Publications
Proceedings, refereed
A Scalable Data Collection System for Continuous State of Polarisation Monitoring
In Proceedings of the 23rd International Conference on Transparent Optical Networks (ICTON). Bucharest/Romania, 2023.Status: Published
A Scalable Data Collection System for Continuous State of Polarisation Monitoring
Our dependency on the telecommunication infrastructure is continuously increasing, as different infrastructures – such as energy and telecommunication – now have mutual dependencies. This calls for increased monitoring of the fibre network, which is a highly critical part of the infrastructure. State of Polarisation (SoP) of light propagating through fibre transmission systems is impacted by any vibrations and mechanical impacts on the fibre. By continuously monitoring the SoP, any unexpected movements of a fibre along a fibre-path may be traced. Movements may be caused by e.g. work in node-rooms impacting patch-cords, trawlers or other types of sub-sea equipment touching or hooking into sub-sea fibre cables, digging close to a fibre-cable, or geophysical phenomena like earthquakes. In this paper, we describe a low-cost, scalable system for SoP monitoring and give examples of patterns monitored in different types of fibre infrastructures. The monitoring system consists of single-unit rack-mount instruments connected to taps from live optical transmission signals. Each instrument has local storage for 1-2 years of data, and is periodically automatically uploading data to a server for backup and data-access purposes. Examples of observed patterns are impact from a thunderstorm on a Fibre-To-The-Home (FTTH) cable, 50 Hz on a fibre-cable spun around a high-voltage power air-cable, as well as animal impact on a patch-cord.
| Afilliation | Communication Systems |
| Project(s) | GAIA, The Center for Resilient Networks and Applications, Simula Metropolitan Center for Digital Engineering, Simula Metropolitan Center for Digital Engineering, NorNet, SMIL: SimulaMet Interoperability Lab |
| Publication Type | Proceedings, refereed |
| Year of Publication | 2023 |
| Conference Name | Proceedings of the 23rd International Conference on Transparent Optical Networks (ICTON) |
| Date Published | 07/2023 |
| Place Published | Bucharest/Romania |
| Keywords | Critical Infrastructure, Monitoring, State of Polarisation |
A Scalable Infrastructure for Continuous State of Polarisation Monitoring for Revealing Security and Vulnerability Impacts in Optical Networks
In Proceedings of the 17th International Conference on Telecommunications (ConTEL). Graz, Steiermark/Austria: IEEE, 2023.Status: Published
A Scalable Infrastructure for Continuous State of Polarisation Monitoring for Revealing Security and Vulnerability Impacts in Optical Networks
Optical networks are spanning the world. They are the main medium for carrying all types of data-traffic. From a vulnerability and security perspective, it is therefore the most important part of the network to protect against any physical impacts that may cause disruptions or security incidents. In this paper, we demonstrate and describe a scalable, low-cost monitoring system based on detecting the state of polarisation in the fibre cables. We give examples on how any direct movement of fibre-cables or fibre-cords as well as indirect vibrations on the cable can be detected, and how basic characteristics in the patterns can be used for recognition of these events.
| Afilliation | Communication Systems |
| Project(s) | The Center for Resilient Networks and Applications, GAIA, Simula Metropolitan Center for Digital Engineering, Simula Metropolitan Center for Digital Engineering, NorNet, SMIL: SimulaMet Interoperability Lab |
| Publication Type | Proceedings, refereed |
| Year of Publication | 2023 |
| Conference Name | Proceedings of the 17th International Conference on Telecommunications (ConTEL) |
| Date Published | 07/2023 |
| Publisher | IEEE |
| Place Published | Graz, Steiermark/Austria |
| Keywords | Hardware, Infrastructure, Monitoring, Software, State of Polarisation |
Detecting Physical Impacts by Monitoring State of Polarisation in a Live Fibre-To-The-Home Data-Communication Air-Cable
In Proceedings of the 28th International Conference on Optical Fiber Sensors (OFS). Hamamatsu, Shizuoka/Japan: OPTICA, 2023.Status: Accepted
Detecting Physical Impacts by Monitoring State of Polarisation in a Live Fibre-To-The-Home Data-Communication Air-Cable
Heavy wind may tear cables down, damaging infrastructure, triggering outage in data-communication networks. We demonstrate local observations of wind in the access-network, monitoring State of Polarisation in a live Fiber-To-The-Home air-cable.
