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Optical Network Evolution Towards 5G

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Optics and Lasers".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2019) | Viewed by 21250

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Director of Second Cycle Degree of Telecommunications Engineering, Department of Electrical, Electronic, and Information Engineering "Guglielmo Marconi", University of Bologna, 40100 Bologna, Italy
Interests: communication networks; traffic models; optimization models; 5G networking; SDN

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Guest Editor
Department of Information Security and Communication Technology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 7491 Trondheim, Norway
Interests: optical networks; communication networks; 5G transport; 5G optical; mobile fronthaul, mobile backhaul, ethernet performance, SDN, optical network security

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Guest Editor
Nokia, Naperville, IL, USA
Interests: 5G Radio Access Network, Cloud Computing, Network Virtualization, Time-Sensitive Ethernet Transport, Cellular Fronthaul & Backhaul, Machine Learning, SDN

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Advanced mobile techniques and optical networks are strictly connected within the emerging cloud radio access network scenario to provide high speed, low latency transport solutions. The evolution of optical networks to provide scalable and flexible front-haul and mid-haul solutions are driven by key 5G technologies, including massive MIMO, ultra-high network density, heterogeneous device environment, and enhanced CPRI solutions, and Ethernet-based front-haul solutions. Passive and active solutions to extensively support WDM technologies with the quality of service required, in both indoor and outdoor contexts, are mandatory as a consequence of the increasing number of antennas per cell, cell density, and function centralization. Low and deterministic latency is one of the key enablers both for 5G applications and architectures. SDN-controlled virtual networking mechanisms to support reconfiguration capability and function assignment in an emerging service scenario aim at achieving unprecedented flexibility and performance. This Special Issue will collect the most recent studies and applications describing optical network evolution toward a next generation converged connectivity. Welcome topics include, but are not strictly limited to:

  • Optical networks for front-haul and back-haul
  • Optimized solutions for network functional splits and placement
  • Techniques for time-sensitive optical networking
  • Reconfigurable WDM optical networks for 5G support
  • SDN-controlled optical networks for 5G
  • Cloud RAN deployment and network virtualization
  • Reliable optical networks and function placement in C-RAN
  • Traffic aggregation in C-RAN with latency constraints
  • Optical network solutions for high density contexts
  • 5G transport networks and convergence applications
  • Optical Ethernet experiments and applications

Prof. Dr. Carla Raffaelli
Prof. Dr. Steinar Bjornstadt
Dr. David T Chen
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • Optical networks
  • C-RAN
  • Cloud computing
  • Front-haul
  • TSN
  • Delay
  • CPRI
  • 5G
  • Ethernet switching
  • SDN
  • Slicing
  • White box
  • Machine learning
  • Programmable networks
  • Converged networks
  • Dynamic slicing
  • Virtualization…

