A NFV system to support configurable and automated multi-UAV service deployments

et al. 2018

Sensors

Self Cite

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.

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Enabling Multi-Mission Interoperable UAS Using Data-Centric Communications

Vidal

Bellavista

et al. 2018

Sensors

Self Cite

“…NFV is used to decouple the drone hardware infrastructure from the control layer that virtualizes the infrastructure resources for the higher layers [5]. NFV is also used to enable multimission drones and supports a flexible deployment of network services [2]. Finally, NFV allows the migration of Virtual Network Functions (VNF) [3], which are the responsible units for providing the network functionality through the software implementation.…”

Section: Related Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The use of multidrone network is apparently a cost-effective solution which enables a fast and agile deployment in hardto-reach locations and can straightforwardly be integrated into existing networks and adapt to unexpected changes. This flexibility can be certainly improved with the usage of Network Function Virtualization (NFV) 5G technology enabled drones as we have shown in [2]. However, drones have also several challenges that should be addressed.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An NFV-Based Energy Scheduling Algorithm for a 5G Enabled Fleet of Programmable Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Tipantuña

Hesselbach

Wireless Communications and Mobile Computing

et al. 2019

Self Cite

The fifth generation of mobile networks (5G) is expected to provide diverse and stringent improvements such as greater connectivity, bandwidth, throughput, availability, improved coverage, and lower latency. Considering this, drones or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and Internet of Things (IoT) devices are perfect examples of existing technology that can take advantage of the capabilities provided by 5G technology. In particular, UAVs are expected to be an important component of 5G networks implementations and support different communication requirements and applications. UAVs working together with 5G can potentially facilitate the deployment of standalone or complementary communications infrastructures, and, due to its rapid deployment, these solutions are suitable candidates to provide network services in emergency scenarios, natural disasters, and search and rescue missions. An important consideration in the deployment of a programmable drone fleet is to guarantee the reliability and performance of the services through consistent monitoring, control, and management scheme. In this regard, the Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) paradigm, a key technology within the 5G ecosystem, can be used to perform automation, management, and orchestration tasks. In addition, to ensure the coordination and reliability in the communications systems, considering that the UAVs have a finite lifetime and that eventually they must be replaced, a scheduling scheme is needed to guarantee the availability of services and efficient resource utilization. To this end, in this paper is presented an UAV scheduling scheme which leverages the potential offered by NFV. The proposed strategy, based on a brute-force search combinatorial algorithm, allows obtaining the optimal scheduling of UAVs in time, in order to efficiently deploy network services. Simulation results validate the performance of the proposed strategy, by providing the number of drones needed to meet certain levels of service availability. Furthermore, the strategy allows knowing the sequence of replacement of UAVs to ensure the optimal resource utilization.

“…Notwithstanding the benefits, the realization of this view presents a set of fundamental challenges that needs to be carefully addressed, such as the appropriate integration of these compute platforms as an NFV infrastructure, using an existing NFV software stack, so that an NFV orchestration service can deploy virtual functions on the UAVs; the constraints in terms of the computational resources provided by the compute platforms, as the UAVs transporting them may typically present limitations in terms of size, weight, and computing capacity of payload equipment; the proper placement of the virtual functions onto UAVs (i.e., selecting the best UAV candidate to deploy a particular virtual function); the maintenance of the control communications with the UAVs in order to manage the lifecycle of the VNFs in spite of the potentially intermittent availability of network communications with them (e.g., caused by mobility and battery constraints); the limited operation time of the UAVs due to their battery consumption; and the migration of the virtual functions when a UAV needs to be replaced due to its battery exhaustion. These benefits and challenges are detailed in previous work 18,19 that includes the design of an NFV system capable of supporting the automated deployment of network functions and services on UAV platforms, as well as the validation of the practical feasibility of this design.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Nogales

Vidal

et al. 2019

JoVE

Self Cite

The Network Function Virtualization (NFV) paradigm is one of the key enabling technologies in the development of the 5 th 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.