Projects
SMIL: SimulaMet Interoperability Lab

Research objectives
The SimulaMet Interoperability lab (SMIL) support a wide range of research activities at SimulaMet, and will in particular address the following research areas:
- Benchmark and improve time-sensitive networking technologies for 5G networks between base stations and edge computing for 5G.
- Study and improve mechanisms for network slicing to ensure successful co-use of 5G networks for critical applications.
- Study how legacy computers can be used to realize Cloud Radio Access Networks by using software defined radio and lower cost of deployment by moving functionality from hardware to software. Of particular interest is real-time scheduling of Cloud RAN workloads in edge data centres.
- Study new 5G and IoT applications enabled by edge computing using features such as low latency, high throughput and quality of service guarantees combined with edge computing capabilities available in 5G cellular networks.
- Develop and improve self-driving networks for fast recovery with technologies such as SDN, P4 and Network Function Virtualization in combination with machine learning of large-scale data analytics of the entire networked system.
- Understand and improve mechanisms required to establish Robust cellular networks for reliable infrastructure for new user groups which relies on dependable networks.
Time sensitive networking
Traditionally, dedicated point-to-point connections using Common Public Radio Interface (CPRI) have been used to interconnect smart cellular antennas to base stations. In 5G, the main infrastructure vendors have proposed e-CPRI, based on the Ethernet standard. With Ethernet, one would expect to leverage traditional switches for aggregation and simultaneous data transport in addition to e-CPRI, but Ethernet and legacy switches are not built for the timing requirements of 5G. To overcome this problem, different technologies have been suggested to enable Time Sensitive Networking (TSN) with Ethernet as the transport technology. In this research activity, we study how TSN can be realized in 5G front haul networks, combining the requirements of synchronization, bound latency in combination with traditional best-effort packet transport. In the laboratory we collaborate with TransPacket for access to FPGA-based implementations of TSN using the Fusion network technology implemented in Xilinx FPGAs enabling 100 Gbit/s Ethernet transport aggregating 5G base stations using 10Gbit/s ethernet with guaranteed transport service.

Network slicing
In 5G networks, the concept of Network slicing enables different classes of applications to share the same physical network. 5G is expected to be able to handle applications like emergency networks, real-time industry applications in combination with supporting demanding multimedia applications for consumers. These requirements require ability to express and enforce Quality of Service requirements ranging from frequency resource allocation, 5G base station resource allocation, network quality of service and allocation of processing resources in edge computers.
Initial work has focused on SDN-based implementations using the opensource Open Air interface, and future work will extend this to network slicing in 5G-NR and 5G front-haul and back-haul network guarantees for network slicing.
Cloud Radio Access Networks (Cloud RAN)
Cloud RAN enable the use of general purpose computers placed in edge data centres for realizing virtualized radio functions by using software defined radio techniques to lower cost of deployment by moving functionality from hardware to software. Of a particular interest to our research group is real-time scheduling of Cloud RAN workloads, how to partition between real-time and non-real-time workloads in the Cloud RAN, and how to handle the strict requirements to enable services like Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC) which can enable new applications previously not possible in cellular networks. Vendors are already introducing Cloud RAN solutions, such as the Nokia AirScale CloudRAN , the 4G/5G C-RAN architecture from Ericsson and 5G oriented C-RAN solutions from Huawei. It is of a particular interest to study if such network architectures can be realized in a multi-vendor environment. At what level should interoperability be ensured? Can Virtual Network Functions from different vendors run in the same edge computer environment?
New 5G and IoT applications enabled by edge computing
With edge computing deployed in the distributed 5G networks, new 5G and IoT applications can be made possible since response times can be guaranteed, and computing resources can be made available close to the application. An example is the real-time application of collision avoidance for cars sharing their sensor data with a local edge data center which can execute collision avoidance algorithms within specified time deadlines to provide drivers or self-driving vehicles with time-critical information to avoid collision. Other applications like games using augmented reality and real-time collaboration in industrial applications can be enabled by low latency and high throughput communication service with processing in edge data centres. Finally, IoT sensors with very low power consumption can leverage high sensitivity 5G NR capabilities to provide very long battery life for embedded applications. In SMIL, we will collaborate with other research groups and the 5G industry to investigate applications previously not possible in cellular networks and suggest improvements to applications and networks.
Self-driving Networks
The complexity of configuration and adjustment of telecommunication networks to respond to rapid changes in demand has led to the vision of Self-driving networks which measure, analyze and control themselves in an automated manner. Self-driving networks can react to changes in the environment (e.g., demand), while exploiting existing flexibilities to optimize themselves. Furthermore, the advent of large-scale machine learning can also benefit self-driving networks and over time develop to faster reconfiguration and more reliable operation compared to manual configuration by human operators, see for example the paper Why (and How) Networks Should Run Themselves for an in-depth discussion.
This method is of particular interest in 5G to ensure rapid reconfiguration in case of failure which requires automated response to demand, changes in geographic load in the network, change in network capacity and loss of connectivity with minimal impact for critical applications. The requirement for reconfiguration can also be used for business purposes, for example optimized use of software licenses, where an operator can install hardware at all relevant locations but deploy software licenses only for operation of a subset of this hardware based on actual demand and moved with users. This research area is closely related to Software Defined Networking which until recently has focused mostly on the data plane with technologies such as OpenFlow and Netconf/Yang.

