Label Switching Research Articles

MPLS vs. IPsec VPN: Choosing the Right Network Architecture for Enterprise WAN

The rapid expansion of the global business has increased the demand for secure, resilient and optimized WANs. Enterprises had traditionally used Wide Area Network (WAN) technologies like Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) or Internet Protocol Security (IPsec) VPNs to link geographically separated data centers. Each of these technologies provides their own benefits, based on an organization’s requirement and a combination of performance, price and security needs. This paper will dive deep to provide a comparative analysis between MPLS and IPsec VPNs technologies and the enterprise WAN scenarios in which these VPNs could be deployed. The paper describes internet circuits, their drawbacks, the benefit of MPLS circuits, and how IPsec VPN can protect public internet circuits. Last but not least, the paper aims to provide network administrators with the necessary tools to choose an appropriate circuit for their organization by providing network architecture scenarios in which MPLS or IPsec VPN over internet circuits is the best choice. Keywords— Internet Circuits, MPLS, IPSec VPN, Tunnel, Budget, Reliability, Security.

Changes to inflammatory markers during 5 years of viral suppression and during viral blips in people with HIV initiating different integrase inhibitor based regimens.

Heightened levels of inflammatory markers are linked to increased morbidity/mortality in people with HIV (PWH) and often remain elevated after virologic suppression by antiretroviral therapy (ART). As new combinations of ART become available, an evaluation of their effects on immune activation and inflammation is warranted. Additionally, it remains unknown whether transient increases in viral load ("blips") during ART are associated with increases in inflammation. We utilized cryopreserved samples from treatment-naïve PWH enrolled in two Phase 3 clinical trials investigating the efficacy and safety of bictegravir, emtricitabine and tenofovir alafenamide (B/F/TAF) or dolutegravir, abacavir, and lamivudine (DTG/ABC/3TC) or DTG + F/TAF over a 5-year window (GS-US-380-1489/1490). At week 144, participants were offered the option to switch to open label B/F/TAF for an additional 96 weeks. We measured levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6), C-reactive protein (hsCRP), D-dimer, soluble CD14 (sCD14), and tumor necrosis factor-α receptor 1 (TNFR1) from available baseline, week 24, 48, 144, and 240 samples (B/F/TAF, N=123; DTG/ABC/3TC, N=62; DTG+F/TAF, N=58). Additional samples from PWH who experienced a viral blip (n=44, defined as a single HIV-1 RNA >50c/mL) were also analyzed and paired with the most recent available suppressed sample before the blip. Longitudinal biomarker changes were assessed using a constrained mixed effects linear regression model adjusting for covariates. Baseline demographics and selected laboratory characteristics were similar across groups. Levels of D-dimer, sCD14, and TNFR1 decreased significantly from baseline in all treatment arms, with no significant differences between arms at any timepoint. Biomarker levels also remained stable following ART-switch at week 144. No significant changes in hsCRP or IL-6 were observed versus baseline in any arm at any timepoint. A significant association was observed between sCD14 and increasing viral load (p=0.022) in viral blips; D-dimer also increased with blips in the B/F/TAF arm. Viral suppression was associated with reductions in most inflammatory markers in PWH, with no significant differences among the three ART regimens during the 144-week randomized period. These decreases were sustained after the open label switch to B/F/TAF. Viral blips were associated with increases in monocyte activation (sCD14). Further analysis is needed to confirm these findings and determine the potential impact on clinical outcomes.

Speaker Demographics Modulate Listeners' Neural Correlates of Spoken Word Processing.

In language comprehension, listeners expect a speaker to be consistent in their word choice for labeling the same object. For instance, if a speaker previously refers to a piece of furniture as a "couch," in subsequent references, listeners would expect the speaker to repeat this label instead of switching to an alternative label such as "sofa." Moreover, it has been found that speakers' demographic backgrounds, often inferred from their voice, influence how listeners process their language. The question in focus, therefore, is whether speaker demographics influence how listeners expect the speaker to repeat or switch labels. In this study, we used ERPs to investigate whether listeners expect a child speaker to be less likely to switch labels compared to an adult speaker, given the common belief that children are less flexible in language use. In the experiment, we used 80 pictures with alternative labels in Mandarin Chinese (e.g., yi1sheng1 vs. dai4fu, "doctor"). Each picture was presented twice over two experimental phases: In the establishment phase, participants listened to an adult or a child naming a picture with one of the labels and decided whether the label matched the picture they saw; in the test phase, participants listened to the same speaker naming the same picture by either repeating the original label or switching to an alternative label and, again, decided whether the label matched the picture they saw. ERP results in the test phase revealed that, compared to repeated labels, switched labels elicited an N400 effect (300-600 msec after label onset) and a P600 effect (600-1000 msec after label onset). Critically, the N400 effect was larger when listeners were exposed to the child speaker than to the adult speaker, suggesting that listeners found a switched label harder to comprehend when it was produced by a child speaker than an adult speaker. Our study shows that the perceived speaker demographic backgrounds influence listeners' neural responses to spoken words, particularly in relation to their expectations regarding the speaker's label switching behavior. This finding contributes to a broader understanding of the relationship between social cognition and language processing.

