NIRVANA:iNtellIgent, heteRogeneous VirtuAlised Networking infrAstructure
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Kent
Department Name: Sch of Engineering & Digital Arts
Abstract
The Internet is expanding towards mobile wireless connectivity rapidly. However, to enable this for increasing numbers of users and connected devices, and increasingly bandwidth-, processing power- and energy-hungry applications, will require a transformation in the way in which current mobile and wireless networks perform. Shorter wireless distances (small cells, picocells, femtocells) and different network types for the connection (WiFi, 3G, 4G, 5G) depending on the availability and suitability for different applications, is a process that is already happening and expected to continue. This will manifest itself with simpler remote radio heads providing coverage in otherwise difficult to penetrate locations (and the main processing functions gathered together in a centralised pool of base station baseband units), and with the appearance of new wireless standards. NIRVANA takes this evolution and proposes a transformative step: the incorporation of fast, hardware-based, network monitoring, and intelligence (using the monitoring/gathered information) close to the pool of base stations. The proximity of the intelligence enables low-overhead control of a range of operational functions, which allow users to be moved from one connection type to another, according to their application and the load on the network, and to match the network's resources precisely to user needs. It allows energy efficiency to be optimised throughout the network and in the mobile device, too. The latter is augmented by locating the computing resources for a "mobile cloud" near the base station pool. Some processing is offloaded to the mobile cloud instead of being done on the mobile, and even some mobile-to- mobile communication may be done within this cloud - saving the mobile device (and the network) energy that would have been used in radio transmissions. Finally, among the new wireless connection types to be investigated, millimetre-wave communications, using the most up-to-date releases of the wireless local area network standard (802.11ad/j), will be fashioned into a device-to-device mesh network, for mobile distributed caching, which will be shown to further enhance the capacity of the network and its energy efficiency.
Planned Impact
NIRVANA offers a paradigm shift for the future mobile Internet by combining network intelligence acquisition with state-of- the-art data throughputs. This will have general societal and economic impact as people gain improved access wherever they are. Any geographic area/locale where large numbers of people or vehicles interact, including hospitals, campuses, factories, sporting events, may in the future use mesh networks and will have complex requirements for data transfer, handover and caching. The context and content-aware data harvesting that is envisaged will be relevant for security conscious application as well as strategic meta-networking for future societal needs. The resilience of the highly heterogeneous networking will benefit emergency services in disaster recovery.
NIRVANA's industry project partners are able to exploit progress made and are highly interested in the project. For EE, as with other mobile operators, there is a need to maximize the interaction between new mesh networks, local area wireless networking, and the fixed infrastructure. Maximising customers' satisfaction level (including offering new services while not reducing mobile battery lifetimes) and minimizing costs and energy consumption are clear drivers. BT as a global telecommunications service provider has interests in technologies such as mobile device virtualisation that will provide clear benefits to its customers as well as to its network functionalization and management systems.
JDSU is interested in extending the use of its network management and monitoring tools into future mobile networks, and NIRVANA provides JDSU with a clear direction on the possibilities that are open. Qualcomm has a keen interest in the interaction of D2D communications and the mobile infrastructure, which will be important for its future chipsets and system software. NEC is heavily involved with communications network technology development, has particular interests in the technology for C-RAN, and is very involved with important standardisation bodies. Techgate is a cloud services provider with significant interest in the cloud computing and networking aspects of the project. All partners will take an active role in the definition of use case scenarios and exploitation paths. The extensive depth and diversity of the various NIRVANA industry partners will particularly aid dissemination of the ideas in a way which can make maximum impact on the telecommunications sector in the UK, a sector which includes large numbers of smaller businesses and emerging industries.
Both universities will incorporate news of latest developments in the work undertaken in their outreach activities to inspire the next generation of researchers and better inform the public. The work will also provide a firm foundation for the consortium to leverage further funds via EU HORIZON 2020. This will enable full system development, bringing in EU companies and broadening the research to include other large-data users and management specialists.