Recent developments such as the Programming Protocol-independent Packet Processors language (P4) has enabled software control also of the data plane which opens for software defined processing in the actual packet flow. In SMIL, we plan to leverage these advances together from SDN controllers such as OpenDaylight to enable Self-driving networks for access and transport networks for 5G. In the laboratory, we will use the latest MX-series routers from Juniper Networks with P4 capabilites to explore self-driving networks for 5G.
Robust cellular networks
New user groups are encouraged to share a common infrastructure to save cost and leverage state of the art technologies. This trend increases the requirements of robustness of the underlying architecture since our society relies not only on critical consumer services like communication services, banking, shopping and logistics, but also applications traditionally served by dedicated networks such as military, emergency (e.g. TETRA) and railroad signalling networks (e.g. GSM-R) which all consider 5G as their network infrastructure in the future.
We believe Heterogeneous infrastructure has several benefits to ensure interoperability and open standards in 5G but this requirement also adds to the complexity of the network since different vendors may rely on different network structures, and different communication protocols even if they are defined by standard bodies such as 3GPP. When the goal of heterogenous infrastructure is added to requirements from new users, we can see that 5G represents very demanding requirements for the cellular operators and the network infrastructure vendors.

SimulaMet Centre for Resilient Networks and Applications have studied this topic over many years in fixed networks, in 4G cellular networks and for IoT applications. With the new laboratory, we will extend our studies to 5G New Radio and will also address how to provide robustness of the 5G core network by reducing the dependency for a centralized 5G infrastructure by virtualization.
Publications for SMIL: SimulaMet Interoperability Lab
Proceedings, refereed
Load Distribution for Mobile Edge Computing with Reliable Server Pooling
In Proceedings of the 4th International Workshop on Recent Advances for Multi-Clouds and Mobile Edge Computing (M2EC) in conjunction with the 36th International Conference on Advanced Information Networking and Applications (AINA). Sydney, New South Wales/Australia: Springer, 2022.Status: Accepted
Load Distribution for Mobile Edge Computing with Reliable Server Pooling
Energy-efficient computing model is a popular choice for high performance as well as throughput oriented computing ecosystems. Mobile (computing) devices are becoming increasingly ubiquitous to our computing domain, but with limited resources (true both for computation as well as for energy). Hence, workload offloading from resource-constrained mobile devices to the Edge and maybe (later) to the cloud become necessary as well as useful. Thanks to the persistent technical breakthroughs in global wireless standards (or in mobile networks) together with the almost limitless amount of resources in public cloud platforms, workload offloading is possible and cheaper. In such scenarios, Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) resources could be provisioned in proximity to the users for supporting latency-sensitive applications. Here, two relevant problems could be: i) How to distribute workload to the resource pools of MEC as well as public (multi-)clouds? ii) How to manage such resource pools effectively? To answer these problems in this paper, we examine the performance of our proposed approach using the Reliable Server Pooling (RSerPool) framework in more detail. We also have outlined the resource pool management policies to effectively use RSerPool for workload offloading from mobile devices into the cloud/MEC ecosystem.
Afilliation | Communication Systems |
Project(s) | 5G-VINNI: 5G Verticals INNovation Infrastructure , NorNet, The Center for Resilient Networks and Applications, Simula Metropolitan Center for Digital Engineering, Simula Metropolitan Center for Digital Engineering, SMIL: SimulaMet Interoperability Lab, MELODIC: Multi-cloud Execution-ware for Large-scale Optimised Data-Intensive Computing |
Publication Type | Proceedings, refereed |
Year of Publication | 2022 |
Conference Name | Proceedings of the 4th International Workshop on Recent Advances for Multi-Clouds and Mobile Edge Computing (M2EC) in conjunction with the 36th International Conference on Advanced Information Networking and Applications (AINA) |
Publisher | Springer |
Place Published | Sydney, New South Wales/Australia |
Keywords | Cloud computing, Load Distribution, Mobile Edge Computing (MEC), Multi-Cloud Computing, Reliable Server Pooling (RSerPool), Serverless Computing |
Book
AI and ML – Enablers for Beyond 5G Networks
Online: 5G PPP Technology Board, 2021.Status: Published
AI and ML – Enablers for Beyond 5G Networks
This white paper on AI and ML as enablers of beyond 5G (B5G) networks is based on contributions from almost 20 5G PPP projects, coordinated through the 5G PPP Technology Board, that research, implement and validate 5G and B5G network systems. The paper introduces the main relevant mechanisms in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML), currently investigated and exploited for enhancing 5G and B5G networks.
Afilliation | Communication Systems |
Project(s) | SMIL: SimulaMet Interoperability Lab, Simula Metropolitan Center for Digital Engineering, Simula Metropolitan Center for Digital Engineering, 5G-VINNI: 5G Verticals INNovation Infrastructure , NorNet, The Center for Resilient Networks and Applications |
Publication Type | Book |
Year of Publication | 2021 |
Date Published | 05/2021 |
Publisher | 5G PPP Technology Board |
Place Published | Online |
URL | https://5g-ppp.eu/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/AI-MLforNetworks-v1-0.pdf |
DOI | 10.5281/zenodo.429989 |
Journal Article
A Multi-Parameter Comprehensive Optimized Algorithm for MPTCP Networks
Electronics 10, no. 16 (2021).Status: Published
A Multi-Parameter Comprehensive Optimized Algorithm for MPTCP Networks
With the increasing deployment of the Multi-Path Transmission Control Protocol (MPTCP) in heterogeneous network setups, there is a need to understand how its performance is affected in practice both by traditional factors such as round-trip time measurements, buffer predictive modelling and by calculating the impact factors of network subflows. Studies have shown that path management and packet scheduling have a large effect on overall performance and required limited resources with different congestion control parameters. Unfortunately, most of the previous studies have focused almost exclusively on the improvement of a single parameter, without a holistic view. To deal with this issue effectively, this paper puts forward a Multi-Parameter Comprehensive Optimized Algorithm (MPCOA), which can find the smaller buffer size and select the appropriate congestion control and path management algorithm on the premise of ensuring larger throughput. Experiments of three scenarios show that MPCOA can save the buffer space and subflow resources, and achieve high throughput. Meanwhile, a set of quantitative improvement results given by MPCOA is convenient for us to evaluate the quality of MPTCP network, and provide reference for our ongoing future work, like for 4G/5G, Internet of Things and Star Link networks.