Enhancing financial security in Fintech: Advanced network protocols for modern inter-bank infrastructure

As financial technology (fintech) continues to evolve, ensuring robust security within inter-bank infrastructure has become increasingly critical. This review paper explores advanced network protocols for safeguarding financial transactions and data against modern cyber threats. The study examines key protocols such as Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS), Segment Routing, and Internet Protocol Security (IPSEC), highlighting their roles in enhancing the performance and security of financial networks. It addresses current security challenges, including sophisticated cyber-attacks, insider threats, and vulnerabilities associated with cloud services and third-party vendors. Furthermore, the paper outlines the steps for integrating these advanced protocols into existing systems, provides best practices for optimal performance and security, and discusses emerging trends and future directions in financial network security. Recommendations for fintech companies and financial institutions are provided to help them navigate the evolving security landscape effectively. The paper concludes with potential areas for future research, emphasizing the need for ongoing innovation in network security to address emerging threats. Keywords: Financial Security, Advanced Network Protocols, MPLS, Segment Routing, IPSEC.

Design and performance analysis of asynchronous network on chip for streaming data transmission on FPGA

The majority of the system on chip (SoC) uses the network on chip (NoC) as routing ports for data transfer from node-to-node with minimal power consumption and low latency and high throughput. This paper concentrates on the ability to model the asynchronous NoCs on the asynchronous circuits on field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). A 3×3 NoC and its universal asynchronous receiver transmitter (UART) protocol is designed and its simulation of the Verilog hardware description language (VHDL) code is done and tested on the Artix-7 FPGA kit, the testing processes in done using the Chipscope tool. In order to meet target requirements in terms of power consumption and latency, the label switching (LS) technique is used as routing. The proposed LS-NoC with level-encoded dual-rail (LEDR) encoding technique provides throughput by registering the packet between the different routers and it helps to improve throughput and speed. The effectiveness of the data transfer is measured and analyzed through a synthesis summary in terms of lookup table’s (LUT’s), slice registers, flip flops’s (FF’s), latency, and packet delivery ratio (PDR) for the traffic pattern generator. The proposed NoC is designed for 8×8 and each port size is 21 bits including ID’s of source and destination routers. The results can be justified by following results: improvement of LUTs is about 12%, flip-flops are 7%, improvement of throughput is 23% and delay is reduced by 26%.

On Finite and Non-Finite Bayesian Mixture Models

In this paper, a Bayesian paradigm of a mixture model with finite and non-finite components is expounded for a generic prior and likelihood that can be of any distributional random noise. The mixture model consists of stylized properties-proportional allocation, sample size allocation, and latent (unobserved) variable for similar probabilistic generalization. The Expectation-Maximization (EM) algorithm technique of parameter estimation was adopted to estimate the stated stylized parameters. The Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) and Metropolis–Hastings sampler algorithms were adopted as an alternative to the EM algorithm when it is not analytically feasible, that is, when the unobserved variable cannot be replaced by imposed expectations (means) and when there is need for correction of exploration of posterior distribution by means of acceptance ratio quantity, respectively. Label switching for exchangeability of posterior distribution via truncated or alternating prior distributional form was imposed on the posterior distribution for robust tailoring inference through Maximum a Posterior (MAP) index. In conclusion, it was deduced via simulation study that the number of components grows large for all permutations to be considered for subsample permutations.

Tel-MPLS: a new method for maximizing the utilization of IP telephony over MPLS networks

Currently, the multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) standard is extremely prevalent. By exploiting the features provided by MPLS technology, a range of services, including IP telephony, have enhanced their overall performance. However, due to the size of the packet header, the IP telephony service consumes a significant portion of the MPLS network's available bandwidth. For instance, in IP telephony over MPLS networks, the packet header might account for as much as 80% of lost time and bandwidth. Designers working on IP telephony are making substantial efforts to address this issue. This study contributes to current efforts by proposing a novel approach called Tel-MPLS, which involves IP telephony over MPLS. TelMPLS approach uses the superfluous fields in the IP telephony packet's header to retain the packet data, therefore lowering or zeroing the IP telephony packet's payload. Tel-MPLS is an approach that significantly reduces the bandwidth of IP telephony MPLS networks. According to the findings, the Tel-MPLS approach is capable of reducing the amount of bandwidth that is lost by 12% when using the G.729 codec.

