SimulaMets research projects are both internally and externally financed. We collaborate with universities both in Norway and in other countries, as well as with industry.
LUCS: Learning to Understand and Control nation-wide Smart grids of energy prosumers
The educational objective of LUCS is to provide knowledge and experience that will assist Masters and early doctoral students with experiment design and performance analyses of smart grid systems. The research-related objectives of LUCS are to facilitate interaction of researchers for the purpose of:
- Integrating and developing a communication-smart grid testbed,
- Use this testbed to investigate the performance bounds of today's smart grid systems, and
- Developing and implementing novel approaches to improve the performance and robustness of the smart grid systems.
Final goal
LUCS will conduct four main activities:
- Organize 3 summer schools
- Develop a common smart grid curriculum at University of Oslo and Technical University of Berlin
- Organize yearly research workshops
- Sponsor the mobility of researchers to strengthen the group collaboration
All of these activities rely on the development of an integrated testbed based on the partners' existing testbeds.
Funding source
The Research Council of Norway
All partners
- Simula Metropolitan Center for Digital Engineering, Norway
- Simula Research Laboratory, Norway
- University of Oslo, Norway
- Technical University of Berlin (TU Berlin), Germany
- German Turkish Advanced Research Center for ICT (GT-ARC) Germany
Project leader
Sabita Maharjan, Center for Digital Engineering, Simula@OsloMet, Norway
5G-VINNI: 5G Verticals INNovation Infrastructure
5G-VINNI will accelerate the uptake of 5G in Europe by providing an end-to-end (E2E) facility that validates the performance of new 5G technologies by operating trials of advanced vertical sector services. The 5G-VINNI strategy to achieve this involves:
- Designing the most advanced 5G facility to demonstrate that technical and business 5G KPIs can be met,
- Building and operating 7 interworking instances of the E2E facility to prove the capabilities and openness of the system,
- Creating user friendly zero-touch orchestration, operations and management systems for the 5G-VINNI facilities to ensure operational efficiencies and optimal resource use,
- Proving the 5G-VINNI capabilities through extensive experiments and measurements of performance against the 5G KPIs,
- Developing a viable 5G ecosystem model to support the NaaS infrastructure provision as a sustainable business beyond the project, and
- Promoting the value of 5G-VINNI results to the relevant standards bodies and open source communities.
The 5G-VINNI E2E facility will demonstrate the achievement of 5G KPIs across a range of combinations and permutations of new 5G access technologies and end-user equipment types interconnected by the most advanced 5G core network technologies available. For this 5G-VINNI will leverage the latest 5G technologies, including results from previous 5G PPP projects. This approach employs Network Function Virtualization, Network Slicing and a rigorous automated testing campaign to validate the 5G KPIs under various combinations of technologies and network loads.
To ensure realistic load scenarios 5G-VINNI will create and make available an openness framework to give verticals and peer projects easy access to the 5G-VINNI facilities, both legally and technically, e.g. via open APIs. The 5G-VINNI facilities include 7 infrastructure instances in nationally supported 5G nodes across Europe; this number may be expanded as the ICT-19 projects come on-line in 2019.
Funding source
This project has received funding from the European Horizon 2020 Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement n° 815279 - 5G VINNI
All partners
Simula Metropolitan Centre for Digital Engineering (Norway)
Telenor ASA (Norway)
British Telecommunications Public Limited Company (UK)
Telefonica Investigacion y Desarollo SA TID (Spain)
Samsung Electronics (UK)
Limited SAMS (UK)
Huawei Technologies Duesseldorf GMBH (Germany)
Huawei Technologies Norway AS (Norway)
Ericsson AS (Norway)
Nokia Solutions and Networks (Finland)
Software Radio Systems Limited SRS 9Ireland)
Lime Microsystems LTD (UK)
EANTC Aktiengesellschaft (Germany)
Keysight Technologies (Denmark)
APS KEYS (Denmark)
Fraunhofer Gesellschaft zur Foerderung der Angewandten Forschung E.V. FHG (Germany)
EURESCOM-European Institute for Research and Strategic Studies in Telecommunications GMBH EUR (Germany)
Altice Labs SA (Portugal)
Panepistimio Patron UOP (Greece)
Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (Spain)
Athens University of Economics and Business – Research Center AUEB (Greece)
Intracom SA Telecom Solutions ICOM (Greece)
SES Techcom SA SES (Luxembourg)
Cisco Norway AS (Norway)
Engineering-Ingegneria Informatica SPA (Italy)
Social media presence
Publications for 5G-VINNI: 5G Verticals INNovation Infrastructure
Proceedings, refereed
AI-Driven Closed-Loop Service Assurance with Service Exposures
In Proceedings of the 29th IEEE European Conference on Networks and Communications (EuCNC). Dubrovnik, Dubrovnik-Neretva/Croatia: IEEE Computer Society, 2020.Status: Published
AI-Driven Closed-Loop Service Assurance with Service Exposures
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is widely applied in mobile and wireless networks to enhance network operation and service management. Advanced AI mechanisms often require high level of network service exposure in order to access data from as many network elements as possible and execute the AI recommended outcomes into the networks. However, in practice, it is not always feasible to expose the network services to 3rd parties or customers with AI ambitions. Considering that service assurance (SA) is a major area to which AI is applied, this paper describes how a closed-loop SA architecture is associated with the service exposure model in the 5G networks with network slicing. Then we investigate the impact and implication of service exposure on SA. Finally, a set of experiment results are provided to demonstrate the trade-off relationship between the AI ambition and the exposure level in SA.
