Showing papers by "Thomas Magedanz published in 2010"

Pan-European testbed and experimental facility federation – architecture refinement and implementation

Abstract: Large future internet research programs such as GENI, FIND, and FIRE are under way that will have a global impact on the current and future internet. Experimental facilities and testbeds are needed to support both revolutionary and evolutionary approaches for re-thinking and improving the internet architecture. The resource federation framework proposed by the authors makes available multi-domain testbeds providing heterogeneous crosslayer infrastructures for broad testing and experimentation purposes. Currently, it is unclear how new concepts and ideas developed by the future internet research community can be integrated into production systems while preserving infrastructure operator investments. Service oriented experimental facilities are required that integrate technologies and concepts across various domains and layers and actively incorporate different market players. In this article, we briefly introduce the network domain federation model as the basis and architectural mindset for the Pan-European Laboratory (Panlab) concept, introduce technical architecture refinements, and outline first implementation results.

OpenEPC: A Technical Infrastructure for Early Prototyping of NGMN Testbeds

Abstract: The challenging and ever increasing requirements of future applications demand new concepts for better control and management of network resources. The Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) introduced in their latest specifications the Evolved Packet Core (EPC) architecture for transparently unifying the parameters of different technologies, like the UMTS, WLAN, non-3GPP access technologies and a future Evolved Radio Access Network, called Long Term Evolution (LTE), with the use of multiple application platforms such as IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) and the Internet. This paper describes a testbed implementation of the Evolved Packet Core named OpenEPC which provides a reference implementation of 3GPP’s EPC developed by the Fraunhofer Institute FOKUS. OpenEPC is a set of software components offering advanced IP mobility schemes, policy-based QoS control, and integration with different application platforms in converging network environments. This initiative, in addition to fostering research and development, enables academic and industry researchers to rapidly realize state-of-the-art NGMN infrastructures and application testbeds.

NNodeTree: A Scalable Peer-to-Peer Live Streaming Overlay Architecture for Next-Generation-Networks

Abstract: The rapid evolution of the telecommunication domain increases the performance of different access networks continuously. New services, especially in the domain multimedia content distribution, require higher and higher bandwidth at the user’s and service provider’s side. Multimedia services like Video on Demand, IPTV and live streaming were introduced in the past and are still improved in quality and quantity. Multimedia streams and Peer to Peer (P2P) file sharing dominates the worldwide Internet traffic nowadays and will continue further [1]. The user acceptance of enjoying multimedia content over the Internet will grow steadily together with the increasing quality of the available multimedia content. Network operators and service providers have to face the growths, by either increasing their service platform with higher performance and bandwidth or introducing a scalable solution. We present the design and implementation of a scalable Peer-to-Peer live streaming overlay architecture for Next-Generation-Networks (NGN) in this paper that addresses this challenge.

Service-oriented access to next generation networks: from service creation to execution

Abstract: Existing telecommunication networks and classical roles of operators are subject to fundamental change. Many network operators are currently seeking for new sources to generate revenue by exposing network capabilities to 3rd party service providers. At the same time we can observe that services on the World Wide Web (WWW) are becoming mature in terms of the definition of APIs that are offered towards other services. The combinations of those services are commonly referred to as Web 2.0 mash-ups. Rapid service design and creation becomes therefore important to meet the requirements in a changing technology and competitive market environment. This report describes our approach to include Next Generation Networks (NGN)-based telecommunications application enabler into complex services by defining a service broker that mediates between 3rd party applications and NGN service enablers. It provides policy-driven orchestration mechanisms for service enablers, a service authorization functionality, and a service discovery interface for Service Creation Environments. The work has been implemented as part of the Open SOA Telco Playground testbed at Fraunhofer FOKUS.

Access Network Discovery and Selection in the Future Broadband Wireless Environment

Abstract: The Future Broadband Wireless environment is characterized by the co-existence of a multitude of wireless networks e.g. LTE, UMTS, WiMAX, WiFi etc. In order to be able to offer the best connectivity, according to the requirements of the user and to the preferences of the operator, a novel functionality was introduced in the network and in the mobile devices for access network discovery and selection. This paper introduces this functionality as standardized in the 3GPP Evolved Packet Core (EPC), highlighting its main concepts and technical scenarios. Further a set of novel optimizations are evaluated, followed by the description of the Fraunhofer FOKUS OpenEPC implementation.

