http://rboutaba.cs.uwaterloo.ca/Papers/Journals/2010/Mosharaf10.pdf

A survey of network virtualization

The Grid 2: Blueprint for a New Computing Infrastructure

Since wireless network virtualization enables abstraction and sharing of infrastructure and radio spectrum resources, the overall expenses of wireless network deployment and operation can be reduced significantly. Moreover, wireless network virtualization can provide easier migration to newer products or technologies by isolating part of the network. Despite the potential vision of wireless network virtualization, several significant research challenges remain to be addressed before widespread deployment of wireless network virtualization, including isolation, control signaling, resource discovery and allocation, mobility management, network management and operation, and security as well as non-technical issues such as governance regulations, etc. In this paper, we provide a brief survey on some of the works that have already been done to achieve wireless network virtualization, and discuss some research issues and challenges. We identify several important aspects of wireless network virtualization: overview, motivations, framework, performance metrics, enabling technologies, and challenges. Finally, we explore some broader perspectives in realizing wireless network virtualization.

Wireless Network Virtualization: A Survey, Some Research Issues and Challenges

5G is the next cellular generation and is expected to quench the growing thirst for taxing data rates and to enable the Internet of Things. Focused research and standardization work have been addressing the corresponding challenges from the radio perspective while employing advanced features, such as network densification, massive multiple-input-multiple-output antennae, coordinated multi-point processing, inter-cell interference mitigation techniques, carrier aggregation, and new spectrum exploration. Nevertheless, a new bottleneck has emerged: the backhaul. The ultra-dense and heavy traffic cells should be connected to the core network through the backhaul, often with extreme requirements in terms of capacity, latency, availability, energy, and cost efficiency. This pioneering survey explains the 5G backhaul paradigm, presents a critical analysis of legacy, cutting-edge solutions, and new trends in backhauling, and proposes a novel consolidated 5G backhaul framework. A new joint radio access and backhaul perspective is proposed for the evaluation of backhaul technologies which reinforces the belief that no single solution can solve the holistic 5G backhaul problem. This paper also reveals hidden advantages and shortcomings of backhaul solutions, which are not evident when backhaul technologies are inspected as an independent part of the 5G network. This survey is key in identifying essential catalysts that are believed to jointly pave the way to solving the beyond-2020 backhauling challenge. Lessons learned, unsolved challenges, and a new consolidated 5G backhaul vision are thus presented.

5G Backhaul Challenges and Emerging Research Directions: A Survey

The main bandwidth bottleneck in today's networks is in the access segment. To address that bottleneck, broadband fiber access technologies such as passive optical networks (PONs) are an indispensable solution. The industry has selected time-division multiplexing (TDM) for current PON deployments. To satisfy future bandwidth demands, however, next-generation PON systems are being investigated to provide even higher performance. In this paper, we first review current TDM-PONs; we designate them as generation C. Next, we review next-generation PON systems, which we categorize into C+1 and C+2 generations. We expect C+1 systems to provide economic near-term bandwidth upgrade by overlaying new services on current TDM-PONs. For the long term, C+2 systems will provide more dramatic system improvement using wavelength division multiplexing technologies. Some C+2 architectures require new infrastructures and/or equipment, whereas others employ a more evolutionary approach. We also review key enabling components and technologies for C+1 and C+2 generations and point out important topics for future research.

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Next-Generation Optical Access Networks

With the rapid and growing volume of green house gas (GHG) we may soon cross a tipping point where there may be dramatic climatic catastrophes such that governments will be forced to order the shutdown of coal powered electrical production or mandate carbon neutrality across all sectors of society. On the other hand, in the event of such a development, the future Internet and Grid infrastructure may become absolutely essential for communications and a replacement for travel and for the delivery of critical services such as health, education, research, etc. Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) produce 2%-3% of the world's GHG emissions through the consumption of electricity largely produced by coal plants. This rate of GHG is expected to double in the next few years and is clearly unsustainable. Therefore it is critical that any future Internet and Grid infrastructure be designed not only to survive, but also be sustained, through an age where no additional GHG emissions will be allowed. Converged optical networks, Grid and cloud services hosted at zero carbon renewable energy sites using Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) where each network and computer element is represented to a user as a configurable virtual service will allow for the deployment of what are often referred to as ldquofollow the sun or follow the windrdquo optical network and Grid architectures where the network and Grid topology and Grid resources availability and location are constantly changing depending on local availability states of the wind or sun.