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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17 pages, 1209 KiB  
Article
Optimal Cache Deployment for Video-On-Demand in Optical Metro Edge Nodes under Limited Storage Capacity
by Omran Ayoub, Davide Andreoletti, Francesco Musumeci, Massimo Tornatore and Achille Pattavina
Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(6), 1984; https://doi.org/10.3390/app10061984 - 13 Mar 2020
Viewed by 2207
Abstract
Network operators must continuously explore new network architectures to satisfy increasing traffic demand due to bandwidth-hungry services, such as video-on-demand (VoD). A promising solution which enables offloading traffic consists of terminating VoD requests locally through deploying caches at the network edge. However, deciding [...] Read more.
Network operators must continuously explore new network architectures to satisfy increasing traffic demand due to bandwidth-hungry services, such as video-on-demand (VoD). A promising solution which enables offloading traffic consists of terminating VoD requests locally through deploying caches at the network edge. However, deciding the number of caches to deploy, their locations in the network and their dimensions in terms of storage capacity is not trivial and must be jointly optimized, to reduce costs and utilize network resources efficiently. In this paper, we aim to find the optimal deployment of caches in a hierarchical metro network, which minimizes the overall network resource occupation for VoD services, in terms of number of caches deployed across the various network levels, their locations and their dimensions (i.e., storage capacity), under limited storage capacity. We first propose an analytical model which serves as a tool to find the optimal deployment as a function of various parameters, such as popularity distribution and location of metro cache. Then, we present a discrete-event simulator for dynamic VoD provisioning to verify the correctness of the analytical model and to measure the performance of different cache deployment strategies in terms of overall network resource occupation. We prove that, to minimize resource occupation given a fixed budget in terms of storage capacity, storage capacity must be distributed among caches at different layers of the metro network. Moreover, we provide guidelines for the optimal cache deployment strategy when the available storage capacity is limited. We further show how the optimal deployment of caches across the various metro network levels varies depending on the popularity distribution, the metro network topology and the amount of storage capacity available (i.e., the budget invested in terms of storage capacity). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Optical Network Evolution Towards 5G)
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12 pages, 1529 KiB  
Article
Key Technologies and Development Trends of 5G Optical Networks
by Shu-Hao Chang
Appl. Sci. 2019, 9(22), 4835; https://doi.org/10.3390/app9224835 - 12 Nov 2019
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 3790
Abstract
With the development of 5G, 5G optical networks have gradually received increasing attention from scholars. However, most studies have focused on discussing the technical or market aspect. Furthermore, their findings have not provided a panorama of the technologies in the 5G domain, nor [...] Read more.
With the development of 5G, 5G optical networks have gradually received increasing attention from scholars. However, most studies have focused on discussing the technical or market aspect. Furthermore, their findings have not provided a panorama of the technologies in the 5G domain, nor have they provided a detailed understanding of the key technologies and development trends. An optical network is an indispensable type of infrastructure for the development of 5G. Therefore, defining key technologies in this domain is particularly crucial. The present study used patents for 5G optical networks as the basis of its analysis and constructed a technology network using a network analysis method. Research results indicated that the key technologies provided by 5G optical networks include wireless communication network facilities and local resource management (H04W88 and H04W72), selection arrangements for multiplex systems (H04Q11), and arrangements enabling multiple uses of the transmission path (H04L5). The maturation of optical component technology has paved the way for multiplex communication system technology to flourish and made it one of the key technologies in the development of 5G. Additionally, an analysis of top patentees revealed that information technology companies are the main force in developing 5G optical network technologies. Thus, driven by the market, 5G optical communication has become the technical focus of the private sector. In this study, the researchers constructed a technology network model to explore the technology development trends, and the results may serve as a reference for the government in observing emerging technologies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Optical Network Evolution Towards 5G)
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12 pages, 1884 KiB  
Article
Performance Enhancement and Capacity Enlargement for a DWDM-PON System Utilizing an Optimized Cross Seeding Rayleigh Backscattering Design
by Nazmi A. Mohammed and Ahmed Hamdi Mansi
Appl. Sci. 2019, 9(21), 4520; https://doi.org/10.3390/app9214520 - 24 Oct 2019
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 3751
Abstract
In this work, a record of 16 channels, with future channel spacing in the telecommunication standardization sector of the International Telecommunications Union G.694.1 (ITU-T G.694.1) for Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) (i.e., 12.5 GHz), is simulated and tested. This work is done to [...] Read more.
In this work, a record of 16 channels, with future channel spacing in the telecommunication standardization sector of the International Telecommunications Union G.694.1 (ITU-T G.694.1) for Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) (i.e., 12.5 GHz), is simulated and tested. This work is done to realize a proposed high capacity DWDM-Passive Optical Network (DWDM-PON) system. These specifications are associated with enhancing the upstream (US) capacity to 2.5 Gb/s over a 25 km Single-Mode Fiber (SMF) transmission and producing a noteworthy average Bit Error Rate (BER) of 10−12 during the system’s evaluation process. These performance indicators are achieved through design optimization of the cross-seeding Rayleigh Backscattering (RB) elimination technique. This optimization has successfully reduced (compared to the cross-seeding related literature) the simulated DWDM-PON components and maintained an effective Rayleigh Backscattering elimination with the aforementioned system’s performance enhancement and capacity enlargement. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Optical Network Evolution Towards 5G)
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Review

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16 pages, 7256 KiB  
Review
Time Shared Optical Network (TSON): A Programmable Network Edge Solution for Multi-Access Support
by Arash Farhadi Beldachi, Anna Tzanakaki, Reza Nejabati and Dimitra Simeonidou
Appl. Sci. 2019, 9(22), 4786; https://doi.org/10.3390/app9224786 - 8 Nov 2019
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3556
Abstract
The time shared optical network (TSON) has been proposed as a dynamic optical transport network solution to provide high bandwidth and low latency connectivity in support of 5G technology and beyond. This work reviews the TSON evolution stages developed in the framework of [...] Read more.
The time shared optical network (TSON) has been proposed as a dynamic optical transport network solution to provide high bandwidth and low latency connectivity in support of 5G technology and beyond. This work reviews the TSON evolution stages developed in the framework of the U.K. national project Towards Ultimate Convergence of All Networks (TOUCAN). The details of the TSON architecture and its various development phases are discussed, and the performance of its latest implementation is evaluated through relevant demonstration activities across the Smart Internet Lab’s 5G (5GUK) test network. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Optical Network Evolution Towards 5G)
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28 pages, 2431 KiB  
Review
Evolution of Access Network Sharing and Its Role in 5G Networks
by Nima Afraz, Frank Slyne, Harleen Gill and Marco Ruffini
Appl. Sci. 2019, 9(21), 4566; https://doi.org/10.3390/app9214566 - 28 Oct 2019
Cited by 18 | Viewed by 6913
Abstract
This paper details the evolution of access network sharing models from legacy DSL to the most recent fibre-based technology and the main challenges faced from technical and business perspectives. We first give an overview of existing access sharing models, that span physical local [...] Read more.
This paper details the evolution of access network sharing models from legacy DSL to the most recent fibre-based technology and the main challenges faced from technical and business perspectives. We first give an overview of existing access sharing models, that span physical local loop unbundling and virtual unbundled local access. We then describe different types of optical access technologies and highlight how they support network sharing. Next, we examine how the concept of SDN and network virtualization has been pivotal in enabling the idea of “true multi-tenancy”, through the use of programmability, flexible architecture and resource isolation. We give examples of recent developments of cloud central office and OLT virtualization. Finally, we provide an insight into the role that novel business models, such as blockchain and smart contract technology, could play in 5G networks. We discuss how these might evolve, to provide flexibility and dynamic operations that are needed in the data and control planes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Optical Network Evolution Towards 5G)
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