Afilliation | Communication Systems |
Project(s) | The Center for Resilient Networks and Applications, NorNet, SMIL: SimulaMet Interoperability Lab, Simula Metropolitan Center for Digital Engineering, Simula Metropolitan Center for Digital Engineering |
Publication Type | Journal Article |
Year of Publication | 2021 |
Journal | Electronics |
Volume | 10 |
Issue | 16 |
Date Published | 08/2021 |
Publisher | MDPI |
Place Published | Basel/Switzerland |
ISSN | 2079-9292 |
Keywords | Buffer Size, congestion control, MPCOA, Multi-Path TCP (MPTCP), Path Management |
URL | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-9292/10/16/1942/pdf |
DOI | 10.3390/electronics10161942 |
Proceedings, refereed
A Demo of Workload Offloading in Mobile Edge Computing Using the Reliable Server Pooling Framework
In Proceedings of the 46th IEEE Conference on Local Computer Networks (LCN). Edmonton, Alberta, Canada: IEEE Computer Society, 2021.Status: Published
A Demo of Workload Offloading in Mobile Edge Computing Using the Reliable Server Pooling Framework
Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) places cloud resources nearby the user, to provide support for latency-sensitive applications. Offloading workload from resource-constrained mobile devices (such as smartphones) into the cloud ecosystem is becoming increasingly popular. In this demonstration, we show how to deploy a mobile network (with OpenAirInterface and Open Source MANO), as well as to adapt the Reliable Server Pooling (RSerPool) framework to efficiently manage MEC as well as multi-cloud resources to run an interactive demo application.
Afilliation | Communication Systems |
Project(s) | SMIL: SimulaMet Interoperability Lab, Simula Metropolitan Center for Digital Engineering, Simula Metropolitan Center for Digital Engineering, MELODIC: Multi-cloud Execution-ware for Large-scale Optimised Data-Intensive Computing, 5G-VINNI: 5G Verticals INNovation Infrastructure , The Center for Resilient Networks and Applications, NorNet |
Publication Type | Proceedings, refereed |
Year of Publication | 2021 |
Conference Name | Proceedings of the 46th IEEE Conference on Local Computer Networks (LCN) |
Date Published | 10/2021 |
Publisher | IEEE Computer Society |
Place Published | Edmonton, Alberta, Canada |
Keywords | Demonstration, Evolved Packet Core (EPC), Mobile Edge Computing (MEC), Multi-Cloud Computing, Network Function Virtualisation (NFV), Reliable Server Pooling (RSerPool) |
URL | https://www.ieeelcn.org/lcn46demos/Demo_4_1570754367.pdf |
An Exposed Closed-Loop Model for Customer-Driven Service Assurance Automation
In 2021 Joint European Conference on Networks and Communications & 6G Summit (EuCNC/6G Summit). Porto, Portugal: IEEE Computer Society, 2021.Status: Published
An Exposed Closed-Loop Model for Customer-Driven Service Assurance Automation
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is widely applied in telecommunications to enable zero-touch automation in network operation and service management. Due to the high complexity, deploying advanced AI mechanisms is not always feasible inside the operator’s network domains. Instead, via service exposures, it becomes possible for vertical customers to integrate their external AI solutions with the network and service management system to form a closed loop (CL) and contribute to the automation process. In this paper, we propose an exposed CL model based on service exposure and apply it to automate service assurance tasks like autoscaling in a network function virtualization (NFV) system orchestrated by ETSI Open Source MANO (OSM). A testbed is built to validate the model. It collects monitoring data from the OSM monitoring module and external monitoring tools. Vertical customers drive and customize their AI solutions to aggregate these data sets and run analytics to detect and predict anomalies prepared for scaling. Preliminary analysis demonstrates the added values of customer-driven monitoring and analysis via the exposed CL.
