Deploying an NFV-Based Experimentation Scenario for 5G Solutions in Underserved Areas.

Presently, a significant part of the world population does not have Internet access. The fifth-generation cellular network technology evolution (5G) is focused on reducing latency, increasing the available bandwidth, and enhancing network performance. However, researchers and companies have not invested enough effort into the deployment of the Internet in remote/rural/undeveloped areas for different techno-economic reasons. This article presents the result of a collaboration between Brazil and the European Union, introducing the steps designed to create a fully operational experimentation scenario with the main purpose of integrating the different achievements of the H2020 5G-RANGE project so that they can be trialed together into a 5G networking use case. The scenario encompasses (i) a novel radio access network that targets a bandwidth of 100 Mb/s in a cell radius of 50 km, and (ii) a network of Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (SUAV). This set of SUAVs is NFV-enabled, on top of which Virtual Network Functions (VNF) can be automatically deployed to support occasional network communications beyond the boundaries of the 5G-RANGE radio cells. The whole deployment implies the use of a virtual private overlay network enabling the preliminary validation of the scenario components from their respective remote locations, and simplifying their subsequent integration into a single local demonstrator, the configuration of the required GRE/IPSec tunnels, the integration of the new 5G-RANGE physical, MAC and network layer components and the overall validation with voice and data services.

Using Aerial and Vehicular NFV Infrastructures to Agilely Create Vertical Services.

5G communications have become an enabler for the creation of new and more complex networking scenarios, bringing together different vertical ecosystems. Such behavior has been fostered by the network function virtualization (NFV) concept, where the orchestration and virtualization capabilities allow the possibility of dynamically supplying network resources according to its needs. Nevertheless, the integration and performance of heterogeneous network environments, each one supported by a different provider, and with specific characteristics and requirements, in a single NFV framework is not straightforward. In this work we propose an NFV-based framework capable of supporting the flexible, cost-effective deployment of vertical services, through the integration of two distinguished mobile environments and their networks: small sized unmanned aerial vehicles (SUAVs), supporting a flying ad hoc network (FANET) and vehicles, promoting a vehicular ad hoc network (VANET). In this context, a use case involving the public safety vertical will be used as an illustrative example to showcase the potential of this framework. This work also includes the technical implementation details of the framework proposed, allowing to analyse and discuss the delays on the network services deployment process. The results show that the deployment times can be significantly reduced through a distributed VNF configuration function based on the publish-subscribe model.

Integration of 5G Experimentation Infrastructures into a Multi-Site NFV Ecosystem.

Network Function Virtualization (NFV) has been regarded as one of the key enablers for the 5th Generation of mobile networks, or 5G. This paradigm allows to reduce the dependence on specialized hardware to deploy telecommunications and vertical services. To this purpose, it relies on virtualization techniques to softwarize network functions, simplifying their development and reducing deployment time and costs. In this context, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Telefónica, and IMDEA Networks Institute have developed an NFV ecosystem inside 5TONIC, an open network innovation center focused on 5G technologies, enabling the creation of complex, close to reality experimentation scenarios across a distributed set of NFV infrastructures, which can be made available by stakeholders at different geographic locations. This article presents the protocol that has been defined to incorporate new remote NFV sites into the multi-site NFV ecosystem based on 5TONIC, describing the requirements for both the existing and the newly incorporated infrastructures, their connectivity through an overlay network architecture, and the steps necessary for the inclusion of new sites. The protocol is exemplified through the incorporation of an external site to the 5TONIC NFV ecosystem. Afterwards, the protocol details the verification steps required to validate a successful site integration. These include the deployment of a multi-site vertical service using a remote NFV infrastructure with Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (SUAVs). This serves to showcase the potential of the protocol to enable distributed experimentation scenarios.

Automated Deployment of an Internet Protocol Telephony Service on Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Using Network Functions Virtualization.