| Afilliation | Communication Systems |
| Project(s) | GAIA, SMIL: SimulaMet Interoperability Lab, The Center for Resilient Networks and Applications, Simula Metropolitan Center for Digital Engineering, Simula Metropolitan Center for Digital Engineering, NorNet |
| Publication Type | Proceedings, refereed |
| Year of Publication | 2023 |
| Conference Name | Proceedings of the 28th International Conference on Optical Fiber Sensors (OFS) |
| Date Published | 11/2023 |
| Publisher | OPTICA |
| Place Published | Hamamatsu, Shizuoka/Japan |
| Keywords | Fibre-To-The-Home, Monitoring, State of Polarisation |
Talks, contributed
Detecting activity using fibreoptic cable
In Windforce Baltic Sea 2023 Conference, 2023.Status: Published
Detecting activity using fibreoptic cable
| Afilliation | Communication Systems |
| Project(s) | The Center for Resilient Networks and Applications, GAIA |
| Publication Type | Talks, contributed |
| Year of Publication | 2023 |
| Location of Talk | Windforce Baltic Sea 2023 Conference |
| URL | https://windforce.info/windforce2023/en/ |
Miscellaneous
Increasing Availability of Subsea Telecom Infrastructure Through Monitoring Vibrations in Optical Fibre Subsea Cables
Submarine Telecoms Forum, 2023.Status: Published
Increasing Availability of Subsea Telecom Infrastructure Through Monitoring Vibrations in Optical Fibre Subsea Cables
Society’s reliance on telecommunication infrastructure continues to grow as both energy and telecommunications solutions share mutual dependencies. This dependency calls for increased monitoring of fibre networks and fibre optic subsea cables, which serve as the backbone of connectivity for all digital communications.
Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) and State of Polari- sation (SoP) monitoring provide real-time measurements of vibrations and potential mechanical interference which could impact the cable. Implementation of these sensing technologies mitigate risk to the infrastructure, preventing equipment failure and downtime. In particular, any unexpected movements caused by subsea activities such as passing trawlers, hooking of equipment on the seabed, and any geophysical phenomena can be traced so that appropriate action could be taken.
This article will explain the capability and benefits of the monitoring system and how Tampnet utilises this system for monitoring its vast subsea and terrestrial cable systems.
| Afilliation | Communication Systems |
| Project(s) | The Center for Resilient Networks and Applications, GAIA |
| Publication Type | Miscellaneous |
| Year of Publication | 2023 |
| Publisher | Submarine Telecoms Forum |
| URL | https://subtelforum.com/subtel-forum-magazine-131-regional-systems/ |
Proceedings, refereed
Network Path Integrity Verification using Deterministic Delay Measurements
In TMA Conference 2022. IEEE/IFIP, 2022.Status: Published
Network Path Integrity Verification using Deterministic Delay Measurements
With the intuition that every device on the data path contributes to the end-to-end delay, we propose a simple and deterministic measurement-based approach for detecting the insertion of a layer-2 switch on the data path of a network operator.
For this purpose, we use commodity hardware and the standard ping tool for collecting ICMP RTTs.
To minimise inaccuracies in the measurements, we increase timing determinism on both ICMP source and target by using a real-time kernel on both, a dedicated source (a Linux server) and target (an RPI4 with custom image). Additionally, we manipulate real-time attributes for prioritising the ping process. By using this approach on different loaded networks: lab, campus network, research and education network and an ISP, we are able to reliably detect that a switch was added at the end of the path or within it.
Our method yields an excellent performance on networks with considerable cross traffic as well as lightly loaded networks.