Afilliation | Communication Systems |
Project(s) | NorNet, The Center for Resilient Networks and Applications, SMIL: SimulaMet Interoperability Lab, Simula Metropolitan Center for Digital Engineering, Simula Metropolitan Center for Digital Engineering, 5G-VINNI: 5G Verticals INNovation Infrastructure |
Publication Type | Proceedings, refereed |
Year of Publication | 2021 |
Conference Name | 2021 Joint European Conference on Networks and Communications & 6G Summit (EuCNC/6G Summit) |
Pagination | 419–424 |
Date Published | 06/2021 |
Publisher | IEEE Computer Society |
Place Published | Porto, Portugal |
ISBN Number | 978-1-6654-1526-2 |
Keywords | Autonomous Management, Closed Loop, Machine learning, Monitoring, Service Exposure |
DOI | 10.1109/EuCNC/6GSummit51104.2021.9482533 |
Reliable Server Pooling Based Workload Offloading with Mobile Edge Computing: A Proof-of-Concept
In Advanced Information Networking and Applications (AINA 2021). Springer, 2021.Status: Published
Reliable Server Pooling Based Workload Offloading with Mobile Edge Computing: A Proof-of-Concept
In recent times, mobile broadband devices have become almost ubiquitous. However, battery-powered devices (such as smartphones), have limitations on energy consumption, computation power and storage space. Cloud computing, and in particular with the upcoming 5G networks, Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) can provide compute and storage services at the vicinity of the user (with a low communication latency). However, the complexity lies in how to simply and efficiently realise MEC services, with the auxiliary public (multi-)cloud resources? In this paper, we propose a proof-of-concept of using Reliable Server Pooling (RSerPool) as a light-weight layer of managing resource pools and handling application sessions with these pools. Our approach is simple, efficient, has low overhead and is available as open-source. Here, we demonstrate the usefulness of our approach by measuring in a test setup, with a 4G testbed connected to MEC and public multi-cloud resources.
Afilliation | Communication Systems |
Project(s) | NorNet, The Center for Resilient Networks and Applications, SMIL: SimulaMet Interoperability Lab, 5G-VINNI: 5G Verticals INNovation Infrastructure , Simula Metropolitan Center for Digital Engineering, Simula Metropolitan Center for Digital Engineering, MELODIC: Multi-cloud Execution-ware for Large-scale Optimised Data-Intensive Computing |
Publication Type | Proceedings, refereed |
Year of Publication | 2021 |
Conference Name | Advanced Information Networking and Applications (AINA 2021) |
Pagination | 582-593 |
Publisher | Springer |
Keywords | 5G, Evolved Packet Core (EPC), Mobile Edge Computing (MEC), Multi-Cloud Computing, Network Function Virtualisation (NFV), Reliable Server Pooling (RSerPool) |
Talk, keynote
NorNet at Hainan University in 2021: From Simulations to Real-World Internet Measurements for Multi-Path Transport Research — A Remote Presentation
In Hainan University, Haikou, Hainan/People's Republic of China. Haikou, Hainan/People's Republic of China, 2021.Status: Published
NorNet at Hainan University in 2021: From Simulations to Real-World Internet Measurements for Multi-Path Transport Research — A Remote Presentation
A large fraction of the communication in the Internet is handled by the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP). Since the first deployments of this protocol more than 30 years ago, the spectrum of applications as well as the structure of the network have developed at a fast pace. For example, today's network devices, like smartphones and laptops — i.e. particularly many devices in the area of mobile computing — frequently have an interesting property: the existence of multiple IP addresses (IPv4 and/or IPv6). The addresses may even change due to mobility. This property, denoted as multi-homing, can be utilised for multi-path transport, i.e. the simultaneous usage of multiple paths in the network to improve performance. Multi-path transport is a hot topic in the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), which is the standardisation organisation for the Internet. This talk provides an overview of the work in the areas of multi-homing and multi-path transport, with focus on the area of the protocols TCP and Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP) with their experimental extensions Multi-Path TCP (MPTCP) and Concurrent Multi-Path Transfer for SCTP (CMT-SCTP). It particularly shows the sequence of research and selected results, beginning from a simple simulation model, via lab setups and small Internet scenarios, up to the large-scale, international testbed project NorNet. NorNet, and particularly its landline network part NorNet Core, is furthermore described in some detail. Based on NorNet, it is finally possible to validate simulation results in real-world, multi-homed networks, in order to provide valuable input to the ongoing IETF standardisation processes of MPTCP and CMT-SCTP. Particularly, it will also show how the NorNet testbed can be utilised for research at Hainan University in 2021.
Afilliation | Communication Systems |
Project(s) | NorNet, The Center for Resilient Networks and Applications, Simula Metropolitan Center for Digital Engineering, Simula Metropolitan Center for Digital Engineering, SMIL: SimulaMet Interoperability Lab |
Publication Type | Talk, keynote |
Year of Publication | 2021 |
Location of Talk | Hainan University, Haikou, Hainan/People's Republic of China |
Date Published | 01/2021 |
Place Published | Haikou, Hainan/People's Republic of China |
Keywords | Introduction, Multi-Homing, NorNet, NorNet Core, NorNet Edge, Status, Testbed |
Talks, invited
NorNet at Hainan University in 2021: Getting Started with NorNet Core — A Remote Tutorial
In Haikou, Hainan/People's Republic of China. Haikou, Hainan/People's Republic of China, 2021.Status: Published
NorNet at Hainan University in 2021: Getting Started with NorNet Core — A Remote Tutorial
This tutorial — presented for students at the College of Information Science and Technology (CIST) at Hainan University — provides an introduction on how to get access to the NorNet Core testbed as well as how to run experiments in the testbed in 2021.
