Centralized Network Management Research Articles

Research on the Construction Scheme of Centralized Network Management for SDH Equipment of Electric Power Communication

As the neural network system of the power system, the power communication network carries the important production and operation business such as relay protection, safety and stability control, automation, dispatching telephone, etc. The safe and stable operation of the power communication network is an important basic guarantee of the power system. In 2012, State Grid Corporation of China launched TMS system to manage the SDH backbone network of power communication. In order to ensure the data connection between the professional network management and TMS system, the centralized construction of SDH network management of power communication is needed. In this paper, the construction scheme of provincial centralized network management is studied, which can provide reference for the subsequent construction of centralized network management.

Task Offloading in Vehicular Edge Computing Networks: A Load-Balancing Solution

Recently, the rapid advance of vehicular networks has led to the emergence of diverse delay-sensitive vehicular applications such as automatic driving, auto navigation. Note that existing resource-constrained vehicles cannot adequately meet these demands on low / ultra-low latency. By offloading parts of the vehicles’ compute-intensive tasks to the edge servers in proximity, mobile edge computing is envisioned as a promising paradigm, giving rise to the vehicular edge computing networks (VECNs). However, most existing works on task offloading in VECNs did not take the load balancing of the computation resources at the edge servers into account. To address these issues and given the high dynamics of vehicular networks, we introduce fiber-wireless (FiWi) technology to enhance VECNs, due to its advantages on centralized network management and supporting multiple communication techniques. Aiming to minimize the processing delay of the vehicles’ computation tasks, we propose a software-defined networking (SDN) based load-balancing task offloading scheme in FiWi enhanced VECNs, where SDN is introduced to provide supports for the centralized network and vehicle information management. Extensive analysis and numerical results corroborate that our proposed load-balancing scheme can achieve superior performance on processing delay reduction by utilizing the edge servers’ computation resources more efficiently.

SlotSwapper

Industrial process control systems are time-critical systems where reliable communications between sensors and actuators need to be guaranteed within strict deadlines to maintain safe operation of all the components of the system. WirelessHART is the most widely adopted standard which serves as the medium of communication in industrial setups due to its support for Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) based communication, multiple channels, channel hopping, centralized architecture, redundant routes and avoidance of spatial re-use of channels. However, the communication schedule in WirelessHART network is decided by a centralized network manager at the time of network initialization and the same communication schedule repeats every hyper-period. Due to predictability in the time slots of the communication schedule, these systems are vulnerable to timing attacks which eventually can disrupt the safety of the system. In this work, we present a moving target defense mechanism, the SlotSwapper, which uses schedule randomization techniques to randomize the time slots over a hyper-period schedule, while still preserving all the feasibility constraints of a real-time WirelessHART network and makes the schedule uncertain every hyper-period. We tested the feasibility of the generated schedules on random topologies with 100 simulated motes in Cooja simulator. We use schedule entropy to measure the confidentiality of our algorithm in terms of randomness in the time slots of the generated schedules.

End-to-End Delay Minimization-Based Joint Rule Caching and Flow Forwarding Algorithm for SDN

Software-defined networking (SDN) technology is expected to offer higher flexibility and programmability and enhanced transmission performance by decoupling control plane from data plane and enabling centralized network management. In SDN, switches may cache a certain number of flow forwarding rules, so that user flows can be forwarded accordingly. In this article, stressing the limited caching space of switches and the heterogeneous transmission performance of switches and links, we jointly design rule caching and flow forwarding strategy for multiple user flows in SDN. To emphasize the importance of the end-to-end delay caused by the transmission and processing of user flows in both the data plane and control plane, we formulate the joint optimization problem as an end-to-end delay minimization problem. As the original optimization problem is a non-deterministic polynomial hard (NP-hard) problem, which cannot be solved directly, we propose a heuristic algorithm which successively solves three subproblems, i.e., flow forwarding subproblem, rule caching and candidate path selection subproblem, and resource sharing subproblem. By applying the K-shortest path algorithm, a priority-based rule caching algorithm, and Lagrangian dual method, respectively, the three subproblems are solved and the joint rule caching and flow forwarding strategy is obtained. Simulation experiments are conducted to examine the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm, and the results indicate that our proposed algorithm is capable of improving system performance by about 20% compared with the previous solutions.

