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The present deliverable is the Initial report about the first functional tests and 5G end to end facility validation. It provides the overall situation of the E2E facility implementation status corresponding to the project’s MS9 Second release of the 5G end to end facility in M24. Special attention has been paid to the 5G infrastructure performance metrics. The document also goes through all the 5G EVE pilots providing detailed information about the activities performed in the scope of 5G EVE project since last year, their implementation and integration status in the E2E site facility, and the roadmap for activities in the upcoming months. Although the obvious impact of the COVID19 on the Use Cases and Pilots deployments and executions, mostly related to the activities that needed a physical access to the facilities, the consortium has made a big effort to preserve the original roadmap. This has allowed to reach a good level of integration with the 5G EVE platform and to collect preliminary results on the Use Cases’ services. The last topic covered by the deliverable describes the methodology that has been implemented to provide support to the pilot Use Cases to carry out the Experimentation flow activities as described in D1.3 - 5G EVE end-to-end facility reference architecture for Vertical industries and core applications [3]. This deliverable should provide future 5G EVE experimenters with all the available information to carry out experimentation within 5G EVE E2E facility, including the Blueprints used to instantiate the experiments of the 5G EVE internal Use Cases and the methodology to go through the integration process.

Ensuring a decent Quality of Experience (QoE) is fundamental for service providers, in particular mobile networks operators, when designing their current and future connectivity solutions. With this aim in view, they are compelled to cope with potential QoE detractors such as Inter-Cell Interference (ICI) which is expected to be a liability with a foreseen network densification. This issue was anticipated in Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks and many solutions leveraging cooperation schemes between the access nodes to alleviate the ICI’s effects can be found in the literature, notably for uplink (UL) transmissions which pose a greater challenge. Among the cooperative models dealing with UL ICI, Joint Detection (JD) is particularly interesting since it promises substantial throughput gains while maintaining a high spectral efficiency. However, its practical feasibility is still unclear. In the following work, we propose a platform gathering a set of architectural, functional and technical requirements to endow realistic LTE networks with JD capabilities.

Cloud radio access network systems, consisting of remote radio heads densely distributed in a coverage area and connected by optical fibers to a cloud infrastructure with large computational capabilities, have the potential to meet the ambitious objectives of next generation mobile networks. Actual implementations of C-RANs tacklefundamental technical and economic challenges. In this article, we present an end-to-end solution for practically implementable C-RANs by providing innovative solutions to key issues such as the design of cost-effective hardware and power-effective signals for RRHs, efficient design and distribution of data and control traffic for coordinated communications, and conception of a flexible and elastic architecture supporting dynamic allocation of both the densely distributed RRHs and thecentralized processing resources in the cloud to create virtual base stations. More specifically, we propose a novel antenna array architecture called load-controlled parasitic antenna array (LCPAA) where multiple antennas are fed by a single RF chain. Energy- and spectral-efficient modulation as well as signaling schemes that are easy to implement are also provided. Additionally, the design presented for the fronthaul enables flexibility and elasticity in resource allocation to support BS virtualization. A layered design of information control for the proposed end-to-end solution is presented. The feasibility and effectiveness of such an LCPAA-enabled C-RAN system setup has been validated through an over-the-air demonstration.

The present deliverable aims at giving the planning of the integration, test and validation of the different verticals in the 5G EVE facility. First, an overview of the 5G EVE E2E facility is given through the status of the 4 sites facilities focusing on their main updates since their description carried out in [2]. Then, we mainly detail the planning of the internal 5G EVE verticals before introducing the external ones. The internal 5G EVE verticals have already been described, as well as their KPIs in [1]. A very short summary of each of them is proposed, sometimes giving also some preliminary performance results obtained during first experimentation (most often achieved in lab) and mostly providing the roadmap of their integration, test and validation in the 5G EVE facility. The external verticals are issued from the ICT-19 and ICT-22 projects that have expressed their interests to use the 5G EVE facility to experiment their use-cases. So, a short description of the ICT-19/22 projects is carried out by detailing their respective use-cases they want to integrate. For each use-case, the KPIs and main features requested are detailed. Then, a tentative planning is proposed for each external vertical.