Afilliation | Communication Systems |
Project(s) | NorNet, The Center for Resilient Networks and Applications, Simula Metropolitan Center for Digital Engineering, Simula Metropolitan Center for Digital Engineering, SMIL: SimulaMet Interoperability Lab |
Publication Type | Talks, invited |
Year of Publication | 2021 |
Location of Talk | Haikou, Hainan/People's Republic of China |
Place Published | Haikou, Hainan/People's Republic of China |
Keywords | Multi-Homing, Multi-Path Transport, NorNet, NorNet Core, Testbed, Tutorial |
Proceedings, refereed
Integrating Cloud-RAN with Packet Core as VNF Using Open Source MANO and OpenAirInterface
In Proceedings of the 45th IEEE Conference on Local Computer Networks (LCN). Sydney, New South Wales/Australia: IEEE Computer Society, 2020.Status: Published
Integrating Cloud-RAN with Packet Core as VNF Using Open Source MANO and OpenAirInterface
The Cloud-based Radio Access Network (Cloud-RAN) architecture and Network Function Virtualization (NFV) are key enablers to building future mobile networks in a flexible and cost-efficient way. With early deployments of the fifth generation of mobile technologies - 5G - around the world, setting up 4G/5G experimental infrastructures is necessary to optimally design 5G networks. In this demo, we present a custom small-scale 4G/5G testbed based on OpenAirInterface and Open Source MANO. The testbed integrates a Cloud-RAN based on switched Ethernet Xhaul and functional splitting, with an Evolved Packet Core (EPC) deployed as a Virtual Network Function (VNF) in a cloud infrastructure. Using Open Source MANO, this demo shows the administration and monitoring of the EPC VNF components. Moreover, as proof of concept, collection and visualization of telemetry will be shown for two smart-phones connected to the network through the Cloud-RAN.
Afilliation | Communication Systems |
Project(s) | The Center for Resilient Networks and Applications, NorNet, Simula Metropolitan Center for Digital Engineering, 5G-VINNI: 5G Verticals INNovation Infrastructure , SMIL: SimulaMet Interoperability Lab |
Publication Type | Proceedings, refereed |
Year of Publication | 2020 |
Conference Name | Proceedings of the 45th IEEE Conference on Local Computer Networks (LCN) |
Date Published | 11/2020 |
Publisher | IEEE Computer Society |
Place Published | Sydney, New South Wales/Australia |
Keywords | Cloud Radio Access Network (Cloud-RAN), Ethernet Xhaul, Fronthaul, Functional Splits, Network Function Virtualisation (NFV), Open Source MANO (OSM) |
Talks, invited
Custom-Made Enhanced Packet Cores as Network Services for 4G/5G Testbeds managed with Open Source MANO
In M5G-2020-Workshop (Online), 2020.Status: Published
Custom-Made Enhanced Packet Cores as Network Services for 4G/5G Testbeds managed with Open Source MANO
Setting up Enhanced Packet Cores (EPC) – like the Mosaic5G OpenAirInterface-based EPC – for 4G/5G Testbeds is a complicated and error-prone task. Therefore, we developed the SimulaMet OpenAirInterface VNF, a complex 4-VDU VNF, which upon instantiation builds the components of the EPC from scratch from given source Git repositories. That is, based on the parametrisation, users can easily create tailor-made EPCs for their projects, particularly EPCs based on the Mosaic5G FlexRAN sources. In this presentation, we would like to shortly highlight the solutions chosen to efficiently use OSM for handling the instantiation process, performing telemetry, and debugging issues. That is, we particularly would like to present to the Mosaic5G audience some lessons learned during the ongoing development.
Afilliation | Communication Systems |
Project(s) | NorNet, 5G-VINNI: 5G Verticals INNovation Infrastructure , SMIL: SimulaMet Interoperability Lab, The Center for Resilient Networks and Applications, Simula Metropolitan Center for Digital Engineering, Simula Metropolitan Center for Digital Engineering |
Publication Type | Talks, invited |
Year of Publication | 2020 |
Location of Talk | M5G-2020-Workshop (Online) |
Keywords | 5G, Evolved Packet Core, Network Function Virtualisation, Open Source MANO, OpenAirInterface |
The Center for Resilient Networks and Applications

The Center for Resilient Networks and Applications (CRNA) was established in 2014 as a response to modern society’s massive and increasing dependability on applications running on top of the Internet. CRNA focuses on the robustness and security of ICT infrastructures, by which we mean that applications should continue to function at the best possible level of quality and security, even in the presence of technical failures, unplanned excessive load, design and implementation flaws in specific components, human error and malicious intent.
The Center receives base funding from the Norwegian Ministry of Transport and Communications. The Ministry has given the Center specific responsibilities through a mandate that includes operating an infrastructure for monitoring the state of the Norwegian telecommunications infrastructure, in particular the mobile broadband networks, and publishing an annual report on that. There is a tight integration between CRNA and Simula@UiB. Whereas CRNA concentrates on safety aspects of digital infrastructures, Simula@UiB has deep expertise in security. CRNA has also established partnerships with mobile operators and relevant stakeholders.
During the past few years, CRNA has made a number of key scientific and societal contributions. These include contributions to education and science through the education of master and PhD students and the publication of numerous articles in high impact and respected venues. CRNA has also contributed to informing policy makers and network operators on issues related to digital vulnerability and network performance.
Mandate for CRNA
The Center will undertake long-term research and innovation at a high international level, on robustness and reliability of communications networks and applications. The Center will educate experts on the doctoral and magisterial levels in cooperation with universities and university colleges.
Furthermore, the Center will have responsibility for maintaining and running a research infrastructure for measuring the Norwegian telecommunications network. This research infrastructure will be made available for research groups at universities and university colleges. The Center wishes to provide measurement and monitoring services for regions, municipalities, industry and public enterprises in Norway. The Center will produce an annual report on the state of the Norwegian communications infrastructure to the Norwegian Post and Telecommunications Authority.
The Center's ambition is to be the nationally leading research institution within research on reliable ICT infrastructures, and collaborate with other research institutions that have expertise that will not be naturally covered by the Center. It will be expected that the Center collects additional funding from sources such as the Norwegian Research Council. EU research programmes, industry and relevant parts of the public administration.
