Showing papers presented at "International Conference on Mobile Networks and Management in 2016"

Simulation Framework for Distributed SDN-Controller Architectures in OMNeT++

Abstract: SDN introduces the separation of network control and network data plane. The control plane is removed from distributed network entities and logically centralized as the SDN controller. To provide resilience and performance such a logically centralized controller may again be physically distributed. Scenarios featuring distributed controller architectures include data center deployments, where controller instances synchronize states on small distances and delays, or continental WAN deployments with long distances and delays between controllers. The contribution of this paper is an OMNeT++ based simulation framework for assessing the performance of distributed SDN controller architectures. Relevant protocols and controller applications are modelled with a high level of detail. Further, an exemplary implementation of two different controller architectures, namely Hyperflow and Kandoo, is included. Initial results based on the provided implementations are presented.

Distributed Computing of Management Data in a Telecommunications Network

Abstract: In this paper, we propose a concept for distributed Management Plane data computation and its delivery in the cellular networks. Architecture for proposed concept is described. Calculation of Key Performance Indicators is distributed to the cellular network edge, close to the managed network elements which reduces the volume of the Management Plane traffic. In this concept, further aggregation and refinement of data is done in the nodes located in the operator’s cloud, close to consumers of Management Plane data. Distribution of calculation to the network edge reduces load at the network operator’s central database. This paper presents an analysis to the benefits of the proposed concept. Efficient on-demand type streaming data delivery model allows network management functions to be plugged in to receive Management Plane data directly without database access. A demonstrator system has been implemented. The feasibility of the implementation is evaluated in terms of resource consumption and latency.

Security in Mobile Computing: Attack Vectors, Solutions, and Challenges

Abstract: With the growth of the mobile industry, a smart phone has the ability to store large amounts of valuable data such as personal and bank information, the users’ location, call logs and more. Thus, the security of data in the mobile world has become an important issue. The main objective of this survey paper is to review the state-of-the-art technologies for the security of mobile computing. It covers the modern mobile operating systems that are being widely used today. It also identifies the various types of attack vectors particularly designed to infect mobile devices and highlights the available security solution to counter each type of attack. Finally, it briefly discusses the outstanding limitations and challenges in the mobile computing world.

Intra-Vehicle Wireless Sensor Network Communication Quality Assessment via Packet Delivery Ratio Measurements

Abstract: For the development of reliable intra-vehicle low power wireless communication protocols, realistic wireless channel models are required. In this article, we present measurements taken in two different vehicles (compact passenger cars), one with a petrol and the other with an electric engine, with the aim to develop such channel models. We measured the received signal strength indicator (RSSI) and packet delivery ratio (PDR) values for several channel and communication settings, e.g. varying IEEE 802.15.4 channels, transmit power levels, packet sizes and different levels of Wi-Fi interference. We observed several unique characteristics of the wireless channel behaviour, resulting in separate zones inside the vehicle with similar behaviour, effects due to different types of engines and observed the impact of charging the electric car.

Information Security Risk Analysis of Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks

Abstract: The main purpose of VANETs is to improve road safety and to provide passengers’ comfort. Thus, information security is one of the most important issue which attracts researchers’ attention due to its open access environment. VANET requires high degree of reliability with an acceptable risk, that develops the trust between the system and users. The risk management is an essential method whose main objective is to advise and determine the appropriate actions as well as priorities to ensure information security. In this paper, we aim to apply the ISO/IEC 27005 Standard - Information Security Risk Management - on VANETs in order to classify and mitigate risks in this technology. Our contribution is an essential process that will help researchers to propose adequate solutions against the attacks in VANET based on classification results.

Processing Time Comparison of a Hardware-Based Firewall and Its Virtualized Counterpart

Abstract: The network functions virtualization (NFV) paradigm promises higher flexibility, vendor-independence, and higher cost-efficiency for network operators. Its key concept consists of virtualizing the functions of specialized hardware-based middleboxes like load balancers or firewalls and running them on commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware.