The Network Function Virtualization (NFV) paradigm is one of the key enabling technologies in the development of the 5th generation of mobile networks. This technology aims to lessen the dependence on hardware in the provision of network functions and services by using virtualization techniques that allow the softwarization of those functionalities over an abstraction layer. In this context, there is increasing interest in exploring the potential of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to offer a flexible platform capable of enabling cost-effective NFV operations over delimited geographic areas. To demonstrate the practical feasibility of utilizing NFV technologies in UAV platforms, a protocol is presented to set up a functional NFV environment based on open source technologies, in which a set of small UAVs supply the computational resources that support the deployment of moderately complex network services. Then, the protocol details the different steps needed to support the automated deployment of an internet protocol (IP) telephony service over a network of interconnected UAVs, leveraging the capacities of the configured NFV environment. Experimentation results demonstrate the proper operation of the service after its deployment. Although the protocol focuses on a specific type of network service (i.e., IP telephony), the described steps may serve as a general guide to deploy other type of network services. On the other hand, the protocol description considers concrete equipment and software to set up the NFV environment (e.g., specific single board computers and open source software). The utilization of other hardware and software platforms may be feasible, although the specific configuration aspect of the NFV environment and the service deployment may present variations with respect to those described in the protocol.

Transport-Layer Limitations for NFV Orchestration in Resource-Constrained Aerial Networks.

In this paper, we identify the main challenges and problems related with the management and orchestration of Virtualized Network Functions (VNFs) over aerial networks built with Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (SUAVs). Our analysis starts from a reference scenario, where several SUAVs are deployed over a delimited geographic area, and provide a mobile cloud environment that supports the deployment of functions and services using Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) technologies. After analyzing the main challenges to NFV orchestration in this reference scenario from a theoretical perspective, we undertake the study of one specific but relevant aspect following a practical perspective, i.e., the limitations of existing transport-layer solutions to support the dissemination of NFV management and orchestration information in the considered scenario. While in traditional cloud computing environments this traffic is delivered using TCP, our simulation results suggest that using this protocol over an aerial network of SUAVs presents certain limitations. Finally, based on the lessons learned from our practical analysis, the paper outlines different alternatives that could be followed to address these challenges.

Adaptable and Automated Small UAV Deployments via Virtualization.

In this paper, we present a practical solution to support the adaptable and automated deployment of applications of Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (SUAVs). Our solution is based on virtualization technologies, and considers SUAVs as programmable network platforms capable of executing virtual functions and services, which may be dynamically selected according to the requirements specified by the operator of the aerial vehicles. This way, SUAVs can be flexibly and rapidly adapted to different missions with heterogeneous objectives. The design of our solution is based on Network Function Virtualization (NFV) technologies, developed under the umbrella of the fifth generation of mobile networks (5G), as well as on existing Internet protocol standards, including flying ad hoc network routing protocols. We implemented a functional prototype of our solution using well-known open source technologies, and we demonstrated its practical feasibility with the execution of an IP telephony service. This service was implemented as a set of virtualized network functions, which were automatically deployed and interconnected over an infrastructure of SUAVs, being the telephony service tested with real voice-over-IP terminals.

Enabling Multi-Mission Interoperable UAS Using Data-Centric Communications.

We claim the strong potential of data-centric communications in Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), as a suitable paradigm to enhance collaborative operations via efficient information sharing, as well as to build systems supporting flexible mission objectives. In particular, this paper analyzes the primary contributions to data dissemination in UAS that can be given by the Data Distribution Service (DDS) open standard, as a solid and industry-mature data-centric technology. Our study is not restricted to traditional UAS where a set of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) transmit data to the ground station that controls them. Instead, we contemplate flexible UAS deployments with multiple UAV units of different sizes and capacities, which are interconnected to form an aerial communication network, enabling the provision of value-added services over a delimited geographical area. In addition, the paper outlines an approach to address the issues inherent to the utilization of network-level multicast, a baseline technology in DDS, in the considered UAS deployments. We complete our analysis with a practical experience aiming at validating the feasibility and the advantages of using DDS in a multi-UAV deployment scenario. For this purpose, we use a UAS testbed built up by heterogeneous hardware equipment, including a number of interconnected micro aerial vehicles, carrying single board computers as payload, as well as real equipment from a tactical UAS from the Spanish Ministry of Defense.