Optimal VNF Placement via Deep Reinforcement Learning in SDN/NFV-Enabled Networks

The emerging paradigm - Software-Defined Networking (SDN) and Network Function Virtualization (NFV) - makes it feasible and scalable to run Virtual Network Functions (VNFs) in commercial-off-the-shelf devices, which provides a variety of network services with reduced cost. Benefitting from centralized network management, lots of information about network devices, traffic and resources can be collected in SDN/NFV-enabled networks. Using powerful machine learning tools, algorithms can be designed in a customized way according to the collected information to efficiently optimize network performance. In this paper, we study the VNF placement problem in SDN/NFV-enabled networks, which is naturally formulated as a Binary Integer Programming (BIP) problem. Using deep reinforcement learning, we propose a Double Deep Q Network-based VNF Placement Algorithm (DDQN-VNFPA). Specifically, DDQN determines the optimal solution from a prohibitively large solution space and DDQN-VNFPA then places/releases VNF Instances (VNFIs) following a threshold-based policy. We evaluate DDQN-VNFPA with trace-driven simulations on a real-world network topology. Evaluation results show that DDQN-VNFPA can get improved network performance in terms of the reject number and reject ratio of Service Function Chain Requests (SFCRs), throughput, end-to-end delay, VNFI running time and load balancing compared with the algorithms in existing literatures.

A New Algorithm for Controller Placement in SDN

SDN network supports centralized network management by splitting control plane and data plane of forwarding devices and places the network intelligence in a software entity called controller. The controller can be placed in selective places of network to effectively monitor and control network activities. Large scale network needs multiple controller to manage control activities of network. In order to identify the optimum number of controllers and its effective locations in the network, a new algorithm is proposed using cut-vertex concept from graph theory. The proposed algorithm is simulated using Mininet SDN emulator. To study the performance of the proposed algorithm, multiple scenarios were used in the simulation and performance was analysed using parameters viz., flow installation time, average latency of network, throughput.

Controller placement in software defined networks: A Comprehensive survey

Software defined networking (SDN) offers centralized network management and effective resource utilization by offloading the intelligent control plane, responsible for routing and signaling, of network devices to one or more external entities known as controllers. It also allows us to experiment with new ideas and deploy applications in the existing network through programmability of the control plane. The number and placement of controllers in the network influences several aspects such as performance metrics, availability, fault tolerance, convergence time and state distribution options. Therefore, the problem of determining the number and placement of controllers and switch to controller mapping, widely known as the controller placement problem, is one of the problems that needs more attention. This review presents a comprehensive overview of recent literature on the controller placement strategies in SDN. The existing literature on the controller placement problem is analyzed across six aspects: target network environment, traffic characteristics, controller characteristics, solution approach, reliability of network elements, and different optimization objective(s). We mainly focus our discussion on controller placement approaches based on optimization objectives such as latency, connectivity, cost, load, energy, QoS, control plane overhead or a combination of these objectives.

Analysis of the peculiarity the main concepts of construction virtual networks

The TCP / IP stack-based communication environment does not always meet the needs of the speed of commissioning and the speed of reconfiguration of modern multiservice networks. The solution to this problem is to implement such a network architecture, in which the logic of traffic management is removed from the software of routers and switches and designed as a separate logic of centralized network management. A network built on this architecture is called Software Defined Network (SDN). Logically centralized software model does not mean physical centralization of the system. Instead, SDN workstations rely on physically distributed control levels. Sharing these levels is key to achieving the desired flexibility of the network, while separating the problem of network management into simpler tasks while simplifying the introduction of new abstractions. The article covers the concept of software-configured networks in the context of two concepts of their construction, namely, software-defined (SDN) networks and virtualization of network functions (NVF). The NVF approach involves separating the functions of logical network elements from their hardware infrastructure by virtualizing such functions. All of this makes it possible to use unified computer hardware that delivers extensive computing capabilities to manage bandwidth. In this case, the resources of the unified equipment can be dynamically redistributed between the software implemented virtual network functions. In terms of practical implementation, the NVF concept is more interesting now. In this model, the switches do not abstract from the performance of network management functions, but only delegate such functions to the SDN controller or to some set of virtual network services. Despite the later appearance of telecommunication services, compared to the concept of SDN, telecommunications market operators are considering the possibility of implementing NVF solutions in the short and medium term. The main reasons for this are, firstly, that the implementation of NVF can be limited and progressive through the provision of new services and without early replacement of successfully used equipment. Second, for MVF solutions, unlike SDN solutions, there is already a well-established application practice associated with cloud and other solutions that makes the NVF concept more mature and commercially available. The main factors hampering the development of NFVs include insufficiently developed standards, leading to diversity in vendor implementations and NFV interoperability issues across vendors; organizational problems of telecommunication operators are connected with necessity of transfer of a part of functions from technical department to the department of information technology. In general, the transition to NFV can be compared to the transition from analogue telephone exchanges to digital ones in the early 1970s, when equipment manufacturers experienced the same reorientation and re-equipment.