Novel Core Network Architecture for 5G Based on Mobile Service Chaining

Abstract: A key requirement for the next generation mobile networks is flexibility to support multiple use cases with different network requirements. In this article, we focus on this challenge and propose a novel mobile core network architecture for 5G. We advocate an approach based on Software Defined Networking (SDN) that enables a solution without the need for centralized user plane nodes and with a strict division between control plane and user plane. This allows for flexibility to rapidly deploy network service functions in different deployment setups, supporting multiple use cases. The proposed architecture supports traffic aggregation on multiple granularities, not only per-device tunnels. This allows for efficiency and scalability required to support the massive amount of devices in the 5G time frame.

Automatic Definition and Application of Similarity Measures for Self-operation of Network

Abstract: Self-operation concept is proposed to learn the past experiences of network operations and apply the learned operation experiences to solve new but similar problems. It works based upon the observation that actions appropriate for achieving an objective resemble each other in similar network contexts. Plenty of such similarities exist at the level of network elements, functions, and their relations. Similarity measure definition and application are essential components for the self-operation to apply the learned operation experiences. This paper provides a solution for self-operation to define and apply two types of similarity measures for two self-operation use cases. The first use case answers how to select a best suitable function to achieve any given objective. The second use case tells how the selected function should be configured with the most optimal parameter values so that the given objective could be achieved. This solution is realized on a demonstrator implementing the self-operation concept. Corresponding experiments are made with the demonstrator. The experimental results show that the self-operation solution works well.

A Solution for Tracking Visitors in Smart Shopping Environments: A Real Platform Implementation Based on Raspberry Pi

Abstract: In parallel to the explosion of the use of wireless technologies to connect devices, the scientific community is continually aiming to take advantage of such technologies to provide new services. In this sense, there have been many attempts to exploit the information provided by IEEE802.11 and Bluetooth interfaces, commonly found in most of the smartphones that are being used at the time of writing. In this paper we describe a novel deployment that fosters such approach. Furthermore, the measurements that are gathered are made available, thanks to its integration within the SmartSantander testbed, and to the federation with complementary testbeds. The federation platform and the described deployment are outcomes of the FESTIVAL collaborative project (Europe-Japan). Besides depicting the corresponding software architecture, the paper also discusses some preliminary results that are used to assess the feasibility of the proposed scheme.

Coding Schemes for Heterogeneous Communication Links Using Channel Bundling

Abstract: Communication over geostationary satellite links is improved by introducing end-to-end Forward Error Correction (FEC) and simultaneous transmissions over two links (channel bundling). The main objective of this work is to investigate to which degree the goodput and the reliability can be enhanced using the mentioned techniques. The performances of the two FEC schemes Reed-Solomon Codes and Random Linear Network Coding are compared. Uncorrelated and correlated packet errors are considered, the latter with a Gilbert-Elliot channel model. Experiments are conducted in a testbed consisting of a single PC with virtual network interfaces to determine the influence of various parameter settings on performance. Results are compared against a scenario with one link offering the same capacity as the two links together. It is concluded that using two heterogeneous links is beneficial for the goodput and losses for generation sizes larger than 20 for three correlated lost packets on average.

Proposing a New Solution to Reduce the International Roaming Call Cost

Abstract: The cost of an international roaming call is high for majority of the countries. As a remedy for this, free VoIP services can be utilized, but both originating and terminating parties need to have suitable internet connectivity. Though, this issue is already addressed by certain VoIP services, by terminating the calls via lines owned by them, the call charges are still relatively high. This research paper is directed towards implementation of a cost effective solution for international roaming, where only the international roaming party requires internet connectivity and the local terminating party does not need internet connectivity. This roaming solution is assisted by the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) line of a local fixed operator. The service architecture includes two components. The Customer Network (CN), which consists of a Customer Premises Equipment (CPE), VoIP Gateway (GW), Internet connectivity (preferably ADSL line) and PSTN phone line. The Provider Network (PN) which consists mainly of a Roaming Connectivity Server (RCS) and Call Accounting Server (CAS). Through this proposed system, the cost of originating a call when roaming can be reduced nearly to a local call charge. This solution will have marginal initial cost but still economical from customer point of view.

