Abstract-New architectural and design approaches for Radio Access Networks have appeared with the introduction of network virtualization in the wireless domain. One of these approaches splits the wireless network infrastructure into isolated virtual slices under their own management, requirements and characteristics. Despite the advances in wireless virtualization, there are still many open issues regarding the resource allocation and isolation of wireless slices. Because of the dynamics and shared nature of the wireless medium, guaranteeing that the traffic on one slice will not affect the traffic on the others has proven to be difficult. In this work, we focus on the detailed definition of the problem, discussing its challenges. We also provide a review of existing works that deal with the problem, analyzing how new trends such as SDN and NFV can assist in the slicing. We will finally describe some research challenges on this topic.

Network slicing is one of the key enabling technologies for 5G networks. It allows infrastructure owners to assign resources to service providers (tenants), which will afterwards use them to satisfy their end-user demands. This paradigm, which changes the way networks have been traditionally managed, was initially proposed in the wired realm (core networks). More recently, the scientific community has paid attention to the integration of network slicing in wireless cellular technologies (LTE). However, there are not many works addressing the challenges that appear when trying to exploit slicing techniques over WiFi networks, in spite of their growing relevance. In this paper we propose a novel method of proportionally distributing resources in WiFi networks, by means of the airtime. We develop an analytical model, which shed light on how such resources could be split. The validity of the proposed model is assessed by means of simulation-based evaluation over the ns-3 framework.

No abstract

No abstract

The independent operation of mobile and fixed network segments is one of the main barriers that prevents improving network performance while reducing capital expenditures coming from overprovisioning. In particular, a coordinated dynamic network operation of both network segments is essential to guarantee end-to-end Key Performance Indicators (KPI), on which new network services rely on. To achieve such dynamic operation, accurate estimation of endto-end KPIs is needed to trigger network reconfiguration before performance degrades. In this paper, we present a methodology to achieve an accurate, scalable, and predictive estimation of end-to-end KPIs with sub-second granularity near real-time in converged fixed-mobile networks. Specifically, we extend our CURSA-SQ methodology for mobile network traffic analysis, to enable converged fixed-mobile network operation. CURSA-SQ combines simulation and machine learning fueled with real network monitoring data. Numerical results validate the accuracy, robustness, and usability of the proposed CURSA-SQ methodology for converged fixed-mobile network scenarios.

No abstract

Network slicing has recently been proposed as one of the main enablers for 5G networks. The slicing concept consists of the partition of a physical network into several self-contained logical networks (slices) that can be tailored to offer different functional or performance requirements. In the context of 5G networks, we argue that existing ubiquitous WiFi technology can be exploited to cope with new requirements. Therefore, in this paper, we propose a novel mechanism to implement network slicing in WiFi Access Points. We formulate the resource allocation problem to the different slices as a stochastic optimization problem, where each slice can have bit rate, delay, and capacity requirements. We devise a solution to the problem above using the Lyapunov drift optimization theory, and we develop a novel queuing and scheduling algorithm. We have used Matlab and Simulink to build a prototype of the proposed solution, whose performance has been evaluated in a typical slicing scenario.

Nowadays, trying to obtain better coverage and performance, and allowed by the low-hardware prices, it is common to deploy a large number of IEEE 802.11 devices in offices, meeting rooms or auditoriums configuring the so called highdensity networks. In such a scenario, the shared nature of the transmission medium causes interference problems. Some physicallayer-and link-layer-adaptation mechanisms to palliate those problems have been developed, however, most of them have not been independently implemented and assessed. In this paper, we implement in a simulator some of the existent solutions, compare them in a simulation environment and show that, in some situations, the existing solutions can lead to a starvation problem. Finally, we propose a new mechanism that manages datarate, transmit power and carrier-sense threshold to ameliorate this problem.