Converged Optical Network Infrastructures in Support of Future Internet and Grid Services Using IaaS to Reduce GHG Emissions

Optical network infrastructures can be partitioned into multiple parallel, dedicated virtual networks for a physical infrastructure sharing purpose. However, different transport technologies may impact in both the amount and the characteristics of the different virtual instances that can be built on top of a single physical infrastructure. To analyse the impact of the transport technology in this regard, we present exact Integer Linear Programming (ILP) formulations that address the off-line problem of optimally allocate a set of virtual networks in two kind of substrates: wavelength switching and spectrum switching. Both formulations serve the purpose to provide opaque transport services from the virtual network point of view, where electronic terminations are assumed in the virtual network nodes. We carry out a series of experiments to validate the presented formulations and determine which is the impact of both substrates in the number of virtual networks that can be optimally allocated in the transport network.

/pdf/optimal-allocation-of-virtual-optical-networks-for-the-enlzvw6bkt.pdf

Optimal allocation of virtual optical networks for the future internet

User controlled LightPaths version 2 provides a network virtualization framework upon which communities of users can build their own services or applications without dealing with the complexities of the underlying network technologies and still can maintain the functionality that the network provides. The system has been designed as a service-oriented architecture where Web services and Web services workflows are the basic building blocks. Articulated private networks are presented as the first services built upon the UCLPv2 network virtualization middleware. APNs can be considered as a next generation VPN where a user can create a complex, multi-domain network topology by binding together network resources, computers, time slices, and virtual or real routing and/or switching nodes. A first implementation of the UCLPv2 software was deployed on CAnet 4, Canada's research and education network, and currently, it is being used by Environment Canada, a federal government department, to enable an APN that links its research facilities across the country.

UCLPv2: a network virtualization framework built on web services [web services in telecommunications, part II]

Over the last two decades the importance of data networking for human beings and systems has increased beyond any expectation in size, complexity, and impact on society. Today, technology offers the ubiquitous and constant possibility of being connected to the Internet at a wide range of speeds. Traditional management solutions have up to now followed an evolutionary path, although the scale of the Internet and emerging novel architectures such as peer-to-peer, ad hoc networks, as well as virtualization-capable network infrastructures require focused and possibly revolutionary changes in management approaches. This article elaborates on challenges posed by the renaissance of virtualization as experienced in the planning, development, and operation of the FEDERICA infrastructure. The European Community cofunded project FEDERICA, like other worldwide initiatives such as FIND/GENI in the United States, NWGN in Japan, and the FIRE program in Europe, is supporting the development of the future Internet. FEDERICA extends the virtualization capabilities of the current hardware and software to provide a flexible infrastructure to host disruptive testing by networking researchers.

/pdf/with-evolution-for-revolution-managing-federica-for-future-3vt4q1u3gz.pdf

With evolution for revolution: managing FEDERICA for future Internet research

This paper presents on-going research to develop the Intercloud Architecture Framework (ICAF) that addresses problems in multi-provider multi-domain heterogeneous cloud based infrastructure services and applications integration and interoperability, to allow their on-demand provisioning. The paper refers to existing standards and ongoing standardisation activity in Cloud Computing, in particular, recently published NIST Cloud Computing Reference Architecture (CCRA) and ITU-T JCA-Cloud activity. The proposed ICAF defines four complementary components addressing Intercloud integration and interoperability: multi-layer Cloud Services Model that combines commonly adopted cloud service models, such as IaaS, PaaS, SaaS, in one multilayer model with corresponding inter-layer interfaces, Intercloud Control and Management Plane that supports cloud based applications interaction, Intercloud Federation Framework, and Intercloud Operations Framework. The paper briefly describes the Service delivery and lifecycle management as an important ICAF component that provides a basis for consistent management and security of the provisioned on-demand complex cloud based services. The paper describes an implementation of the Intercloud Control and Management Plane in the GEYSERS project to allow optimal provisioning of the combined Network+IT resources in the inter-cloud environment. The proposed architecture is intended to provide an architectural model for developing Intercloud middleware and in this way will facilitate clouds interoperability and integration.

/pdf/intercloud-architecture-framework-for-heterogeneous-cloud-1spjewe9rt.pdf

Sergi Figuerola

Papers

Converged Optical Network Infrastructures in Support of Future Internet and Grid Services Using IaaS to Reduce GHG Emissions

Optimal allocation of virtual optical networks for the future internet

UCLPv2: a network virtualization framework built on web services [web services in telecommunications, part II]

With evolution for revolution: managing FEDERICA for future Internet research

Intercloud Architecture Framework for Heterogeneous Cloud Based Infrastructure Services Provisioning On-Demand