| Afilliation | Communication Systems |
| Project(s) | The Center for Resilient Networks and Applications, GAIA |
| Publication Type | Proceedings, refereed |
| Year of Publication | 2022 |
| Conference Name | TMA Conference 2022 |
| Publisher | IEEE/IFIP |
| ISBN Number | 978-3-903176-47-8 |
| Keywords | alien switch, deterministic RTT, network |
Talks, invited
Using the Fiber Cables as Sensors, Detecting Security Threats and Earthquakes
In Netnod Technical Meeting, Sweden, 2022.Status: Published
Using the Fiber Cables as Sensors, Detecting Security Threats and Earthquakes
| Afilliation | Communication Systems |
| Project(s) | The Center for Resilient Networks and Applications, GAIA |
| Publication Type | Talks, invited |
| Year of Publication | 2022 |
| Location of Talk | Netnod Technical Meeting, Sweden |
| URL | https://www.netnod.se/netnod-tech-meeting-2022 |
Poster
Anomaly Detection in Optical Links Using State of Polarization Monitoring
2021 Joint European Conference on Networks and Communications & 6G Summit, Porto, Portugal, 2021.Status: Published
Anomaly Detection in Optical Links Using State of Polarization Monitoring
| Afilliation | Communication Systems |
| Project(s) | GAIA, The Center for Resilient Networks and Applications |
| Publication Type | Poster |
| Year of Publication | 2021 |
| Place Published | 2021 Joint European Conference on Networks and Communications & 6G Summit, Porto, Portugal |
| Keywords | Anomaly detection, Machine learning, Optical Fibre, State of Polarization |
| URL | https://www.eucnc.eu/poster-a/ |
Proceedings, refereed
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 |
Optical Fibre as a Sensor for Network Anomaly Detection
In ACM SIGCOMM 2020 Workshop on Optical Systems Design, 2020.Status: Accepted
Optical Fibre as a Sensor for Network Anomaly Detection
Optical fibres are the backbone of modern Information Technology infrastructure connecting billions of users through high-speed networks. With a drastic increase in the number of internet users, vulnerability and security issues in the optical fibre network become increasingly important. In this paper, we propose a detection method for early warning of anomalies in optical networks. The method is based on monitoring and analyzing changes in the state of polarization of the optical signal targeting differentiating between different physical impacts and movements of the fibre caused by e.g. eavesdropping, cut by digging and thunderstorms.
| Afilliation | Communication Systems |
| Project(s) | GAIA, The Center for Resilient Networks and Applications |
| Publication Type | Proceedings, refereed |
| Year of Publication | 2020 |
| Conference Name | ACM SIGCOMM 2020 Workshop on Optical Systems Design |
Proceedings, refereed
A Traffic Pattern Adaptive Mechanism to Bound Packet Delay and Delay Variation in 5G Fronthaul
In 2019 European Conference on Networks and Communications (EuCNC). IEEE, 2019.Status: Published
A Traffic Pattern Adaptive Mechanism to Bound Packet Delay and Delay Variation in 5G Fronthaul
A novel packet-based adaptive mechanism for
bounding delay and delay variation in 5G Ethernet fronthaul is
proposed. The mechanism enables aggregation of asynchronous
traffic from fronthaul links using a traffic pattern adaptation
algorithm. Traffic of a first stream is added in time-gaps of a
second stream. For bounding and balancing the packet delay and
delay variation between the streams, the size of the required
time-gap before insertion is made adaptive. Simulation results
demonstrate that through suitable tuning of the algorithm parameters,
packet delay and delay variation below 10 microseconds
can be achieved.
| Afilliation | Communication Systems |
| Project(s) | No Simula project |
| Publication Type | Proceedings, refereed |
| Year of Publication | 2019 |
| Conference Name | 2019 European Conference on Networks and Communications (EuCNC) |
| Pagination | 416-420 |
| Publisher | IEEE |
High-speed transport and aggregation for ethernet fronthaul with low and bounded delay
In Optical Fiber Communication Conference (OFC) 2019. OSA Publishing, 2019.Status: Published
High-speed transport and aggregation for ethernet fronthaul with low and bounded delay
| Project(s) | No Simula project |
| Publication Type | Proceedings, refereed |
| Year of Publication | 2019 |
| Conference Name | Optical Fiber Communication Conference (OFC) 2019 |
| Publisher | OSA Publishing |
| DOI | 10.1364/OFC.2019.W4H.2 |
Talks, invited
Deploying fibre cables for international network connectivity by involving offshore installations
In NGON & DCI 2019 - Nice, France, 2019.Status: Published
