8 April 2005 Research Activities in 4 G Networks at

8/April/2005 Research Activities in 4 G Networks at INESC Porto Manuel Ricardo and José Ruela Apartado 4433 4007 -001 Porto Codex www. inescporto. pt tel (351)22 209 4000 fax (351)22 208 4172

Communication Networks and Services Group • People – 2 professors – 2 senior researchers – 6 Ph. D students – 6 MSc students – Variable number of Licenciatura students • Located at – INESC Porto – “Campus da FEUP” – Faculdade de Engenharia da Univ. do Porto 8/Apr/05 2

Research in Mobile Communications – Context • Mobile communications networks vs fixed networks – mobility of the terminals – properties of wireless links • variable bit rates, variable bit error ratios – terminal characteristics • low processing capabilities, low memory, low consumption • 2 key research areas in Networking – 4 G networks – Ambient networks 8/Apr/05 3

Research in Mobile Communications – 4 G Networks • 4 G mobile terminal – Always Best Connected to the available networks – Multiple network interfaces, of different radio technologies – Information conveyed as IP packets • Research problems include – Mobility support, routing – Qo. S, radio resource management, traffic accounting – Security – Ad-hoc, mobile networks – Improvement of existing PLMNs (e. g. GPRS, UMTS) Vo. IP, multicast – Planning, management, and operation • In Europe focused on IPv 6 8/Apr/05 4

Research in Mobile Communications – Ambient Networks • Ambient intelligence – People immersed in reacting environments – Persons carry small devices may form a PAN – Devices • communicate over radio links; connections with neighbour networks • Research problems include – Plug-and-play of unknown devices and networks – Network composition – Mobility, security – Multihoming 8/Apr/05 5

Topics under Research at INESC Porto • Ad-hoc networking • Generic link layer • Qo. S, congestion control • Testing • Multicast 8/Apr/05 6

Integrating Ad-hoc with Infrastructure Networks • Ad-hoc used to extend the coverage of infrastrucure networks • Current solution implements – gateway discovery, address autoconfiguration, MIPv 6, AODV + OLSR • Under work – terminal handover between ad-hoc and infrastructure modes – Multipath towards the infrastructure 8/Apr/05 7

Automatic Networking • Plug-and-play of computers and networks • Development of new signaling, which – Detects/establishes links – Detects other (ambient) networks / devices – Forms networks using existing technologies • IPv 4, NAT, DHCP, IPv 6, MIPv 6, HIP, tunnels, IPSec, PPox, PPTP – Exchanges information about routing, security, and Qo. S – Addresses also multi-homing, multicast and mobility 8/Apr/05 8

Service Announcement over Ambient Networks 8/Apr/05 9

Generic Link Layer for Heterogeneous Networks – Qo. S • Qo. S reservation in heterogeneous wireless networks – Qo. S-enabled virtual channels between MN and AR – Technology-independent interface for 802. 15. 1, 802. 16, UMTS • Support for handover and multicast 8/Apr/05 10

Generic Link Layer – Ro. HC, Robust Header Compression • Vo. IP, mobile Video. IP - very small IP packets • IP/UDP/RTP headers significant overheads • Ro. HC solution – Adapts the IETF Ro. HC to heteregenous networks – Compatible with Qo. S Generic Link layer 8/Apr/05 11

Generic Link Layer – Ro. HC, Robust Header Compression 8/Apr/05 12

End-to-End Quality of Service Framework – Scal. Serv • Evolved from Int. Serv over Diff. Serv • Provides end-to-end Qo. S to real time flows • 3 service classes, with universal semantics – Less than Best Effort, Assured Delivery (AD) • AD service class – Possible microflow aggregation – Uses end-to-end signalling – Interpreted at selected nodes in the access networks 8/Apr/05 13

Congestion Control • Assumption – (some) networks do not provide Qo. S mechanisms – but need to transport real time flows • Development of new congestion control mechanisms – preserve the network stability – are media friendly – can be combined with L 4 (end-to-end) mobility solutions 8/Apr/05 14

Passive Testing – Monitoring Mobile Flows • Detection of mobile flows and representing them for – Operator: traffic maps – User: received Qo. S under wireless and mobile conditions • Sampling 8/Apr/05 15

Passive Testing – Monitoring Mobile Flows 8/Apr/05 16

Testing – Monitoring Platform for a 4 G Operator • Passive Measurements – Traffic accounting – Detection SLA violations – User Location • Active Measurements – Bandwidth probing 8/Apr/05 17

Testing – Protocol Conformance • Protocol / system functional testing • Automatic generation of tests from specifications • Tests and results obtained on-the-fly Tester E S C I 8/Apr/05 18

Multicast • Addressed as an horizontal issue – As a rule, every new work/ thesis addresses multicast – Particular attention to video broadcast • Definition of a secure IP multicast solution – Transmission of multiple video channels – Each channel viewed only by authorized users – If a channel is not visualized, it is not transmitted 8/Apr/05 19

Testbed 1 – Infrastrucure and Ad-hoc 8/Apr/05 20

Testbed 2 – Qo. S Admission control + L 2 link capacity renegotiated Admission control + LSP capacity renegotiated Admission control + L 2 link capacity renegotiated Service request Data Qo. S Request Qo. S Reserved Path Reserve 8/Apr/05 Path Reserve 21

Conclusions • Research in mobile communications networks at INESC Porto – Ad-hoc networking, Generic link layer, Qo. S, Testing, Multicast • Area appealing and rewarding for research and business • Group active at national and international level • Other national research groups have similar growth • We feel that, in Portugal, we are starting to reach the critical mass required to enable mobile communications to emerge as a relevant industry 8/Apr/05 22