The Center is part of Simula Metropolitan CDE organisational structure. CRNA will perform annual management and dialogue meetings with the Norwegian Ministry of Transport and Communication and the Norwegian Post and Telecommunications Authority. The work performed at the Center will be evaluated by the Research Council every five years. The criteria for evaluation will be related to scientific quality and relevance to society. The annual budgets for the Center are dependent on grants from the state budget and will be considered on the background of the evaluation results
Publications for The Center for Resilient Networks and Applications
Book Chapter
5G-sikkerhet: Norge mellom stormaktene
In Digitalisering og internasjonal politikk. Universitetsforlaget, 2022.Status: Published
5G-sikkerhet: Norge mellom stormaktene
Afilliation | Communication Systems |
Project(s) | The Center for Resilient Networks and Applications |
Publication Type | Book Chapter |
Year of Publication | 2022 |
Book Title | Digitalisering og internasjonal politikk |
Chapter | 7 |
Date Published | 01/2022 |
Publisher | Universitetsforlaget |
ISBN Number | 9788215052557 |
Proceedings, refereed
RCAD:Real-time Collaborative Anomaly Detection System for Mobile Broadband Networks
In ACM SIGKDD Conference on Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining, 2022.Status: Accepted
RCAD:Real-time Collaborative Anomaly Detection System for Mobile Broadband Networks
The rapid increase in mobile data traffic and the number of connected devices and applications in networks is putting a significant pressure on the current network management approaches that heavily rely on human operators. Consequently, an automated network management system that can efficiently predict and detect anomalies is needed. In this paper, we propose, RCAD, a novel distributed architecture for detecting anomalies in network data forwarding latency in an unsupervised fashion. RCAD employs the hierarchical temporal memory (HTM) algorithm for the online detection of anomalies. It also involves a collaborative distributed learning module that facilitates knowledge sharing across the system. We implement and evaluate RCAD on real world measurements from a commercial mobile network. RCAD achieves over 0.7 F-1 score significantly outperforming the state-of-the-art methods.
Afilliation | Communication Systems, Machine Learning |
Project(s) | The Center for Resilient Networks and Applications, Department of Holistic Systems |
Publication Type | Proceedings, refereed |
Year of Publication | 2022 |
Conference Name | ACM SIGKDD Conference on Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining |
Load Distribution for Mobile Edge Computing with Reliable Server Pooling
In Proceedings of the 4th International Workshop on Recent Advances for Multi-Clouds and Mobile Edge Computing (M2EC) in conjunction with the 36th International Conference on Advanced Information Networking and Applications (AINA). Sydney, New South Wales/Australia: Springer, 2022.Status: Accepted
Load Distribution for Mobile Edge Computing with Reliable Server Pooling
Energy-efficient computing model is a popular choice for high performance as well as throughput oriented computing ecosystems. Mobile (computing) devices are becoming increasingly ubiquitous to our computing domain, but with limited resources (true both for computation as well as for energy). Hence, workload offloading from resource-constrained mobile devices to the Edge and maybe (later) to the cloud become necessary as well as useful. Thanks to the persistent technical breakthroughs in global wireless standards (or in mobile networks) together with the almost limitless amount of resources in public cloud platforms, workload offloading is possible and cheaper. In such scenarios, Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) resources could be provisioned in proximity to the users for supporting latency-sensitive applications. Here, two relevant problems could be: i) How to distribute workload to the resource pools of MEC as well as public (multi-)clouds? ii) How to manage such resource pools effectively? To answer these problems in this paper, we examine the performance of our proposed approach using the Reliable Server Pooling (RSerPool) framework in more detail. We also have outlined the resource pool management policies to effectively use RSerPool for workload offloading from mobile devices into the cloud/MEC ecosystem.
Afilliation | Communication Systems |
Project(s) | 5G-VINNI: 5G Verticals INNovation Infrastructure , NorNet, The Center for Resilient Networks and Applications, Simula Metropolitan Center for Digital Engineering, Simula Metropolitan Center for Digital Engineering, SMIL: SimulaMet Interoperability Lab, MELODIC: Multi-cloud Execution-ware for Large-scale Optimised Data-Intensive Computing |
Publication Type | Proceedings, refereed |
Year of Publication | 2022 |
Conference Name | Proceedings of the 4th International Workshop on Recent Advances for Multi-Clouds and Mobile Edge Computing (M2EC) in conjunction with the 36th International Conference on Advanced Information Networking and Applications (AINA) |
Publisher | Springer |
Place Published | Sydney, New South Wales/Australia |
Keywords | Cloud computing, Load Distribution, Mobile Edge Computing (MEC), Multi-Cloud Computing, Reliable Server Pooling (RSerPool), Serverless Computing |
Public outreach
Hvorfor er vi redde for Huawei?
NUPI, 2022.Status: Published
Hvorfor er vi redde for Huawei?