Deliverable D3.6 is the first deliverable related to the Interworking Framework testing and it describes the test cases that are executed for the validation and performance assessment of the Interworking Layer implementation. This deliverable is intended to be aligned with D3.3 [1], which contains the first implementation of the Interworking Framework, as all the components and capabilities exposed by the I/W Framework must be tested in order to verify their correct operation before deploying them in a real production environment. For achieving this, firstly the testing methodology that will be applied for the definition of the Interworking test suites is presented. In this case, the principles of software project testing are proposed, as there are a lot of similarities between this kind of developments and the I/W Framework itself; i.e. both can be decomposed into small test units that can be tested separately, verifying their correct operation in an isolated way. After that, the different components of the architecture can be integrated in a more complex solution which can be also tested in order to validate these new interactions. This process is repeated until reaching to the complete system itself, integrating all the components of the architecture and testing the overall system. After describing the key aspects of the testing methodology to be applied, the components and capabilities to be tested in the Interworking Layer are presented, defining the testing points that must be considered for specifying the different test suites. Note that this deliverable only covers the formal definition of the test, in a tabular format, while the provision of the necessary scripts to execute the tests, the execution of these scripts and the results evaluation are tasks which are covered by D3.7, which is the second and last deliverable related to I/W testing purposes. Furthermore, the testing plan is also aligned with the 5G EVE project roadmap planned for the final delivery regarding the Interworking Layer, which is presented in D3.3 – section 5 [1]. As a reminder, this updated roadmap defines two extra, intermediate deliveries that were not part of the original proposal, but it is foreseen they could be important to this project: Drop 1 at the end of 2019, for providing support of the execution of selected use cases, and Drop 2 for aligning the WP4 deliveries with an I/W Framework delivery that allows to test the end-to-end services provided by the Portal. Finally, it is also defined a set of testing tools that may be useful for building the different test cases defined in the deliverable. These tools are partially inherited from all the work already done in WP5 regarding the testing and validation methodologies to be applied during the execution of tests. However, the selection of the tools and the environment to be used for testing the different test suites will be also defined in D3.7, as it is closer to the implementation part instead of the formal definition of tests.

The 5G EVE project aims at providing among others, a testing and validation framework for the Verticals to create their tests and validate their services. In this direction, as an intermediate step, a set of disjoint testing and validation tools have been developed and made available to the site owners. The concept of “disjoint” implies that the tools: Are not yet fully integrated among them Are not yet integrated with the rest of the 5G EVE layers The delivered tools are available here: https://www.5g-eve.eu/end-to-end-facility/ There are two types of tools: those that are specific to the different sites, and which are not necessarily shared since they focus on the use cases to be deployed at each site, and those that are more generic, and thus reusable across the sites to resemble features that will be available when the 5G EVE Platform is finalized and fully integrated.

Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) cloud computing services have emerged in the last few years, offering an abstraction framework to enable the development, execution, and management of applications, which is de-coupled from complex infrastructure considerations. The next generation of PaaS solutions (NGPaaS) will have to address more stringent performance requirements compared to traditional PaaSes. They will have to support Telco-specific requirements in terms of resource efficiency, availability, and resilience. According to the 5G promise of convergence between vertical and Telco markets, they will also have to be able to address new use case scenarios. One of the possible scenarios to address could be the combining of Telco and vertical components as digital video broadcasting (DVB). This paper demonstrates how NGPaaS features enable the implementation of 5G-oriented connectivity services in cloud data centers. Regarding the convergence aspect, it aims to demonstrate how NGPaaS features facilitate the build of a combined Telco-broadcasting PaaS system on the cloud where a DVB-RCS2 system is able to bring its own components and integrate them with the connectivity services deployed on the PaaS by a Telco operator. This is achieved by applying specific customizations and enhancements to Kubernetes.

This deliverable contains the description of the four European (France, Greece, Italia and Spain) sites facilities that compose the 5G end-to-end infrastructure of 5G EVE. Since the deployment of the four facilities is in progress at the time of delivery of this document, the information here provided is to be considered as the state of hardware and software assets in each site facility planned for the end of April 2019, when the initial access to the 5G EVE platforms will be granted to the verticals to be integrated. The site facilities evolution will follow the specifications of 3GPP – Release 16 and the roadmap of equipment manufacturers. The final state of the different sites facilities that will compose the E2E facility will be described in the D2.3 deliverable due at the end of the project (June 2021). Each site facility is described individually, with an effort to identify the possible commonalities and inter-relations among site architectures which aims at easing the process of smooth interworking in the 5G EVE platform. For each of the sites, we provide through this document a description of the reference high level architecture and a summary of the main vertical use-cases that is planned to integrate. A set of technical features is also provided, such as: • the RAN architecture (RRH, BBU, Frequency bands, implemented technologies, etc.); • the distributed cloud/MEC elements; • the CORE architecture; • the network management and orchestration functions; • the tools and software used for the network deployment, supervision management and KPI testing and validation; • the main interfaces between layers. The individual description of each of the sites allows to analyse the possible convergence between the different approaches of network deployment and thus to give the common blocks that can build the interworking between sites and the management of the 5G EVE end-to-end facility. In the conclusion, we present a summary table of the technologies used by each site for each part of the network framework.

