Bridging TSN and 5G networks: Prototype design and evaluation for real-time embedded systems

Flexibility and energy efficiency are considered two principal requirements of future fifth generation (5G) systems. From an architectural point of view, centralized processing and a dense deployment of small cells will play a vital role in enabling the efficient and dynamic operation of 5G networks. In this context, reconfigurable hotspots will provide on-demand services and adapt their operation in accordance to traffic re quirements, constituting a vital element of the heterogeneous 5G network infrastructure. In this paper we present a reconfigurable hotspot which is able to flexibly distribute its underlying communication functions across the network, as well as to adapt various parameters affecting the generation of the transmitted signal. The reconfiguration of the hotspot focuses on minimizing its energy footprint, while accounting for the current operative requirements. A real-time hotspot prototype has been developed to facilitate the realistic evaluation of the energy saving gains of the proposed scheme. The development flexibly combines software (SW) and hardware (HW) accelerated (HWA) functions in order to enable the agile reconfiguration of the hotspot. Actual power consumption measurements are presented for various relevant 5G networking scenarios and hotspot configurations. This thorough characterization of the energy footprint of the different subsystems of the prototype allows to map reconfiguration strategies to different use cases. Finally, the energy-aware design and implementation of the hotspot prototype is widely detailed in an effort to underline its importance to the provision of the flexibility and energy efficiency to future 5G systems.

Design and implementation of a novel two-phase spectrum handoff scheme for QoS aware mobile users in cognitive radio networks

With the deployment of fifth-generation (5G) wireless networks worldwide, research on sixth-generation (6G) wireless communications has commenced. It is expected that 6G networks can accommodate numerous heterogeneous devices and infrastructures with enhanced efficiency and security over diverse, e.g. spectrum, computing and storage, resources. However, this goal is impeded by a number of trust-related issues that are often neglected in network designs. Blockchain, as an innovative and revolutionary technology that has arisen in the recent decade, provides a promising solution. Building on its nature of decentralization, transparency, anonymity, immutability, traceability and resiliency, blockchain can establish cooperative trust among separate network entities and facilitate, e.g. efficient resource sharing, trusted data interaction, secure access control, privacy protection, and tracing, certification and supervision functionalities for wireless networks, thus presenting a new paradigm towards 6G. This paper is dedicated to blockchain-enabled wireless communication technologies. We first provide a brief introduction to the fundamentals of blockchain, and then we conduct a comprehensive investigation of the most recent efforts in incorporating blockchain into wireless communications from several aspects. Importantly, we further propose a unified framework of the blockchain radio access network (B-RAN) as a trustworthy and secure paradigm for 6G networking by utilizing blockchain technologies with enhanced efficiency and security. The critical elements of B-RAN, such as consensus mechanisms, smart contract, trustworthy access, mathematical modeling, cross-network sharing, data tracking and auditing and intelligent networking, are elaborated. We also provide the prototype design of B-RAN along with the latest experimental results.

Mobile edge assisted multi-view light field video system: Prototype design and empirical evaluation

This paper describes the design and implementation of a wireless control area network (CAN bus) protocol for communication between the smart NOx (nitrogen oxide) sensor on diesel engines and the engine control unit (ECU). In this research, the approach taken is based on a case study of Wärtsilä's smart NOx sensor on a W4L20 diesel engine with the objective of replacing the wired CAN protocol with a wireless CAN communication node. In the current setup, the smart NOx sensor is connected to the engine control unit (ECU) with a wired CAN bus connection. The XBee module, which uses the ZigBee (IEEE 802.15.4) technology was used in the design and implementation of the wireless CAN prototype. With the emergence of 5G networks and the era of IoT, the topic of wireless industrial automation becomes essential in the modern industry. In addition to the great advantages and opportunities that the use of wireless nodes has in automation systems, there are many real challenges. The practical design challenges have been addressed in this paper.

Three dimensional beamforming (3DBF) is a famed technology that enhances spectral efficiency, capacity and coverage area of the 5G networks compared to conventional two dimensional (2D) beamforming by implementing both user specific horizontal and vertical beamforming. In this paper, three LMS based adaptive spatial filtering algorithms, namely, Ang’s, Mathew’s and Fixed step-size LMS have been implemented and evaluated on FPGA for 3DBF scenarios. The associated signal processing issues, specifically for FPGA implementation have been critically investigated. A prototype design of a 3DBF system deploying these adaptive algorithms has been demonstrated using Xilinx Zynq®-7000 family based FPGA platform. Coexistence of Xilinx System GeneratorTM and MATLAB Simulink® environment has been suitably utilized for the purpose. The performance metrics in terms of convergence properties like Mean Square Error (MSE) and Step-size along with beam pattern of all algorithms have been evaluated. Finally, hardware resource utilization of these algorithms has also been analyzed. Investigations reveal the superiority of Mathew’s algorithm over the other two for 3DBF.