ANALYSIS AND CHOICE OF ROUTING PROTOCOLS IN WIRELESS AD HOC NETWORKS BASED ON THE USE THE NEURAL NETWORK

In the past few years, we have seen a rapid expansion in the field of mobile computing due to the proliferation of inexpensive, widely available wireless devices. However, current devices, applications and protocols are solely focused on cellular or wireless local area networks (WLANs), not taking into account the great potential offered by ad hoc networking. Ad hoc networks are wireless mobile networks that can operate without infrastructure and without centralized network management. In such networks, the wireless mobile nodes may dynamically enter the network as well as leave the network. Mobility and dynamic topology are the main characteristics of ad hoc networks. In the last years, the hundreds of new routing protocols were designed, that are used for the various scenarios of this design space. The routing features in wireless ad hoc networks are described. The corresponding routing protocols are reviewed. The paper proposes a method for selecting the preferred protocol wireless networks using the mathematical tools of neural networks.

Robust Defense Scheme Against Selective Drop Attack in Wireless Ad Hoc Networks

Performance and security are two critical functions of wireless ad-hoc networks (WANETs). Network security ensures the integrity, availability, and performance of WANETs. It helps to prevent critical service interruptions and increases economic productivity by keeping networks functioning properly. Since there is no centralized network management in WANETs, these networks are susceptible to packet drop attacks. In selective drop attack, the neighboring nodes are not loyal in forwarding the messages to the next node. It is critical to identify the illegitimate node, which overloads the host node and isolating them from the network is also a complicated task. In this paper, we present a resistive to selective drop attack (RSDA) scheme to provide effective security against selective drop attack. A lightweight RSDA protocol is proposed for detecting malicious nodes in the network under a particular drop attack. The RSDA protocol can be integrated with the many existing routing protocols for WANETs such as AODV and DSR. It accomplishes reliability in routing by disabling the link with the highest weight and authenticate the nodes using the elliptic curve digital signature algorithm. In the proposed methodology, the packet drop rate, jitter, and routing overhead at a different pause time are reduced to 9%, 0.11%, and 45%, respectively. The packet drop rate at varying mobility speed in the presence of one gray hole and two gray hole nodes are obtained as 13% and 14% in RSDA scheme.

ANALYSIS OF GSM NETWORK QUALITY OF SERVICE USING CALL SETUP FAILURE RATE AND HANDOVER FAILURE RATE INDICES

Over the decades, the Global System for Mobile (GSM) communications technology has become one of the fastest growing and most challenging telecommunications technologies. The Call Setup Failure Rate (CSFR) and Hand-Over Failure Rate (HOFR) were the most important Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) used in ascertaining the efficiency of GSM network in terms of the quality of services rendered. For customers, it is expected that maximum satisfaction is derived from any service rendered, which was not the case over the years. The increase of HOFR and poor network availabilities due to increased CSFR became a great concern to all parties (providers, users, and researchers). Hence, this paper assessed the Quality of Service (QoS) of MTN GSM network in four geographical areas (Kaduna South, Kaduna North, Zaria, and Kafanchan) using two Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) of HOFR and CSFR. The data used in the assessment was collated from MTN Network Management Center (NMC) with the aid of the FACTS tool. These KPI results were evaluated against those specified by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in order to make some important recommendations from the findings (contributions) to improve the QoS of MTN network.

Performance comparison of SDN OpenFlow controllers

Software defined networking (SDN) is the centralised network management technology that could reduce the network administration and policy enforcement overhead in the traditional IP networking. SDN controller is the network operating system responsible for entire network operations. However, there are many open source controllers available, such as NOX, POX, FloodLight and OpenDaylight. Each controller has its own properties that could support specific requirements. In this paper, we have compared the performance of most familiar OpenFlow controllers like NOX, POX, Ryu, FloodLight and OpenFlow reference controller based on their packet handling capacity, by varying the packet size, number of packets and arrival pattern in the IP traffic flows. Distributed internet traffic flow generator (D-ITG) tool has been used to measure the performance in terms of delay, jitter, throughput and packet loss. Our experimentation results show that, FloodLight has the better throughput and less delay when compared to other controllers. This work substantiates the researcher in choosing the appropriate controller for their requirements.