Communication Requirements for Optimal Utilization of LV Power Distribution Systems

Abstract: Decentralised electric power generation using renewable energy sources are becoming increasingly popular. As a consequence, decentralised electrical energy sources such as photovoltaic (PV) are connected to the low voltage (LV) power grids. This raises the requirement of dedicated and coordinated control of loads and power generation to realize intelligent power management in order to guarantee the full use of the available power transmission capacity. In this paper, we have analyzed the communication requirements when coupling a communication network with the LV power grid to enhance the maximum utilization of the existing physical resources. This paper identifies the exact communication requirements needed in enhancing the utilization of the LV power grid. There are, mainly two requirements: Firstly, the necessity of a fast reaction time in the range of 10 ms up to 300 ms, when the power system operates closer to its maximum utilization. Secondly, the necessity of a very low synchronisation time that should be less than 5.6 µs (required for the phasor measurements). We further discuss the usability of existing communication technologies and architectures for the discussed scenario.

Generic Wireless Network System Modeler

Abstract: Despite the huge research effort in the field of LTE networks, there is not a widely accepted methodology to conduct the corresponding analysis. Various approaches and tools are used, each of them having several advantages, but showing some drawbacks as well. One of the most limiting aspects is that they are not usually able to cope with network deployments having a large number of elements, as it would be in dense Heterogeneous Networks (HetNets). In other cases, they do not usually pay too much attention to the requirements that different types of services might have, overusing the so-called full-buffer approach. In this paper we introduce the Generic Wireless Network System Modeler (GWNSyM), a flexible framework that allows the deployment of rather complex networks, which can be exploited to analyze a wide range of resource management techniques, solutions and, even, novel architectural approaches. The tool is validated over a high-dense network deployment, embracing different types of cells, users and services. Over such scenario, we assess the performance of CoMP techniques and we leverage the Network Virtualization Function paradigm.

A Novel Signaling Protocol (ARCSPXP): Case Study on Synchronization of Educational Data

Abstract: To define the state of communication, a lot of signaling protocol has been studied by many researchers. In this paper, we firstly focus on a new hybrid optimized signaling protocol, ARCSPXP (ARDIC Cloud Service Platform Extension Protocol), which is specialized to mobile devices which are communicating with cloud based services via its internet connection. Then, we test usability and feasibility of ARCSPXP signaling protocol on synchronization of educational data (text, images, media, etc.) stored tablets, proxy servers, and cloud servers which are system actors of the most important educational project in Turkey. Experimental results show that ARCSPXP provides a more manageable and easy to use integration structure for mobile devices.

RF-based Monitoring, Sensing and Localization of Mobile Wireless Nodes

Abstract: Spectrum sensing and characterization play a very important role in the implementation of cognitive radios and adaptive mobile wireless networks. Most practical mobile network deployments require some level of sensing and adaptation to allow individual nodes to learn and reconfigure based on observations from their own environment. Spectrum sensing can be used for detection of a transmitter in a specific band, which can help cognitive radios to detect spectrum holes for secondary users and to determine the presence of a transmitter in a given area. In addition to determining the existence of a transmitter, information obtained from spectrum sensing can be used to localize a transmitter. In this paper, we focus in oner particular aspect o that problem: the distributed and collaborative sensing, characterization and location of emitters in an open environment. Thus, we propose a software defined radio (SDR)-based spectrum sensing and localization method. The proposed approach uses energy detection for spectrum sensing and fingerprinting techniques for estimating the location of the transmitter. A Universal Software Radio Peripheral (USRP) managed via a small, low-cost computer is used for spectrum sensing. Results obtained from an indoor experimental setup and the K-nearest neighbor algorithm for the fingerprinting based localization are presented in this paper.

Estimation of Synchronization Time in Cloud Computing Architecture

Abstract: Size of the electronic data is constantly increasing with today’s technology. Distribution of this data is provided via servers or cloud servers. There are some restrictions caused by network traffic and network infrastructure between these servers. Some of these restrictions can be listed as bandwidth, packet transmission rate, number of users that can be simultaneously answered. These are cause problems about data traffic and efficient transfer of data. In this thesis study, it is aimed to develop an efficient data synchronization system architecture that is compatible with distributed proxy server/cloud server architectures. Thus, it is aimed to optimize the traffic of created by data synchronization.