In summary, NIRVANA is timely because it captures the current operator debate on small cells, femtocells, distributed base stations and cloud-radio access networks (C-RANs). It is a debate heavily influenced by user population densities and the availability or willingness to deploy a fibre infrastructure. NIRVANA innovates additionally by including network intelligence close to the base station pool, enabling sophisticated operational and service layer functionalities not previously envisaged. These will have enormous future societal and economic impact as the mobile Internet becomes a foundation for future national prosperity.
NIRVANA's industry project partners are able to exploit progress made and are highly interested in the project. For EE, as with other mobile operators, there is a need to maximize the interaction between new mesh networks, local area wireless networking, and the fixed infrastructure. Maximising customers' satisfaction level (including offering new services while not reducing mobile battery lifetimes) and minimizing costs and energy consumption are clear drivers. BT as a global telecommunications service provider has interests in technologies such as mobile device virtualisation that will provide clear benefits to its customers as well as to its network functionalization and management systems.
JDSU is interested in extending the use of its network management and monitoring tools into future mobile networks, and NIRVANA provides JDSU with a clear direction on the possibilities that are open. Qualcomm has a keen interest in the interaction of D2D communications and the mobile infrastructure, which will be important for its future chipsets and system software. NEC is heavily involved with communications network technology development, has particular interests in the technology for C-RAN, and is very involved with important standardisation bodies. Techgate is a cloud services provider with significant interest in the cloud computing and networking aspects of the project. All partners will take an active role in the definition of use case scenarios and exploitation paths. The extensive depth and diversity of the various NIRVANA industry partners will particularly aid dissemination of the ideas in a way which can make maximum impact on the telecommunications sector in the UK, a sector which includes large numbers of smaller businesses and emerging industries.
Both universities will incorporate news of latest developments in the work undertaken in their outreach activities to inspire the next generation of researchers and better inform the public. The work will also provide a firm foundation for the consortium to leverage further funds via EU HORIZON 2020. This will enable full system development, bringing in EU companies and broadening the research to include other large-data users and management specialists.
In summary, NIRVANA is timely because it captures the current operator debate on small cells, femtocells, distributed base stations and cloud-radio access networks (C-RANs). It is a debate heavily influenced by user population densities and the availability or willingness to deploy a fibre infrastructure. NIRVANA innovates additionally by including network intelligence close to the base station pool, enabling sophisticated operational and service layer functionalities not previously envisaged. These will have enormous future societal and economic impact as the mobile Internet becomes a foundation for future national prosperity.
Organisations
- University of Kent, United Kingdom (Lead Research Organisation)
- Techgate plc (Collaboration, Project Partner)
- Molecular Products Trustee Ltd, United Kingdom (Collaboration)
- NEC Corporation (Collaboration)
- Broadcom Corporation (Collaboration)
- Viavi Solutions Inc. (Collaboration)
- BT Group, United Kingdom (Collaboration)
- China Mobile (Collaboration)
- ADVA Optical Networking (Collaboration)
- Comcores (Collaboration)
- Nokia (Collaboration)
- Qualcomm, United Kingdom (Collaboration)
- Qualcomm Cambridge Limited (Project Partner)
- Everything Everywhere Ltd. (Project Partner)
- NEC Telecom MODUS Ltd, United Kingdom (Project Partner)
- JDSU UK Ltd (Project Partner)
- BT Innovate, United Kingdom (Project Partner)
Publications
Du X
(2018)
MapSense: Mitigating Inconsistent WiFi Signals Using Signal Patterns and Pathway Map for Indoor Positioning
in IEEE Internet of Things Journal
Jiang F
(2020)
Stacked Autoencoder-Based Deep Reinforcement Learning for Online Resource Scheduling in Large-Scale MEC Networks
in IEEE Internet of Things Journal
Assimakopoulos P
(2018)
A Converged Evolved Ethernet Fronthaul for the 5G Era
in IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications
Wang K
(2018)
Joint Energy Minimization and Resource Allocation in C-RAN with Mobile Cloud
in IEEE Transactions on Cloud Computing
Wang X
(2018)
Dynamic Resource Scheduling in Mobile Edge Cloud with Cloud Radio Access Network
in IEEE Transactions on Parallel and Distributed Systems
Zhao J
(2016)
A Heuristic Clustering-Based Task Deployment Approach for Load Balancing Using Bayes Theorem in Cloud Environment
in IEEE Transactions on Parallel and Distributed Systems
Wang K
(2019)