Traffic Optimization for a Mixture of Self-Interested and Compliant Agents

This paper focuses on two commonly used path assignment policies for agents traversing a congested network: self-interested routing, and system-optimum routing. In the self-interested routing policy each agent selects a path that optimizes its own utility, while in the system-optimum routing, agents are assigned paths with the goal of maximizing system performance. This paper considers a scenario where a centralized network manager wishes to optimize utilities over all agents, i.e., implement a system-optimum routing policy. In many real-life scenarios, however, the system manager is unable to influence the route assignment of all agents due to limited influence on route choice decisions. Motivated by such scenarios, a computationally tractable method is presented that computes the minimal amount of agents that the system manager needs to influence (compliant agents) in order to achieve system optimal performance. Moreover, this methodology can also determine whether a given set of compliant agents is sufficient to achieve system optimum and compute the optimal route assignment for the compliant agents to do so. Experimental results are presented showing that in several large-scale, realistic traffic networks optimal flow can be achieved with as low as 13% of the agent being compliant and up to 54%.

Minimizing Controller Response Time Through Flow Redirecting in SDNs

Software defined networking (SDN) is becoming increasingly prevalent for its programmability that enables centralized network configuration and management. With the growth of SDNs, a cluster of controllers cooperatively manages more and more switches/flows in a network to avoid the single-controller congestion/failure and improve the control-plane robustness. Under the architecture with multiple controllers, it is expected to minimize the maximum response time on these controllers to provide better QoS for users. To achieve this target, two previous methods are mainly used, the static scheme and the dynamic scheme. However, these methods may lead to an increase of the control-plane communication overhead/delay. In this paper, we propose to minimize the maximum response time on controllers through flow redirecting, which is implemented by installing wildcard rules on switches. We formulate the minimum controller response time problem, which takes the flow-table size and link capacity constraints into account, as an integer linear program, and prove its NP-Hardness. Two algorithms with bounded approximation factors are designed to solve this problem. We implement the proposed methods on our SDN testbed. The testing results and extensive simulation results show that our proposed algorithm can reduce the maximum controller response time by about 50%–80% compared with the static/dynamic methods under the same controller cost, or reduce the number of controllers by 30% compared with the dynamic method while preserving almost the same controller response time.

Bandwidth Slicing for Socially-Aware D2D Caching in SDN-Enabled Networks

The explosive growth of mobile data traffic poses challenge to the network architecture design. Caching popular contents on device level instead of infrastructure level, termed as distributed caching, can potentially alleviate the traffic load. As an emerging technology to decouple the control plane from the physical network topology, software-defined networking (SDN) promises to build a flexible, scalable, and programmable framework by enabling centralized network control and management. In this paper, assuming that user can leverage social networking and share contents via device-to-device (D2D) communications, we propose a SDN-enabled socially aware D2D caching scheme, in which Internet service providers split bandwidth into distinct slices and dynamically allocate these slices to content providers (CPs) for controlling traffic flows. Then, the CPs can provide share contents with content requesters for further traffic offloading. To improve the spectrum efficiency, we conceive this caching scheme with the architecture of hierarchical matching game. In this way, the combinatorial problem can be solved in two-stage. In the first stage, we propose a dynamic bandwidth allocation algorithm to allocate distinct bandwidth slices for differentiated quality-of-service requirements. In the second stage, we formulate the content sharing problem as a many-to-many matching game with externalities. To solve this complex matching problem, we design a novel distributed algorithm with faster converge speed. A joint solution is thus provided to solve the content sharing and power allocation problems iteratively by exploiting non-orthogonal multiple access. We conduct extensive simulations to demonstrate that our proposed schemes provide a better tradeoff between performance and complexity than other benchmarks.