Prototyping mobile broadband applications with the open Evolved Packet Core

Abstract: With the evolution towards mass wireless broadband communication, a novel set of applications tailored for this environment will be developed that are able to communicate their requirements towards core networks and foremost to adopt to a change in access network conditions of users. This paper will present their characteristics and how they can be developed and tested with the 3GPP Evolved Packet Core. Furthermore, the paper will outline the developed demonstrations with the help of Fraunhofer FOKUS new OpenEPC toolkit.

Cloud computing and EPC / IMS integration: new value-added services on demand

Abstract: Cloud computing is a challenging and promising paradigm shift in the IT world. Examples of cloud services like Google Apps and Microsoft Azure represent a new paradigm for the provisioning of computer infrastructure, diminishing the costs for creating and maintaining software and hardware for users with infrastructural needs. Next Generation Networks (NGN) decouple services from the transport plane in order to provide flexibility with a common control architecture. This NGN approach offers faster integration of subsequent applications with the advantage of reusing the current deployed infrastructure. The integration of Cloud technology with Telecommunication infrastructures provides new revenue streams for Telecom operators through their converged fixed, mobile and data services and by offering "cloud computing data" services with NGN infrastructure features. This paper analyses interconnection scenarios for combining Cloud-based systems and an Evolved Packet Core (EPC) to offer new value-added applications in a unified architecture. The EPC and IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) are described as possible vehicles for the integration.

Peer Assist Live Streaming Overlay for Next-Generation-Networks

Abstract: The rapid evolution of the telecommunication domain increases the performance of different access networks continuously. New services, especially in the domain multimedia content distribution, require higher and higher bandwidth at the user's and service provider's side. Multimedia services like Video on Demand, IPTV, and live streaming were introduced in the past and are still improved in quality and quantity. Multimedia streams and Peer to Peer P2P file sharing dominates the worldwide Internet traffic nowadays and will continue further Schulze, 2009. The user acceptance of enjoying multimedia content over the Internet will grow steadily together with the increasing quality of the available multimedia content. Network operators and service providers have to face the growths by increasing their service platform with higher performance and bandwidth or introducing a scalable solution. In this paper, the authors present an algorithm for scalable P2P live streaming in Next-Generation-Networks NGN that addresses this challenge. An evaluation proves the performance of the implementation of this algorithm in a demo scenario.

Introducing Widget-based IMS Client Applications

Abstract: Classic telecommunication methods and Internet services are converging. For this reason Telecommunication companies are looking for new ways to include their services in Web 2.0 applications. A strong candidate for the telecommunication infrastructure of the future is the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), an all IP telecommunication core network. In the last few years a new kind of application has increasingly gained popularity: they are known as widgets. Widgets are small but fancy applications based on Web technologies that are very easy to develop. This paper describes a new approach to combining widgets with telecommunication features, such as Voice over IP calls or messaging, using IMS. Our solution includes a new abstraction layer with interfaces for the different telecommunication capabilities. Moreover, we implemented a widget engine that makes these telecommunication interfaces available to its widgets. Our solution allows the rapid development of new IMS client applications and a short time-to-market. The combination of other Web 2.0 services with IMS features becomes an exploitable opportunity.

Enabling Ambient Aware Service Delivery in Heterogeneous Wireless Environments

Abstract: With the development of novel access technologies e.g. LTE, WiMAX etc., the mobile devices are able to establish services over multiple wireless connections with different momentary capabilities. Being imported from the fixed line communication, the current services deployed are lacking an efficient mechanism of adaptation to the momentary connectivity conditions, which deters the efficiency of the service delivery. This paper introduces a novel solution for the adaptation of the services to the momentary network conditions of the mobile device which does not require a complete end-to-end re-signaling, by this reducing the communication over the wireless link and enabling efficient provisioning of the services and the development of new ones customized for the wireless environment. Furthermore, the concept is exemplified on the 3GPP Evolved Packet Core architecture and evaluated using the Fraunhofer OpenEPC testbed implementation.