5G standard emerges at a particular time in technology history when cloud transforms deeply almost all industries and services: it becomes obvious that innovations have to be made cloud-native for being successful. 5G must become the ubiquitous fabric blending universal connectivity (to humans, robots, sensors…) with cloud versatility and scalability. For realizing this vision, another model than IaaS must be adopted, the Platform as a Service (PaaS), which should be built to support telco-grade requirements and combine all sort of third-party applications. These are the core objectives of the Next Generation Platform as a Service (NGPaaS) project, a H2020 5G PPP Phase 2 project. The paper presents the project fundamentals, its architectural proposal and most relevant features.

Platform-As-A-Service (PaaS) systems offer customers a rich environment in which to build, deploy, and run applications. Today’s PaaS offerings are tailored mainly to the needs of web and mobile applications developers, and involve a fairly rigid stack of components and features. The vision of the H2020 5GPPP Phase 2 Next Generation Platform-as-a-Service (NGPaaS) project is to enable “build-to-order” customized PaaSes, tailored to the needs of a wide range of use cases with telcograde5G characteristics. This paper sets out the salient and innovative features of NGPaaS and explores the impacts on Operational Support Systems and Business Support Systems (OSS/BSS), moving from fixed centralized stacks to a much more flexible and modular distributed architecture.

In an increasingly interconnected world, new opportunities for telecom-based services are emerging. Innovative applications profit from cloud versatility and scalability, but require a platform to combine the optimized 5G network fabric with the advancements in the domain of cloud computing, Software Defined Networking (SDN) and Network Function Virtualization (NFV). In this multi-domain context, we find that available service platforms are lagging, because they tend to be tightly coupled to a constrained set of technologies. In practice, we need the flexibility to deploy different microservices over a heterogeneous range of infrastructure types, aggregating various virtualization, orchestration and control mechanisms. Moreover, the integration of the service requires collaboration among a wide mix of actors (e.g. developers, operators, hardware/software vendors, infrastructure/service providers or vertical integrators). We propose a next-generation Platform-as-a-Service (NGPaaS), devised as a modular framework for the development and operation of network services, while targeting a high degree of both customization and automation. The presented architecture is built around a workflow-based orchestrator which coordinates custom-built tasks across a tailored group of specialized infrastructure or platforms. We also explain how NGPaaS enhances DevOps-principles, to achieve a more efficient integration process across the many isolated administrative domains in the modern telco landscape.

International audience; Software defined networking (SDN) and network function virtualization (NFV) are the embraced technologies for the backhauling of future 5G networks. Virtual Machine (VM) and Docker container based deployments have received much attention. This paper presents the virtualization of a prototyped software defined radio access network (RAN) architecture by using VMs and Docker containers. In addition, it provides an analytical model for the generalized software defined RAN architecture with the practice of VM based and Docker container based implementations. Using measurements obtained from the two testbeds and the introduced queuing model, we compare their performances and analyze the two different architectures. Results verify the superiority of the Docker technology. Some observations from the behavior of the testbeds are concluded for a better understanding of the VM and Docker container based technologies for the future development of 5G SDN controller.

International audience; Software Defined Networking (SDN) has attracted tremendous interest in the telecommunication industry due to its ability to abstract, manage and dynamically re-configure end-to-end networks from a centralized controller. Though SDN is considered to be a suitable candidate for various use cases in mobile networks, none of the work so far has discussed its advantages and actual realization for Train-to-Wayside Communication System (TWC). In this paper, for the first time, the architecture and use cases of SDN controlled mobile backhauling framework for TWC is proposed. We discuss how our proposed architecture can efficiently handle mobility management and also provide dynamic quality-of-service (QoS) for different services on board. As a first step, a software prototype is developed using industrial standard OpenDayLight SDN controller to have our architecture evaluated. Since the automotive sector is being considered to be an important driver for 5G network, our SDN based mobile backhauling solution can be positioned in 5G where SDN plays an important role.

Software Defined Networking (SDN) has generated tremendous interest in the telecommunication industry due to its ability to abstract, manage and dynamically re-configure end-to-end networks from the centralized controller. In this poster, for the first time, the architecture of SDN controlled wireless backhauling framework for Train to Ground communication system is proposed. We demonstrate how our architecture can efficiently handle mobility management and also provide dynamic quality-of-service (QoS) for different services on board.