An Efficient Online Algorithm for Dynamic SDN Controller Assignment in Data Center Networks

Software defined networking is increasingly prevalent in data center networks for it enables centralized network configuration and management. However, since switches are statically assigned to controllers and controllers are statically provisioned, traffic dynamics may cause long response time and incur high maintenance cost. To address these issues, we formulate the dynamic controller assignment problem (DCAP) as an online optimization to minimize the total cost caused by response time and maintenance on the cluster of controllers. By applying the randomized fixed horizon control framework, we decompose DCAP into a series of stable matching problems with transfers, guaranteeing a small loss in competitive ratio. Since the matching problem is NP-hard, we propose a hierarchical two-phase algorithm that integrates key concepts from both matching theory and coalitional games to solve it efficiently. Theoretical analysis proves that our algorithm converges to a near-optimal Nash stable solution within tens of iterations. Extensive simulations show that our online approach reduces total cost by about 46%, and achieves better load balancing among controllers compared with static assignment.

EVOLUTIONARY PATTERNS OF LOGISTICS

[For the English abstract and full text of the article please see the attached PDF-File (English version follows Russian version)].ABSTRACT The article is based on the results of long-standing research conducted by the authors in the field of logistics. It contains provisions and conclusions reflecting the evolution of the development of the concept of logistics in the last 25-30 years, since traditional approaches have radically changed and transformed from the basic concepts associated with supply chain management to understanding of priority logistics tascs as of managing of consumers’ demand chains under market conditions. Today the logistics approach must be implemented through the social purpose of human action. At the same time the engineering aspect of modern logistics, which is based on process-resource and network technologies, is becoming increasingly important. Keywords: logistics, intralogistics, evolution, logistics methodology, information, services, network technologies, logistics management, integrated process, network-centric management.

Organization of a Unified Coordinate-Information Space to Provide for the Operation of the Multi-Agent Robotic System

Background/Objectives: The article outlines aspects of effective application of multiagent robotic systems and development of a unified coordinate-information space for such systems Methods: Authors review aspects of efficacy of application of multiagent robotic systems and questions of development and maintaining the unified coordinateinformation space of these systems. Aspects of devices required to solve the identified problem are also considered in the article. Findings: The circle of the problems arising at creation of multiagent robotic systems has been outlined in the review and possible ways to solve these problems have been shown. Applications/Improvements: The article formulates a list of equipment and systems necessary to maintain a single coordinate-information space for the operation of multiagent robotic systems. Keywords: Coordinate Measuring, Hybrid Lidar, Multi-Agent Robotic System, Supervisory Network-Centric Management, Technical Vision

SDNoC: Software defined network on a chip

We present a novel network-on-chip (NoC) architecture, called SDNoC, that is based on a hybrid hardware/software approach. This approach is based on a few principles used in Software defined networks (SDNs). In particular, the control network and the data network are physically separated. In addition, SDNoC is controlled by a centralized network manager (NM) implemented in software that is executed on a dedicated core. These principles lead to many advantages. 1) Computation of paths is simple and the allocation of routes is efficient because the NM has a global view. Moreover, the NM is not limited to a small set of allowed routes and can easily deal with unexpected irregular traffic patterns. 2) The switches that forward phits in SDNoC are simple because they are configured by the NM, do not store phits, and do not have routing tables. 3) The overhead consumed by packet headers/trailers and control messages is greatly reduced. 4) There is no need for a complicated error-prone distributed protocol that avoids deadlock, starvation, etc. 5) Power consumption is proportional to the traffic in the NoC (as the NM processes requests, and the switches forward incoming phits). 6) Flexible design of the NM in software facilitates the addition of features such as security and support of priorities and deadlines for Quality-of-Service (QoS).

Defending Against New-Flow Attack in SDN-Based Internet of Things

Recently, the Internet of Things (IoT) is attracting significant attention from both academia and industry. To connect the huge amount of IoT devices effectively, software-defined networking (SDN) is considered as a promising way because of its centralized network management and programmable routing logic. However, due to the limited resources in both the data plane and the control plane, SDN is vulnerable to the new-flow attack, which can disable the SDN-based IoT by exhausting the switches or the controller. Therefore, in this paper, we propose a smart security mechanism (SSM) to defend against the new-flow attack. The SSM uses the standard southbound and northbound interfaces of SDN, and it includes a low-cost method that monitors the new-flow attack by reusing the asynchronous messages on the control link. The monitor method can differentiate the new-flow attack from the normal flow burst by checking the hit rate of the flow entries. Based on the monitoring result, the SSM uses a dynamic access control method to mitigate the new-flow attack by perceiving the behavior of the security middleware in the IoT. The dynamic access control method can intercept the attack flows at their access switch. Extensive simulations and testbed-based experiments are conducted and the corresponding results verify the feasibility of our claims.