Preventing Distributed Denial-of-Service Attacks on the IMS Emergency Services Support through Adaptive Firewall Pinholing

Abstract: Emergency services are vital services that Next Generation Networks (NGNs) have to provide. As the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) is in the heart of NGNs, 3GPP has carried the burden of specifying a standardized IMS-based emergency services framework. Unfortunately, like any other IP-based standards, the IMS-based emergency service framework is prone to Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks. We propose in this work, a simple but efficient solution that can prevent certain types of such attacks by creating firewall pinholes that regular clients will surely be able to pass in contrast to the attackers clients. Our solution was implemented, tested in an appropriate testbed, and its efficiency was proven.

Session-based end-to-end policy control in 3GPP evolved packet system

Abstract: The Third Generation Partnership Project specifies a solution to handle the heterogeneity of future networks, including quality of service (QoS) and charging aspects. This solution utilizes a policy-based approach based on the policy and charging control (PCC) architecture, which is an integral component of the evolved packet system (EPS). The specifications for EPS are being finalized with the evolved packet core (EPC) central to this framework. The EPC is a simplified, flat, all IP-based architecture that supports mobility between heterogeneous access networks and incorporates an evolved QoS concept based on the PCC framework. A critical open issue within EPS is the provisioning of end-to-end QoS enabled paths. This article proposes enhancements to the EPC-PCC framework that extend the end-to-end inter-domain mechanisms to discover the signaling routes at the service control layer, and use this information to determine the paths traversed by the media at the resource control layer. Because the approach operates at these layers, it is compatible with existing transport networks and exploits already existing QoS control mechanisms. A real testbed implementation, comprising free and open source software, is used to evaluate the proposed mechanisms. The obtained results show that the framework has an acceptable effect on session setup delay and core traffic overhead in a range of scenario ranging from simple, to typical, to worst case. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. This article describes enhancements to the 3GPP EPC-PCC framework that discover signaling routes at the service control layer and use this information to determine paths traversed by media at the resource control layer to provision end-to-end QoS enabled paths. This approach is compatible with existing transport networks and exploits already existing QoS control mechanisms. The architecture is implemented and evaluated in a real testbed implementation, comprising free and open source software. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Understanding and Predicting Human Behavior for Social Communities

Abstract: Over the last years, with the rapid advance in technology, it is becoming increasingly feasible for people to take advantage of the devices and services in the surrounding environment to remain “connected” and continuously enjoy the activity they are engaged in, be it sports, entertainment, or work. Such a ubiquitous computing environment will allow everyone permanent access to the Internet anytime, anywhere and anyhow [1]. Nevertheless, despite the evolution of services, social aspects remain in the roots of every human behavior and activities. Great examples of such phenomena are online social networks, which engage users in a way never seen before in the online world. At the same time, being aware and communicating context is a key part of human interaction and is a particularly powerful concept when applied to a community of users where services can be made more personalized and useful. Altogether, harvesting context to reason and learn about user behavior will further enhance the future multimedia vision where services can be composed and customized according to user context. Moreover, it will help us to understand users in a better way.

Interoperability in Heterogeneous Resource Federations

Abstract: Currently, a number of research activities worldwide focus on resource federations to enable remote resource access and the setup of large scale experiments. With the global efforts in sharing experimental facility resources across organizational boundaries, interoperability issues are becoming increasingly important. To this end, this paper describes a model that defines the necessary entities for inter resource federation scenarios. The model is then discussed by means of a concrete use case federating Panlab and PlanetLab resources. In this respect Panlab and PlanetLab are considered to be federations themselves. Our findings show that the two approaches can be matched following the general model. This allows for federating resources not only across the boundaries of administrative (organizational) domains but even across the boundaries of federations. Those federations in themselves provide collections of resources offered by several administrative domains and use different control frameworks to enable resource access and management.