COMPARING THE PERFORMANCE OF OSPF AND OSPF-MPLS ROUTING PROTOCOL IN FORWARDING TCP AND UDP PACKET

Routing is an important process in computer networks, which involves selecting a path for packet data. The routing mechanism is governed by protocols at layer three of the OSI model or layer two of the TCP/IP model. Routing can be static or dynamic, with dynamic routing algorithms automatically determining the best path in the network. One commonly used dynamic routing protocol is Open Shortest Path First (OSPF), which automatically selects the optimal route for data packets based on received network topology information. The need for more advanced and scalable routing solutions led to the development of Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS), introducing the concept of label switching for faster and more efficient data forwarding. This research aims to analyze the performance of OSPF and OSPF MPLS routing scenarios regarding TCP and UDP services. Through evaluation of Quality of Service (QoS) parameters, including throughput, packet loss, delay, and jitter. This study simulates the network using GNS3 software, with TCP and UDP services transmitted for durations of 15, 30, and 60 seconds. The results showed performance for both scenarios with an average index value of 3.75, indicating "good" network performance according to TIPHON standards across all measurement sessions. Although MPLS OSPF showed slightly lower throughput compared to non-MPLS OSPF, both scenarios showed very low packet loss, low delay, and stable jitter. The evaluation also highlights that the use of OSPF MPLS for UDP services reduces the time delay. Both non-MPLS OSPF and MPLS OSPF effectively support TCP and UDP services, with MPLS OSPF showing advantages in certain QoS parameters, especially for UDP services.

Multi target tracking algorithm based on anchor free detection

In order to alleviate the problems of frequent identity label switching caused by mutual occlusion between targets and missed detection caused by small target sizes in multi-target tracking, this paper proposes a multi-target tracking algorithm based on anchor-free detection. This algorithm first uses YOLOX for detection and embeds the ReID algorithm to enhance pedestrian recognition. Then, it uses the DeepSORT algorithm for tracking and correcting abnormal trajectory algorithms for occluded targets. Finally, experiments are conducted on both the MOT16 dataset and the self-made dataset. This algorithm has higher tracking accuracy than other algorithms, and its tracking performance for small targets has also been effectively improved.

WALS: A Lightweight Stateless Label Switching Framework Based on Prime Theorem for MANETs

This article proposes an innovative unicast/multicast unified, cross-layer, and control/user-plane splitting forwarding method, called Wireless Arithmetic Label Switching (WALS), for mobile ad-hoc networks (MANETs). The WALS is based on a stateless approach: an arithmetic source-routed label is processed by the source and intermediate nodes without table lookup, causing lower protocol overheads and forwarding latency than the conventional stateless unicast/multicast routing protocols such as the Dynamic Source Routing (DSR) and the Differential Destination Multicast (DDM) respectively. Different from conventional unicasting/multicasting designs demanding distinct routing protocol stacks, the WALS requires a unified protocol stack, avoiding the need to distinguish unicast and multicast frames, thus simplifying the design of MANET devices. Mathematical analysis indicates that the WALS is highly scalable for both the network sizes and the number of multicast groups. Simulation results reveal that WALS effectively performs network scalability and the required overhead for the unicast and multicast capabilities. Additionally, WALS achieves superior to the other three state-of-the-art competitive multicast routing methods including DVMRP, ODMRP, and MAODV on the performance of the packet processing latency and packet delivery ratio. As a result, the WALS can significantly enable the employment and management of integrated unicast and multicast services for MANETs.

Developing a Novel Hierarchical VPLS Architecture Using Q-in-Q Tunneling in Router and Switch Design

Virtual Private LAN Services (VPLS) is an ethernet-based Virtual Private Network (VPN) service that provides multipoint-to-multipoint Layer 2 VPN service, where each site is geographically dispersed across a Wide Area Network (WAN). The adaptability and scalability of VPLS are limited despite the fact that they provide a flexible solution for connecting geographically dispersed sites. Furthermore, the construction of tunnels connecting customer locations that are separated by great distances adds a substantial amount of latency to the user traffic transportation. To address these issues, a novel Hierarchical VPLS (H-VPLS) architecture has been developed using 802.1Q tunneling (also known as Q-in-Q) on high-speed and commodity routers to satisfy the additional requirements of new VPLS applications. The Vector Packet Processing (VPP) performs as the router’s data plane, and FRRouting (FRR), an open-source network routing software suite, acts as the router’s control plane. The router is designed to seamlessly forward VPLS packets using the Request For Comments (RFCs) 4762, 4446, 4447, 4448, and 4385 from The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) integrated with VPP. In addition, the Label Distribution Protocol (LDP) is used for Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) Pseudo-Wire (PW) signaling in FRR. The proposed mechanism has been implemented on a software-based router in the Linux environment and tested for its functionality, signaling, and control plane processes. The router is also implemented on commodity hardware for testing the functionality of VPLS in the real world. Finally, the analysis of the results verifies the efficiency of the proposed mechanism in terms of throughput, latency, and packet loss ratio.