Afilliation | Communication Systems |
Project(s) | The Center for Resilient Networks and Applications |
Publication Type | Public outreach |
Year of Publication | 2022 |
Publisher | NUPI |
Type of Work | Podcast |
URL | https://shows.acast.com/utenrikshospitalet/episodes/hvorfor-er-vi-redde-... |
Cybersikkerhet med Olav Lysne
lorn.tech: Lørntech, 2022.Status: Published
Cybersikkerhet med Olav Lysne
Afilliation | Communication Systems |
Project(s) | The Center for Resilient Networks and Applications |
Publication Type | Public outreach |
Year of Publication | 2022 |
Publisher | Lørntech |
Place Published | lorn.tech |
Type of Work | Masterclass |
URL | https://www.lorn.tech/cybersikkerhet-med-olav-lysne/1126-leksjon-2-i-cyb... |
Chinese Cyberwarfare - interview in French TV-program
arte.tv, 2022.Status: Published
Chinese Cyberwarfare - interview in French TV-program
Afilliation | Communication Systems |
Project(s) | The Center for Resilient Networks and Applications |
Publication Type | Public outreach |
Year of Publication | 2022 |
Publisher | arte.tv |
URL | https://www.arte.tv/en/videos/092189-000-A/chinese-cyberwarfare/ |
Talks, contributed
NorNet – A Linux- and Open-Source-Software-based International Platform for Networking Research
In Virtual. Melbourne, Australia: Linux Conference Australia, 2022.Status: Published
NorNet – A Linux- and Open-Source-Software-based International Platform for Networking Research
The NorNet testbed (https://www.nntb.no) is an Internet testbed platform for research on multi-homed systems. The particular property of multi-homed systems is to be connected to multiple Internet Service Providers (ISP) simultaneously. Its initial purpose is of course to still provide connectivity in case of ISP/network failures. But does it really work that well, also with current protocols and applications? And redundancy does not come for free. A user connected to multiple ISPs will also receive multiple Internet bills each month. So, is there a possibility to make further use of multi-homing in the usual case where nothing goes wrong? Obviously, there are a lot of interesting research questions, which need to be examined in realistic Internet setups! Therefore, we are building up the NorNet open Internet testbed platform as a Linux- and Open-Source-software-based infrastructure, which currently spreads over multiple sites in different countries.
NorNet makes extensive use of advanced Linux features like Kernel-based Virtualisation (KVM), Linux Containers (LXC), BTRFS file system features, IP routing rules, Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP), Multi-Path TCP (MPTCP), and many more. The goal of this talk is therefore to present an overview of the testbed, its underlying Linux features, and how they are combined to provide the multi-homing features to the various testbed users. This particularly includes an overview of how to make use of multi-path transport with MPTCP – based on the Linux MPTCP implementation – in multi-homed environments. The idea is to provide guidelines for also utilising multi-homing features in own projects.
Afilliation | Communication Systems |
Project(s) | NorNet, The Center for Resilient Networks and Applications, Simula Metropolitan Center for Digital Engineering, Simula Metropolitan Center for Digital Engineering, 5G-VINNI: 5G Verticals INNovation Infrastructure |
Publication Type | Talks, contributed |
Year of Publication | 2022 |
Location of Talk | Virtual |
Publisher | Linux Conference Australia |
Place Published | Melbourne, Australia |
Keywords | Linux, Multi-Homing, Multi-Path Transport, NorNet, Open Source, Testbed |
URL | https://lca2022.linux.org.au/schedule/presentation/52/ |
Talks, invited
Kommentarer til "Målbilder for Robuste ekomnett mot 2030"
In Nasjonal Kommunikasjonsmyndighet sin offentliggjøring av målbilder mot 2030. NKOM, 2022.Status: Published
Kommentarer til "Målbilder for Robuste ekomnett mot 2030"
Afilliation | Communication Systems |
Project(s) | The Center for Resilient Networks and Applications |
Publication Type | Talks, invited |
Year of Publication | 2022 |
Location of Talk | Nasjonal Kommunikasjonsmyndighet sin offentliggjøring av målbilder mot 2030 |
Publisher | NKOM |
Book
AI and ML – Enablers for Beyond 5G Networks
Online: 5G PPP Technology Board, 2021.Status: Published
AI and ML – Enablers for Beyond 5G Networks
This white paper on AI and ML as enablers of beyond 5G (B5G) networks is based on contributions from almost 20 5G PPP projects, coordinated through the 5G PPP Technology Board, that research, implement and validate 5G and B5G network systems. The paper introduces the main relevant mechanisms in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML), currently investigated and exploited for enhancing 5G and B5G networks.