Enabling context-sensitive communication experiences

Abstract: Due to a rapidly shifting technology and competitive market environment, Telecommunication and Internet Services are constantly subject to changes, creating new challenges and needs for the industry to keep generating revenues. A high level of customization is therefore identified as a key enabler for achieving customer satisfaction and improving their quality of experience. Enriching services with innovative approaches such as context-aware, adaptable and interactive mechanisms enable the vendors to deliver tailored and personalized experiences to its customers. This article presents a concept to integrate policy-based decision mechanisms into the architecture of a Next Generation Network (NGN)-based converged messaging enabler for supporting adaptive personalization and context-aware service delivery across heterogeneous networks and messaging technologies. The system reacts to context changes and makes real-time decisions about handling incoming messages according to the users' preferences. A prototype has been implemented as part of the Open SOA Telco Playground testbed at Fraunhofer FOKUS.

Resource management in large scale experimental facilities

Abstract: Several projects worldwide offer experimental facilities to enable large scale research experiments. PlanetLab as one of the first initiatives in this field, currently consists of 1021 network nodes forming a global research network. On the other hand, Panlab offers a wide range of heterogeneous resources ranging from hardware devices to dedicated software. The broad field of Future Internet research requires such diverse infrastructures that serve different needs across domains and layers. Federation between different experimental facilities is foreseen to address those requirements as single testbeds cannot offer the full range of technologies that are required by the Future Internet community. This paper outlines an approach of federating Panlab resources with PlanetLab and vice versa. A prototype implementation is described and evaluated. Also, we present a case study to demonstrate the usefulness of the proposed system.

Access Network Reselection Based on Momentary Resources in a Converged Wireless Environment

Abstract: Mobility in a wireless heterogeneous scenario in which the mobile devices are able to connect to more than one access technology available in their vicinity requires a re-consideration on the access network reselection mechanisms. The present paper describes and evaluates the opportunity of introducing novel access reselection procedures which enable a network provider to optimize the allocation of the users on the different access networks available using as central concept that handovers can and should be triggered by the modifications on the resources required by the mobile devices in order to optimize the overall usage of the wireless environment. This concept is exemplified on the 3GPP Evolved Packet Core and evaluated on a minimal prototype implementation.

Service oriented testbed infrastructures: a cross-layer approach for NGNs

Abstract: Existing telecommunications networks and classical roles of operators are subject to fundamental change. Core network technologies have been redefined under the label of Next Generation Networks (NGN) and the transition from existing legacy infrastructures towards an all-IP based NGN is ongoing. Following this paradigm shift within telecommunications, new approaches in services and service composition are currently explored for converging network domains to support legacy circuit-switched networks, NGNs, and integration with the World Wide Web (WWW). Furthermore, emerging initiatives as the Japanese Architecture Design Project for New Generation Network (AKARI), U.S.-based Global Environment for Network Innovations (GENI), Germany Laboratories (G-Lab), and the European Future Internet Research & Experimentation (FIRE) envision a Future Internet allowing automatic cross-layer network adaptation on a service-specific basis. In this report, we describe our setup of a service-oriented research facility for services on top of converging networks as a starting point for service composition in inter-domain, federated testbed environments to allow cross layer service and network composition.

Enabling Next Generation Multimedia Social Services

Abstract: For more than twenty years we have been living in a society of online social relationships, where people tend to connect and share with others. Despite we have not yet seen its truly utility, we are facing an era of social functionality where social context can be used to personalize multimedia content and services. Contributing towards this vision, this paper presents an architectural approach that will enable multimedia social services, by securely exposing user social profiles, relationships and interests. Furthermore, it extends these data by providing interfaces to infer distance, similarity and influence. In addition, by connecting with an external framework, it enhances the supported functionalities, allowing the calculation of relevant social network metrics. Finally, it introduces the results from our prototype implementation.

A platform providing bidirectional service integration for the dynamic long-tail service market

Abstract: Nowadays technologies, frameworks and architectures are forced to be service driven, platform independent, reliable and scalable. Application markets, Service Oriented Architectures and Cloud Computing are currently in focus of the new upcoming business models. Based on an analysis of service life cycle management and composition standards the following article illustrates an architecture for a service platform. This component provides both the export of internal software components as services (inside-out approach) as well as a flexible service life cycle management by considering the needs of Platform as a Service (Paas )and Software as a Service (SaaS). Furthermore, the platform is able to import external services in order to enlarge the service portfolio (outside-in approach) or even to compose the services to create new mash-up services. This leads to collaboration and resource federation between service providers whereas the service access is organized and protected by a policy-based service management function.