Label Switching in Latent Class Analysis: Accuracy of Classification, Parameter Estimates, and Confidence Intervals

Latent class analysis (LCA) is a widely used technique for detecting unobserved population heterogeneity in cross-sectional data. Despite its popularity, the performance of LCA is not well understood. In this study, we evaluate the performance of LCA with binary data by examining classification accuracy, parameter estimation accuracy, and coverage rates of confidence intervals (CIs) through Monte Carlo simulation studies. We address the issue of label switching with a distance-based relabeling approach and introduce an index to measure separation among latent classes. Our results show that classification accuracy, parameter estimation accuracy, and CI coverage rates are primarily influenced by class separation and the number of indicators used for LCA. We recommend using a large sample size to mitigate the effects of tiny class sizes. Additionally, the study finds that the parametric bootstrap CIs perform comparably well or better when compared with the CIs based on the standard maximum likelihood method.

Line-coded payload with PolSK label overlay in optical label switching

Optical label switching (OLS) is an attractive solution for the packet-based optical switching. A novel OLS method applying spectrum shaping line-coding (SSLC) is proposed in this paper. The label signal is superimposed on the amplitude shift keying (ASK) payload signal by polarization shift keying (PolSK) modulation. The low-frequency component of the payload signal is suppressed by line-coding to reduce the induced crosstalk to the label signal. The payload signal and the label signal could be received separately and directly by an ASK receiver and a PolSK receiver, respectively. The performance of the proposed scheme is tested by simulation. Several line-codes are proposed and compared in the simulation. The results of the simulation test show the feasibility of the proposal. Compared with previous OLS methods, the proposed method increases the code efficiency of the payload signal (from 50% to 75% and 80%) without reducing its extinction ratio (ER). So its effective bit rate is increased while its quality is not sacrificed.

A Multi-Path Approach to Protect DNS Against DDoS Attacks

Domain Name System (DNS) is considered a vital service for the internet and networks operations, and practically this service is configured and accessible across networks’ firewall. Therefore, attackers take advantage of this open configuration to attack a network’s DNS server in order to use it as a reflector to achieve Denial of Service (DoS) attacks. Most of protection methods such as intrusion prevention and detection systems use blended tactics such as blocked-lists for suspicious sources, and thresholds for traffic volumes to detect and defend against DoS flooding attacks. However, these protection methods are not often successful. In this paper, we propose a new method to sense and protect DNS systems from DoS and Distributed DoS (DDoS) attacks. The main idea in our approach is to distribute the DNS request mapping into more than one DNS resolver such that an attack on one server should not affect the entire DNS services. Our approach uses the Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) along with multi-path routing to achieve this goal. Also, we use threshold secret sharing to code the distributed DNS requests. Our findings and results show that this approach performs better when compared with the traditional DNS structure.

Effect of Sliding Windows Technique on the Performance of TCP/IP Networks

AbstractTwo basic strategies have developed by network designers to deal including errors. by adding extra information to data before sending. such approach is to comprise sufficient extra information to make destination to infer what the sent data should be, or it possible to add only sufficient extra information to let destination to infer that errors have been occurred, however not which error then have it ask re-send defected data. Previous strategy utilizes errors correcting mechanism and latter uses errors detecting mechanism. Utilize of errors correcting mechanism is named as Forward Error Correction (FEC). In this thesis, sliding window has been implemented over Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS). Therefore, MPLS send data from one node to other node on network depend on short path labels instead of logical addresses in network layer, in addition to that MPLS is connection oriented compared to IP network. Finally, we have study and analyze sliding technique performance over MPLS from delay, throughput and packet loss point of view. It is show that go back N has belter performance compared to selective repeat in term of throughput.