Deploying fibre cables for international network connectivity by involving offshore installations
| Afilliation | Communication Systems |
| Publication Type | Talks, invited |
| Year of Publication | 2019 |
| Location of Talk | NGON & DCI 2019 - Nice, France |
| Type of Talk | Invited on commercial conference |
Hvordan redundans og optisk beskyttelsesomkopling øker oppetiden til et optisk nett
In Fiber 2019, Trondheim, Norway, 2019.Status: Published
Hvordan redundans og optisk beskyttelsesomkopling øker oppetiden til et optisk nett
| Afilliation | Communication Systems |
| Project(s) | No Simula project |
| Publication Type | Talks, invited |
| Year of Publication | 2019 |
| Location of Talk | Fiber 2019, Trondheim, Norway |
| Type of Talk | Invited talk |
Low latency communication from a telecom operator perspective: Examples and techniques
In ECOC 2019, Dublin, Ireland, 2019.Status: Published
Low latency communication from a telecom operator perspective: Examples and techniques
| Afilliation | Communication Systems |
| Project(s) | No Simula project |
| Publication Type | Talks, invited |
| Year of Publication | 2019 |
| Location of Talk | ECOC 2019, Dublin, Ireland |
| Type of Talk | Invited talk in workshop |
Ultra high availability in subsea cable networks
In Inside Telecom 2019, 2019.Status: Published
Ultra high availability in subsea cable networks
| Afilliation | Communication Systems |
| Publication Type | Talks, invited |
| Year of Publication | 2019 |
| Location of Talk | Inside Telecom 2019 |
| Type of Talk | invited talk |
Journal Article
Minimizing Delay and Packet Delay Variation in Switched 5G Transport Networks
Journal of Optical Communications and Networking 11, no. 4 (2019): B49-B59.Status: Published
Minimizing Delay and Packet Delay Variation in Switched 5G Transport Networks
| Afilliation | Communication Systems |
| Project(s) | No Simula project |
| Publication Type | Journal Article |
| Year of Publication | 2019 |
| Journal | Journal of Optical Communications and Networking |
| Volume | 11 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pagination | B49-B59 |
| Publisher | IEEE/OSA |
| Place Published | Piscataway, NJ, USA |
Journal Article
C-RAN Traffic Aggregation on Latency-Controlled Ethernet Links
Applied Sciences 8, no. 11 (2018): 2279.Status: Published
C-RAN Traffic Aggregation on Latency-Controlled Ethernet Links
| Afilliation | Communication Systems |
| Project(s) | No Simula project |
| Publication Type | Journal Article |
| Year of Publication | 2018 |
| Journal | Applied Sciences |
| Volume | 8 |
| Issue | 11 |
| Pagination | 2279 |
| Publisher | MDPI |
| DOI | 10.3390/app8112279 |
Proceedings, refereed
Can OTN be replaced by Ethernet?
In 2018 International Conference on Optical Network Design and Modeling (ONDM). IEEE, 2018.Status: Published
Can OTN be replaced by Ethernet?
| Afilliation | Communication Systems |
| Project(s) | No Simula project |
| Publication Type | Proceedings, refereed |
| Year of Publication | 2018 |
| Conference Name | 2018 International Conference on Optical Network Design and Modeling (ONDM) |
| Pagination | 220-225 |
| Publisher | IEEE |
| DOI | 10.23919/ONDM.2018.8396134 |
Experimental Demonstration of 100 Gb/s Optical Network Transport and Aggregation for Ethernet Fronthaul with Low and Bounded Delay
In Optical Fiber Communication (OFC) 2018, 2018.Status: Published
Experimental Demonstration of 100 Gb/s Optical Network Transport and Aggregation for Ethernet Fronthaul with Low and Bounded Delay
| Afilliation | Communication Systems |
| Project(s) | No Simula project |
| Publication Type | Proceedings, refereed |
| Year of Publication | 2018 |
| Conference Name | Optical Fiber Communication (OFC) 2018 |
Field-Trial Evaluation of Low-Latency and Timing-Accurate 100G Ethernet Aggregator for Converged Mobile X-haul
In ECOC 2018, 2018.Status: Published
Field-Trial Evaluation of Low-Latency and Timing-Accurate 100G Ethernet Aggregator for Converged Mobile X-haul
| Afilliation | Communication Systems |
| Project(s) | No Simula project |
| Publication Type | Proceedings, refereed |
| Year of Publication | 2018 |
| Conference Name | ECOC 2018 |
Handling delay in 5G Ethernet Mobile Fronthaul Networks
In 2018 European Conference on Networks and Communications (EuCNC). IEEE, 2018.Status: Published
Handling delay in 5G Ethernet Mobile Fronthaul Networks
| Afilliation | Communication Systems |
| Project(s) | No Simula project |
| Publication Type | Proceedings, refereed |
| Year of Publication | 2018 |
| Conference Name | 2018 European Conference on Networks and Communications (EuCNC) |
| Pagination | 1-9 |
| Publisher | IEEE |
| DOI | 10.1109/EuCNC.2018.8442755 |