International audience; Software defined networking (SDN) is growing rapidly in telecommunications due to its capability to efficiently manage end-to-end networks by decoupling control plane and data plane. The scalability and flexibility can bring benefits to network management and maintenance. However, it has yet to happen for wireless networks since there is a lack of practical solutions for migrating Radio Access Networks (RAN) to software defined wireless networks. Here, we design a wireless SDN controller based on OpenDayLight (ODL). We show how our framework can support typical use case and Self-Optimized Network algorithm. The design is highly flexible and can be leveraged for future wireless networks such as C-RAN and 5G.

International audience; To meet quality of service requirements on the uplink of future cellular networks, we need to exploit inter-cell interference among users eligible for cooperation. Cloud Radio Access Network (C-RAN) architecture is particularly favorable to realize cooperation between users in neighboring cells, since signal detection is realized in the same processing unit. The novel technology of Software Defined Networking (SDN) increases the flexibility of network optimization and scalability of computational resources. We propose a C-RAN based architecture and a practical scheme of realizing uplink joint processing in critical scenarios where strong interference would affect cell-edge users. We consider characteristics of a real network and novel technological solutions necessary for reliable transmission over the radio access network. The central idea is to split the physical layer processing between Remote Radio Heads (RRHs) and the central processing unit only for selected users in enabling cooperation and maintaining affordable fronthaul transport infrastructure. In practice, the joint detection for selected few co-channel users would simplify the required multiuser channel estimation while improving overall performance and cell-edge users' quality-of-service (QoS).

This paper describes a novel forward error correction (FEC) and time interleaving scheme, known as BB-iFEC (Base Band inter-burst FEC), aimed to provide long time interleaving with fast zapping support. BB-iFEC is a split FEC scheme with an outer FEC and an outer time interleaver concatenated to the inner FEC and inner time interleaver. It is based on the link layer FEC scheme of the hybrid satellite-terrestrial mobile broadcasting standard DVB-SH (Satellite to Handhelds), known as MPE-iFEC (Multi Protocol Encapsulation inter-burst FEC), but moved down to the physical layer. This allows full transparency towards upper layers, as well as reduced signaling overhead and packet fragmentation. However, the major novelty is that it allows re-using the soft information at the output of the inner FEC decoder (i.e., the log-likelihood ratios, LLRs). Compared to hard decoding, this improves the performance at the expense of higher memory requirements at the receivers. Nevertheless, BB-iFEC allows to efficiently perform either soft or hard decoding, being thus a scalable solution. Another important advantage is that it can be introduced in future evolutions of existing systems, because it allows allows co-existence of terminals with and without long time interleaving support. The paper describes the main features of BB-iFEC and its implementation at the transmitter and receiver side. The paper also presents illustrative results for future evolutions of the digital terrestrial TV standard DVB-T2 (Second Generation Terrestrial), such as the next generation mobile broadcasting technology DVB-NGH (Next Generation Handheld).

In the digital video broadcasting satellite services to handhelds (DVB-SH) system for broadcasting multimedia services to mobile receivers, a multiprotocol-encapsulation inter-burst forward error correction (MPE-IFEC) technique has been introduced to mitigate the deep signal fading events which primarily occur in the land-mobile satellite channel. It is based on a clever organization of data and parities with long interleaving. The media data is thus buffered at the client side until all interleaved data or redundancies are received before decoding begins. The more the data is protected against loss, the more video impairment decreases and latency increases. Latency negatively impacts the playout start time and switching time. A tradeoff is usually necessary between the video quality and the forward error correction (FEC) decoding latency. Such a tradeoff is realized in a static mode. Alternatively, in this paper we investigate how an adaptive media playout and variable FEC decoding delay scheme can provide low latency while providing good video quality. We then evaluate user quality of experience when the method is used in DVB-SH broadcast networks. © 2012 Alcatel-Lucent.

Network virtualization functions (NFV) and software-defined networking (SDN) are changing the landscape of the telecommunications industry, particularly infrastructure and network systems of Telco operators with the introduction of cloud computing, paradigms of virtualization and software approaches. In this paper, we describe a demonstrator which shows how IT technologies reduce the time of deployment of a wireless infrastructure. In less than 60s, a wireless LTE network is available for connecting Smartphone's. In this demo, the eNodeB, virtualized using docker containers, is orchestrated by OpenStack heat.

This paper provides an overview of a satellite-based Unlimited Mobile TV system implementing the recently defined Digital Video Broadcast-SH radio interface. It provides details on the system features and performances with respect to a typical dimensioning/deployment scenario. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.