer only to hosts or individuals, but also to code/applications and to virtual machines. LISP (Locator/Identifier Separation Protocol) can contribute to new solutions for both host mobility and virtual machine mobility (e.g., inside enterprise data centers) by the separation of the identifier and location of a network endpoint. The aim of this paper is to propose a LISP based multihome and load-balanced network architecture for urban environments. Validation is done in an emulated environment for the case of an enterprise with distributed locations, but, furthermore, we extrapolate to other mobile urban scenarios, like the case of providing reliable load-balanced and secured Internet in Public Transportation Systems, with a proposal for an open-source implementation.

Semantic data aggregation in heterogeneous learning environments

The Internet of Things paradigm is gaining momentum as the number of interconnected devices is continually increasing. The paper approaches the interoperability of these devices that is still a challenge because of different communication protocols and data representation formats. Rather than working independently, these individual devices would collaborate and exchange structured information instead of raw data. The paper presents an intermediate non-expensive step towards improving the interoperability of heterogeneous sensor sub-nets in an university instrumentation lab, by using semantic annotated data. Being integrated with modern solutions for eLearning in engineering - like “instrumentation as a service” and “experiment as a service” - this approach aims at ontological integration in a Cloud enabled with advanced capabilities of discovery, interpretation, aggregation and management of heterogeneous instrumental networks.

Simulation-based UMTS e-learning software

This paper describes a soft-switch-based mobile network simulator developed for the purpose of e-Learning. The main goal of this simulation-based e-Learning software is to show and illustrate the behavior of the specific mobile communications network elements. The case studies presented are oriented on UMTS 3GPPs Release 4 network architecture.

SDR-assisted device-to-device communication in radio-congested environments

This paper is proposing some models for optimizing the Device-to-Device (D2D) communication in the context of congested environments, by using spectrum sensing. Different levels of decentralization — in computational intelligence, signal processing, power management and a greater percentage of open-source software — are discussed in a business-oriented perspective. A network of low power, inexpensive SDR devices is presented in solutions for implementing the partner discovery and spectrum selection as part of D2D communication in radio-congested urban environments. These practical solutions cover not only cost-effective SDR receivers but also local intelligence, with a spectacular add-on: mobility.

Multihoming for Mobile Internet of Multimedia Things

Mobility, redundancy, and bandwidth requirements are transforming the communication models used for IoT, mainly in case of Critical Communications and multimedia streaming (“IoMT, Internet of Multimedia Things”), as wireless video traffic is expected to be 60–75% of the global mobile traffic by 2020. One of the characteristics of 5G networks will be the proliferation of different/heterogeneous radio networks (virtualized radio access networks, RAN, new energy-efficient radios, femtocells, and offloading capabilities) and the possibility for IoT objects to connect and load-balance between dual and multiple RANs. This paper focuses on the possibility of using LISP (Locator Identifier Separation Protocol) for multihoming and load-balancing purposes and presents an illustrative scenario for the case of mobile IoT (e.g., the “things” part of vehicular or public transportation systems, PTS) that are also intensive bandwidth consumers, like the case of connected multimedia “things.” We have implemented and tested a demonstrator of a mobile LISP IoT gateway that is also integrated with Cloud-based video analytics.

An analysis of the video capabilities of multiple antenna LTE networks.

Abstract LTE technology has been designed to serve high data traffic and to withstand occasional traffic bursts caused by various events that arise when live video streams are watched. LTE will have to manage its resources judiciously since video traffic is not constant, and at the same time it will have to seek to offer highest quality experience. This paper demonstrates the benefits of using MIMO technique with 4 transmitters instead 2 when requesting live video streams. It also displays mobility cases each with a different subscriber moving speed, and with different gains, respectively.

Mobile Communication Solutions for the Services in the Internet of Things

The Internet of Things paradigm has most of the times been associated with distributed devices directly connected to the Web, uniquely identifiable and with different sensing-processing-driving capabilities. The paper addresses this context, with focus on industry driven solutions for cloud communications, describing how these technologies impact the mobile telecommunications world as well as consumers, with a clear perspective on different service models for network operators. We present an implementation strategy and showcase two different scenarios to validate our service presentation solutions, with details on data representation for a semantic interfacing of heterogeneous connected devices.

Ad-hoc lab computer network configuration using remote resources

For the university computer labs there is a real challenge for the fixed infrastructure to keep the pace with the increased demand for computational resources. The complexity of the computer architecture is given by the high number of complex software tools, the virtual machines, the different operating systems and the great range of different classes with laboratory lessons, especially for computer engineering students. One solution would be the use of private university-owned Cloud but not all universities can afford a modern thin-client solution. This paper presents an intermediate non-expensive step towards working with distributed resources for computer laboratories, a remote boot system, using Clonezilla and Diskless Remote Boot in Linux - DRBL, methods implemented and tested in a demo system.

AUTOMATING TELECOM EQUIPMENT FOR CLOUD INTEGRATION

Integration of equipment in the cellular networks was always considered a challenge mainly due to the heterogeneous nature of architectures and compatibility problems that may arise from them. Testing and prototyping new services is always preceded by a big effort with the environment setup and while communication standards aim to provide a very strict guideline when it comes to offering telecom services they fail to establish a unified way of how these are provisioned within different equipment. As a result most equipment vendors offer custom equipment administration solutions that are better known as Operating Support Systems (OSS) that impose specific know-how and deal with proprietary provisioning workflows. In this article we present a brief survey of the operator challenges identified with the integration of telecom equipment. We explore the possibility of offering a Cloud based model of cellular network equipment, to help third party vendors achieve faster time to market when releasing new services. Lastly, we propose our vision towards a unified provisioning and aggregation system of both new and legacy traditional telecom equipment by abstracting proprietary provisioning workflows in a vendor-agnostic way.