Afilliation | Communication Systems |
Project(s) | SMIL: SimulaMet Interoperability Lab, Simula Metropolitan Center for Digital Engineering, Simula Metropolitan Center for Digital Engineering, 5G-VINNI: 5G Verticals INNovation Infrastructure , NorNet, The Center for Resilient Networks and Applications |
Publication Type | Book |
Year of Publication | 2021 |
Date Published | 05/2021 |
Publisher | 5G PPP Technology Board |
Place Published | Online |
URL | https://5g-ppp.eu/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/AI-MLforNetworks-v1-0.pdf |
DOI | 10.5281/zenodo.429989 |
Journal Article
Predicting High Delays in Mobile Broadband Networks
IEEE Access 9 (2021): 168999-169013.Status: Published
Predicting High Delays in Mobile Broadband Networks
Afilliation | Communication Systems, Machine Learning |
Project(s) | The Center for Resilient Networks and Applications |
Publication Type | Journal Article |
Year of Publication | 2021 |
Journal | IEEE Access |
Volume | 9 |
Pagination | 168999 - 169013 |
Date Published | DEC-24-2021 |
Publisher | IEEE |
URL | https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9663160/http://xplorestaging.ieee.o... |
DOI | 10.1109/ACCESS.2021.3138695 |
Publications
Proceedings, refereed
Evaluating the Cloud-RAN architecture: functional splitting and switched Ethernet Xhaul
In 16th International Conference on Network and Service Management, CNSM 2020. Izmir Turkey and Virtual Conference: IEEE/IFIP, 2020.Status: Published
Evaluating the Cloud-RAN architecture: functional splitting and switched Ethernet Xhaul
Afilliation | Communication Systems |
Project(s) | The Center for Resilient Networks and Applications |
Publication Type | Proceedings, refereed |
Year of Publication | 2020 |
Conference Name | 16th International Conference on Network and Service Management, CNSM 2020 |
Date Published | 11/2020 |
Publisher | IEEE/IFIP |
Place Published | Izmir Turkey and Virtual Conference |
URL | http://dl.ifip.org/db/conf/cnsm/cnsm2020/1570663439.pdf |
Reprint Edition | http://dl.ifip.org/db/conf/cnsm/cnsm2020/1570663439.pdf |
Integrating Cloud-RAN with Packet Core as VNF Using Open Source MANO and OpenAirInterface
In Proceedings of the 45th IEEE Conference on Local Computer Networks (LCN). Sydney, New South Wales/Australia: IEEE Computer Society, 2020.Status: Published
Integrating Cloud-RAN with Packet Core as VNF Using Open Source MANO and OpenAirInterface
The Cloud-based Radio Access Network (Cloud-RAN) architecture and Network Function Virtualization (NFV) are key enablers to building future mobile networks in a flexible and cost-efficient way. With early deployments of the fifth generation of mobile technologies - 5G - around the world, setting up 4G/5G experimental infrastructures is necessary to optimally design 5G networks. In this demo, we present a custom small-scale 4G/5G testbed based on OpenAirInterface and Open Source MANO. The testbed integrates a Cloud-RAN based on switched Ethernet Xhaul and functional splitting, with an Evolved Packet Core (EPC) deployed as a Virtual Network Function (VNF) in a cloud infrastructure. Using Open Source MANO, this demo shows the administration and monitoring of the EPC VNF components. Moreover, as proof of concept, collection and visualization of telemetry will be shown for two smart-phones connected to the network through the Cloud-RAN.
Afilliation | Communication Systems |
Project(s) | The Center for Resilient Networks and Applications, NorNet, Simula Metropolitan Center for Digital Engineering, 5G-VINNI: 5G Verticals INNovation Infrastructure , SMIL: SimulaMet Interoperability Lab |
Publication Type | Proceedings, refereed |
Year of Publication | 2020 |
Conference Name | Proceedings of the 45th IEEE Conference on Local Computer Networks (LCN) |
Date Published | 11/2020 |
Publisher | IEEE Computer Society |
Place Published | Sydney, New South Wales/Australia |
Keywords | Cloud Radio Access Network (Cloud-RAN), Ethernet Xhaul, Fronthaul, Functional Splits, Network Function Virtualisation (NFV), Open Source MANO (OSM) |
On the Accuracy of Country-Level IP Geolocation
In Applied Networking Research Workshop (ANRW). Madrid/Spain: ACM, 2020.Status: Published
On the Accuracy of Country-Level IP Geolocation
The proliferation of online services comprised of globally spread microservices has security and performance implications. Understanding the underlying physical paths connecting end points has become important. This paper investigates the accuracy of commonly used IP geolocation approaches in geolocating end-to-end IP paths. To this end, we perform a controlled measurement study to collect IP level paths. We find that existing databases tend to geolocate IPs that belong to networks with global presence and those move between networks erroneously. A small percentage of IP geolocation disagreement between databases results in a significant disagreement when geolocating end-to-end paths. Geolocating one week of RIPE traceroute data validates our observations.
Afilliation | Communication Systems |
Project(s) | GAIA, NorNet, The Center for Resilient Networks and Applications, Simula Metropolitan Center for Digital Engineering |
Publication Type | Proceedings, refereed |
Year of Publication | 2020 |
Conference Name | Applied Networking Research Workshop (ANRW) |
Date Published | 07/2020 |
Publisher | ACM |
Place Published | Madrid/Spain |
ISBN Number | 978-1-4503-8039-3 |
Keywords | Geolocation Approaches, Geolocation Databases, IP Geolocation |
DOI | 10.1145/3404868.3406664 |
Proceedings, refereed
Unicast Extensions to IP Multicast
In Proceedings of the Protocols for Multimedia Systems PROMS'2000. Krakow, Poland, 2000.Status: Published
Unicast Extensions to IP Multicast
Publication Type | Proceedings, refereed |
Year of Publication | 2000 |
Conference Name | Proceedings of the Protocols for Multimedia Systems PROMS'2000 |
Pagination | 60-69 |
Place Published | Krakow, Poland |
Notes | ISBN 83-88309-05-6 |
Proceedings, refereed
Wireless Experimental Metropolitan Area Network Using IPv6 in Norway (WEMAN)
In Proceedings of the Thirty-Second Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences. Maui, Hawaii,, 1999.Status: Published
Wireless Experimental Metropolitan Area Network Using IPv6 in Norway (WEMAN)
Publication Type | Proceedings, refereed |
Year of Publication | 1999 |
Conference Name | Proceedings of the Thirty-Second Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences |
Place Published | Maui, Hawaii, |
Talks, contributed
Preliminary Simulation Results of an SCI Based Clustered Database Machine
In International Workshop on Computer Architecture, 1995.Status: Published
Preliminary Simulation Results of an SCI Based Clustered Database Machine
Publication Type | Talks, contributed |
Year of Publication | 1995 |
Location of Talk | International Workshop on Computer Architecture |