Unified Offloading Decision Making and Resource Allocation in ME-RAN
in IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology
Du Y
(2019)
Joint Resources and Workflow Scheduling in UAV-Enabled Wirelessly-Powered MEC for IoT Systems
in IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology
Zhang G
(2015)
Power Allocation for Full-Duplex Relaying-Based D2D Communication Underlaying Cellular Networks
in IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology
Kai Y
(2019)
Resource Allocation and Performance Analysis of Cellular-Assisted OFDMA Device-to-Device Communications
in IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications
Wang J
(2016)
Low-Complexity Beam Allocation for Switched-Beam Based Multiuser Massive MIMO Systems
in IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications
Wang J
(2018)
Frequency Reuse of Beam Allocation for Multiuser Massive MIMO Systems
in IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications
Pan C
(2017)
Joint Precoding and RRH Selection for User-Centric Green MIMO C-RAN
in IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications
Gomes N
(2018)
Boosting 5G Through Ethernet: How Evolved Fronthaul Can Take Next-Generation Mobile to the Next Level
in IEEE Vehicular Technology Magazine
Habib U
(2018)
Analog Radio-Over-Fiber Supported Increased RAU Spacing for 60 GHz Distributed MIMO Employing Spatial Diversity and Multiplexing
in Journal of Lightwave Technology
Assimakopoulos P
(2016)
Switched Ethernet Fronthaul Architecture for Cloud-Radio Access Networks
in Journal of Optical Communications and Networking
Gomes N
(2015)
Fronthaul evolution: From CPRI to Ethernet
in Optical Fiber Technology
Al-Hares M
(2021)
Ethernet fronthaul transport of an upper-physical layer functional split using time-aware shaping
in Optical Switching and Networking
Al-Hares Mohamad Kenan
(2019)
Ethernet fronthaul and time-sensitive networking for 5G and beyond mobile networks
Assimakopulos P
(2017)
Ethernet-based fronthauling for cloud-radio access networks
Al-Hares M
(2017)
Modeling Time Aware Shaping in an Ethernet Fronthaul
Gomes N
(2018)
Optical Fronthaul Options for Meeting 5G Requirements
Xiang, W.
(2015)
ESD: An Energy Saving Data Delivery Scheme in Mobile Social Networks
Al-Hares M
(2017)
Scheduling in an Ethernet fronthaul network
Assimakopoulos P
(2016)
Statistical distribution of packet inter-arrival rates in an Ethernet fronthaul
Al-Hares M
(2016)
The effect of different queuing regimes on a Switched Ethernet fronthaul
| Description | Definition of new radio access network architecture for future mobile communications, including its use through the change in location of functions for direct device-to-device communications and for mobile edge/cloud computing. Demonstration of new functionally-split RAN (at LTE MAC-PHY interface) with an Ethernet fronthaul, including unique layer-2 software-defined networking demonstration using performance metrics extracted from the fronthaul. Optimisation of joint resource management for mobile cloud and device-to-device communications to further enhance resource and energy efficiency. |
| Exploitation Route | Note that the website is no longer functional, and the domain name for it has expired. It will be important to allow collaborators access to the testbed that has been developed . |
| Sectors | Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Electronics |
| Description | Used in presentations to standards groups, to industry at WWRF meeting and further discussions with industry at these groups. Presented at 5G World industry conference and exhibition booth in London, June 2017, with further discussions with companies on industry collaborations. Industry collaborators have also benefited. For example, VIAVI (previously JDSU) has significant involvement in global, operator-/industry-led Open-RAN activities now. |
| Sector | Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Electronics |
| Impact Types | Economic |
| Description | (5G-DRIVE) - 5G HarmoniseD Research and TrIals for serVice Evolution between EU and China |
| Amount | € 6,007,128 (EUR) |
| Funding ID | 814956 |
| Organisation | European Commission |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | European Union (EU) |
| Start | 08/2018 |
| End | 06/2021 |
| Description | 5G Impact on the Electromagnetic Spectrum |
| Amount | £44,301 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Leonardo MW Ltd. |
| Sector | Private |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 03/2020 |
| End | 12/2020 |
| Description | Application of cellular network system architectures and algorithms |
| Amount | £40,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Leonardo MW Ltd. |
| Sector | Private |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 07/2019 |
| End | 08/2022 |
| Description | Horizon 2020 |
| Amount | € 488,440 (EUR) |
| Funding ID | 644526 |
| Organisation | European Commission |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | European Union (EU) |
| Start | 01/2015 |
| End | 12/2017 |
| Description | NIRVANA industry collaborations |
| Organisation | BT Group |