Assessing workflow languages for composition of real-time communication services

Abstract: The programmable network envisioned in the late 1990s within standardization and research for the Intelligent Network is taking another attempt to come into reality using IP-based Next Generation Networks (NGN) and Application Programming Interfaces (API) for open developer access. Adopting technical concepts of providing high-level APIs for open service access from the Internet and World Wide Web (WWW), some major telecommunications operators have started developer portals to allow 3rd party developer access to internal service enablers and network functionality. Composition of services by using these exposed APIs may be realized on multiple layers. We address in this report the composition of services based on orchestration languages and assess those in the context of the execution of real-time communication services. We propose a two-folded composition model for component and workflow driven compositions.

Smart advertising in the home of the future

Abstract: With the emergence of smart home environments, services are constantly subject to changes, seeking the customer's full satisfaction. Enriching these services with innovative approaches such as context-aware, mobile, adaptable and interactive mechanisms, enables users to experience a variety of personalised services seamlessly across different platforms and technologies. Moreover, considering advertising as the enabler for next generation services, it is important to explore its integration into new domains. This paper, therefore presents a framework approach to address advertising solutions focusing on smart home environments, enriching the overall user quality of experience. In addition, by over viewing the current smart homes market scenario, it provides the vision to overcome the established advertising paradigms focusing on key points like user privacy protection, online social networks and reality mining technologies.

A Diameter based testing system in Next Generation Mobile Network

Abstract: Diameter protocol is getting more and more important roles in Next Generation Mobile Network Infrastructure. However, in many cases Diameter interfaces are still under standardization. In this paper, we introduce a flexible Diameter based testing system. The strong point of this system is the capability to keep up with the development of Diameter related standards. It is also friendly, scalable and extensible. This system as well as the OpenEPC testbed are in the series of ongoing research and development activities at Fraunhofer Institute FOKUS, Germany.

Emergency Services Control Model for Next Generation Networks

Abstract: Functioning and effective telecommunications are fundamental during and after disasters, be they natural or man-made, and it is specially in these particular situations that communications might congest at a very high rate. Therefore, emergency sessions need to be prioritized over non-emergency sessions to ensure the best coordination. For the more, it becomes clear that the control of Quality of Service in the on-going non-emergency sessions or even the acceptance of new non-emergency sessions is a key feature for the success of emergency services in critical situations. For all these reasons we propose a novel portable model for telecommunications operators for the support of emergency services, which through specific thresholds and dynamic policies will enhance the performance of Next Generation Networks under exceptional circumstances. The model complements the work done in emergency situations from other related work and conveys with the requirements defined by the ITU-T.

An Identity Management Infrastructure for Secure Personalized IPTV Services

Abstract: This article focus on IPTV security and IPTV service personalization by the introduction of an Identity Provider as new participant in IPTV service provision that deals with authentication, user profile and device profile management. The Identity Provider, integrated as part of the Telco operator, would provider user profiles with a wider scope than application specific profiles, enabling high personalization of services and improvement of user experience. Paper gives overview about existing IPTV security technologies but also describe novel architecture for secure personalized NGN based IPTV services.

Proactive Vertical Handover Optimizations in the 3GPP Evolved Packet Core

Abstract: Mobility in a wireless heterogeneous scenario in which the mobile devices are able to connect to more than one access technology available in their vicinity requires a re-consideration of the access network reselection mechanisms as to ensure seamless handovers for real deployments This paper describes and evaluates a new proactive vertical handover optimization which enables a fast reselection, independent and in addition to the classic proactive procedures It uses as central concept the separation between the proactive context establishment and the actual handover triggered operations which may be at their turn active or proactive This concept is exemplified on the 3GPP Evolved Packet Core and evaluated on a minimal prototype implementation