Bayesian analysis for imbalanced positive-unlabelled diagnosis codes in electronic health records

With the increasing availability of electronic health records (EHR), significant progress has been made on developing predictive inference and algorithms by health data analysts and researchers. However, the EHR data are notoriously noisy due to missing and inaccurate inputs despite the information is abundant. One serious problem is that only a small portion of patients in the database has confirmatory diagnoses while many other patients remain undiagnosed because they did not comply with the recommended examinations. The phenomenon leads to a so-called positive-unlabelled situation and the labels are extremely imbalanced. In this paper, we propose a model-based approach to classify the unlabelled patients by using a Bayesian finite mixture model. We also discuss the label switching issue for the imbalanced data and propose a consensus Monte Carlo approach to address the imbalance issue and improve computational efficiency simultaneously. Simulation studies show that our proposed model-based approach outperforms existing positive-unlabelled learning algorithms. The proposed method is applied on the Cerner EHR for detecting diabetic retinopathy (DR) patients using laboratory measurements. With only 3% confirmatory diagnoses in the EHR database, we estimate the actual DR prevalence to be 25% which coincides with reported findings in the medical literature.

Evaluating the Hybrid Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) on the Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (EIGRP)

The development of technology and communication is expanding rapidly. In this case, the internet has become a vital necessity in globalization. Technological innovations are required to create a seamless, fast, and secure communication system. This research aims to evaluate the Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (EIGRP) implementation by applying the Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) technology. This study adhered to several stages in the Network Development Life Cycle (NDLC) method. The results of the two technology combinations, EIGRP and MPLS, demonstrated MPLS network simulation testing in several dynamic routing systems: EIGRP and OSPF, identified through the Quality of Service (QoS) value. It revealed that the best performance was EIGRP with a throughput of 2152.5 bps, delay of 335.6 ms, and jitter of 411 ms. Furthermore, MPLS and EIGRP network redundancy was better applied in the mesh topology with a multi or backup link than in the linear topology with a single link.

Operating Characteristic Curves of Optical Packet-Switching Using Optical Code-Division Multiplexing for Label Switching

In this paper, the operating characteristic curves (OCCs) of optical code-division multiplexing (OCDM) technology for label switching of an optical packet-switching (OPS) network was evaluated. A node structure for processing the packets, with spectral-amplitude-coding (SAC) labels, considering a balanced detector and an optical switch, was developed and modeled. The effects of decoding noises on the performance of both M-sequence and stuffed quadratic congruence (SQC) labeling systems were addressed. Hypothesis testing was applied to the decoder to investigate the results of label recognition. The null and alternative hypotheses were, respectively, defined as a decoder receiving the matching and mismatching labels. Due to the noise effects, the decoder output may not reflect the label status correctly. Type I error occurs when the null hypothesis is true while accepting the alternative one. Type II error occurs when the alternative hypothesis is true while accepting the null one. Analytic equations of both errors were given, considering a desired packet that was missed and an undesired packet shown in a switched path. The trade-off between these two errors, regarding the decoder threshold, was demonstrated in operating characteristic curves (OCCs). A better OCC could be found when a packet had more labeled payload bits, or when the utilized label code had a lower auto-to-cross-correlation ratio.

A novel code shift keying for label superimposing in optical label switching

Optical label switching (OLS) is an attractive solution for the packet-based optical switching. A novel modulation method, i. e., code shift keying (CSK) is proposed for label modulation in this paper. The payload signal applies differential phase shift keying (DPSK) in Manchester code or NRZ format when the label data is “1” or “0”, respectively. The payload signal is detected by a Mach-Zehnder delay interferometer (MZDI) with two-bit delay difference between the two arms. The label signal is detected by another MZDI with a-half-bit delay difference between the two arms. The proposed CSK based OLS significantly increases the code efficiency of the payload signal without sacrificing the extinction ratio (ER). The feasibility of the CSK based OLS is verified by the simulation.

Cloud Based VPN Using IP Tunneling for Remote Site Interface

Abstract: A strong IP technology that builds a secure and encrypted connection tunnel over the less secure internet is required by the majority of enterprise organizations. Joint location and link connectivity issues must be resolved for distant users and branch offices to have secure access to corporate applications and other resources. This ensures security while data passes over encrypted tunnels. Despite the development of IP-based VPN, JLP and LCP for VPN customer edge devices and provider edge nodes have not yet been completely investigated. The purpose of this work is to apply cutting-edge viewpoints to VPN-IP design that may be used in IP multi-protocol label switching (MPLSVPN) infrastructure for cloud computing. The system architecture includes mathematical formulas. End-to-end delay, throughput, and resource consumption behavior for IP tunneling are seen to behave moderately for low scale workloads. While showcasing the benefits of an MPLS-based IP-based VPN architecture, the difficulties of VPN-IP tunneling are explored. This study suggests cloud-based MPLS-VPN as a workable substitute for traditional VPN-IP tunneling in order to get the best performance and service delivery