| Department | BT Research |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Presentations made to engineers/scientists of collaborating partners. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Advice, recommendations for future work, steering of technical directions of research. Loan of equipment, measurement probes and software (Viavi Solutions). Hosting of meeting at Research Lab (EE Ltd) in 2015 and 2016. Hosting of meeting at BT labs in 2016. |
| Impact | Joint papers with Viavi Solutions. |
| Start Year | 2015 |
| Description | NIRVANA industry collaborations |
| Organisation | Molecular Products Trustee Ltd |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Presentations made to engineers/scientists of collaborating partners. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Advice, recommendations for future work, steering of technical directions of research. Loan of equipment, measurement probes and software (Viavi Solutions). Hosting of meeting at Research Lab (EE Ltd) in 2015 and 2016. Hosting of meeting at BT labs in 2016. |
| Impact | Joint papers with Viavi Solutions. |
| Start Year | 2015 |
| Description | NIRVANA industry collaborations |
| Organisation | NEC Corporation |
| Department | NEC (UK) Ltd |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Presentations made to engineers/scientists of collaborating partners. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Advice, recommendations for future work, steering of technical directions of research. Loan of equipment, measurement probes and software (Viavi Solutions). Hosting of meeting at Research Lab (EE Ltd) in 2015 and 2016. Hosting of meeting at BT labs in 2016. |
| Impact | Joint papers with Viavi Solutions. |
| Start Year | 2015 |
| Description | NIRVANA industry collaborations |
| Organisation | Qualcomm |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Presentations made to engineers/scientists of collaborating partners. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Advice, recommendations for future work, steering of technical directions of research. Loan of equipment, measurement probes and software (Viavi Solutions). Hosting of meeting at Research Lab (EE Ltd) in 2015 and 2016. Hosting of meeting at BT labs in 2016. |
| Impact | Joint papers with Viavi Solutions. |
| Start Year | 2015 |
| Description | NIRVANA industry collaborations |
| Organisation | Techgate PLC |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Presentations made to engineers/scientists of collaborating partners. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Advice, recommendations for future work, steering of technical directions of research. Loan of equipment, measurement probes and software (Viavi Solutions). Hosting of meeting at Research Lab (EE Ltd) in 2015 and 2016. Hosting of meeting at BT labs in 2016. |
| Impact | Joint papers with Viavi Solutions. |
| Start Year | 2015 |
| Description | NIRVANA industry collaborations |
| Organisation | Viavi Solutions Inc. |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Presentations made to engineers/scientists of collaborating partners. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Advice, recommendations for future work, steering of technical directions of research. Loan of equipment, measurement probes and software (Viavi Solutions). Hosting of meeting at Research Lab (EE Ltd) in 2015 and 2016. Hosting of meeting at BT labs in 2016. |
| Impact | Joint papers with Viavi Solutions. |
| Start Year | 2015 |
| Description | Participation in IEEE 1914 standards group |
| Organisation | ADVA Optical Networking |
| Country | Germany |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Attendance at standards meetings in San Jose, Beijing and Aarhus; presentations of project results. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Feedback and comments, input to some joint papers, potential input to White Papers. |
| Impact | Magazine paper submitted with input from some of the above organisations. Not multidisciplinary. |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | Participation in IEEE 1914 standards group |
| Organisation | Broadcom Corporation |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Attendance at standards meetings in San Jose, Beijing and Aarhus; presentations of project results. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Feedback and comments, input to some joint papers, potential input to White Papers. |
| Impact | Magazine paper submitted with input from some of the above organisations. Not multidisciplinary. |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | Participation in IEEE 1914 standards group |
| Organisation | China Mobile |
| Country | China |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Attendance at standards meetings in San Jose, Beijing and Aarhus; presentations of project results. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Feedback and comments, input to some joint papers, potential input to White Papers. |
| Impact | Magazine paper submitted with input from some of the above organisations. Not multidisciplinary. |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | Participation in IEEE 1914 standards group |
| Organisation | Comcores |
| Country | Denmark |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Attendance at standards meetings in San Jose, Beijing and Aarhus; presentations of project results. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Feedback and comments, input to some joint papers, potential input to White Papers. |
| Impact | Magazine paper submitted with input from some of the above organisations. Not multidisciplinary. |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | Participation in IEEE 1914 standards group |
| Organisation | Nokia |
| Department | Nokia Bell Labs |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Attendance at standards meetings in San Jose, Beijing and Aarhus; presentations of project results. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Feedback and comments, input to some joint papers, potential input to White Papers. |
| Impact | Magazine paper submitted with input from some of the above organisations. Not multidisciplinary. |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | 5G World |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Booth at 5G World event in London ExCel with poster and showing video demonstrations. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | https://5g.co.uk/event/2017/06/5g-world-2017/ |
| Description | Integration of LiFI with Wireless and Radio-Over-Fiber Based Access Networks - panel presentation at Optical Fiber Communications conference (OFC), 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Panel presentation "Integration of LiFI with Wireless and Radio-Over-Fiber Based Access Networks" followed by discussion, in panel "Optical Wireless Communications for Indoor Access Networks - Practical Solutions Beyond Table-top Demos". |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.ofcconference.org/en-us/home/program-speakers/panel/optical-wireless-communications/ |
| Description | Open Day |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Research labs open for Open Day for 50th Anniversary - EPSRC and other projects described to visitors. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | Optical wireless communications and fiber-radio workshop at Optical Fiber Communications conference (OFC), 6 March 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Workshop presentation and discussion at Workshop "Is Optical Wireless Still Relevant for 6G or Will Fiber-radio be enough". Presentation entitled "Is fiber-radio a competitor to optical-wireless? (a fronthaul perspective)". |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.ofcconference.org/en-us/home/program-speakers/workshops/is-optical-wireless-still-releva... |
| Description | Research Media article |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | General, public-facing article on EPSRC NIRVANA and EU iCIRRUS project work, which could be understood by business leaders and policymakers. Has led to further requests for information. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| URL | http://www.internationalinnovation.com/better-faster-intelligent-telecommunications/ |
| Description | Talk given by Professor Nathan Gomes at Aristotle University of Technology, Thessaloniki, as part of Training School. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Talk was given as part of a PhD researcher training school, co-organised by EU projects and an EU COST action, on "Emerging Technologies for 5G Networks", held from 10th - 13th September, 2019. The talk was entitled "Why we now have a Converged "X-haul" for 5G and Beyond Mobile Transport". It resulted in further discussion, on the current projects and COST action activities, and on future collaborations |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | http://www.5g-phos.eu/index.php/events |
| Description | Talk given by Professor Nathan Gomes at Nantong University on "Making Fronthaul Work for 5G and Beyond Mobile Networks" |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Talk given at a Workshop on Wireless Communications at Nantong University, for the benefit of their academic staff, researchers and postgraduate students, primarily, with some external visitors. Professor Gomes was one of around 8 international speakers. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Virtual Talk given by Professor Kun Yang on "Mobile Edge Computing and Communications from the Sky" |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Virtual talk organised by IEEE Atlanta Chapter, 9 December 2020, give by Professor Kun Yang as part of IEEE ComSoc Distinguished Lecturer series. NIRVANA was acknowledged. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://events.vtools.ieee.org/m/245583 |
| Description | Virtual Talk given by Professor Nathan Gomes to Xidian University on "Fronthaul for 5G and beyond Radio Access Networks" |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | A University research seminar given virtually. NIRVANA (EPSRC funding) was acknowledged. Discussions for future collaborations resulted. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | e-magazine article |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | e-magazine article in Adjacent Government on fronthaul research team at the University of Kent, mentioned NIRVANA project |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| URL | http://www.adjacentgovernment.co.uk |