| Afilliation | Communication Systems |
| Project(s) | 5G-VINNI: 5G Verticals INNovation Infrastructure , NorNet, The Center for Resilient Networks and Applications |
| Publication Type | Proceedings, refereed |
| Year of Publication | 2020 |
| Conference Name | Proceedings of the 29th IEEE European Conference on Networks and Communications (EuCNC) |
| Date Published | 06/2020 |
| Publisher | IEEE Computer Society |
| Place Published | Dubrovnik, Dubrovnik-Neretva/Croatia |
| Keywords | AI, Service Assurance, Service Exposure |
A 4G/5G Packet Core as VNF with Open Source MANO and OpenAirInterface
In Proceedings of the 28th IEEE International Conference on Software, Telecommunications and Computer Networks (SoftCOM). Hvar, Dalmacija/Croatia: IEEE, 2020.Status: Published
A 4G/5G Packet Core as VNF with Open Source MANO and OpenAirInterface
5G, the fifth generation of mobile broadband networks, is going to make a large range of new applications possible. However, further research is necessary, and the basic step, i.e. setting up a 4G/5G testbed infrastructure, is a complicated and error-prone task. In this abstract and poster, we introduce our open source SimulaMet EPC Virtual Network Function (VNF), as an easy way to set up a 4G/5G testbed based on Open Source MANO and OpenAirInterface. We would like to showcase how a researcher can use our VNF as part of his own research testbed setup. Therefore, the focus is particularly on the user interface details and features of the SimulaMet EPC VNF.
| Afilliation | Communication Systems |
| Project(s) | The Center for Resilient Networks and Applications, 5G-VINNI: 5G Verticals INNovation Infrastructure , NorNet |
| Publication Type | Proceedings, refereed |
| Year of Publication | 2020 |
| Conference Name | Proceedings of the 28th IEEE International Conference on Software, Telecommunications and Computer Networks (SoftCOM) |
| Date Published | 09/2020 |
| Publisher | IEEE |
| Place Published | Hvar, Dalmacija/Croatia |
| Keywords | Evolved Packet Core (EPC), Network Function Virtualisation (NFV), Open Source MANO (OSM), OpenAirInterface, Testbed, Virtual Network Function (VNF) |
Flexible 4G/5G Testbed Setup for Mobile Edge Computing using OpenAirInterface and Open Source MANO
In Proceedings of the 2nd International Workshop on Recent Advances for Multi-Clouds and Mobile Edge Computing (M2EC) in conjunction with the 34th International Conference on Advanced Information Networking and Applications (AINA). Caserta, Campania/Italy: Springer, 2020.Status: Published
Flexible 4G/5G Testbed Setup for Mobile Edge Computing using OpenAirInterface and Open Source MANO
Setting up a working 4G/5G mobile network development testbed can be a highly complicated and error-prone task. In this paper, we therefore introduce our open source Virtual Network Function (VNF) for an OpenAirInterface-based Evolved Packet Core (EPC) for deployment with the Open Source Management and Orchestration (Open Source MANO, OSM) framework. By using our VNF as basis, it will be easily possible to create own testbeds and extend them with further functionality, particularly – but not limited to – Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) setups. In a simple proof of concept, we demonstrate a basic transport protocol performance evaluation in a deployed test network.
| Afilliation | Communication Systems |
| Project(s) | NorNet, 5G-VINNI: 5G Verticals INNovation Infrastructure , MELODIC: Multi-cloud Execution-ware for Large-scale Optimised Data-Intensive Computing, The Center for Resilient Networks and Applications |
| Publication Type | Proceedings, refereed |
| Year of Publication | 2020 |
| Conference Name | Proceedings of the 2nd International Workshop on Recent Advances for Multi-Clouds and Mobile Edge Computing (M2EC) in conjunction with the 34th International Conference on Advanced Information Networking and Applications (AINA) |
| Publisher | Springer |
| Place Published | Caserta, Campania/Italy |
| Keywords | 5G, Evolved Packet Core, Mobile edge computing, Network Function Virtualisation, Open Source MANO, OpenAirInterface |
Talks, contributed
Easily Setting up 4G/5G Testbeds with OpenAirInterface using OSM
In Madrid/Spain. Madrid/Spain: ETSI, 2020.Status: Published
Easily Setting up 4G/5G Testbeds with OpenAirInterface using OSM
Setting up 4G/5G testbeds can be a highly complicated and error-prone task. In this presentation, we introduce our Open Source VNF and tool-chain for an OpenAirInterface-based EPC to be deployed with the OSM framework. Using our VNF and tool-chain as basis, it will be easily possible to create own testbeds, customise them and extend them with further functionalities.
| Afilliation | Communication Systems |
| Project(s) | 5G-VINNI: 5G Verticals INNovation Infrastructure , NorNet |
| Publication Type | Talks, contributed |
| Year of Publication | 2020 |
| Location of Talk | Madrid/Spain |
| Publisher | ETSI |
| Place Published | Madrid/Spain |
| Keywords | 5G, Evolved Packet Core, Network Function Virtualisation, Open Source MANO, OpenAirInterface |
| URL | https://osm-download.etsi.org/ftp/osm-7.0-seven/MR8-hackfest/Ecosystem-D... |
Proceedings, refereed
Towards Closed Loop 5G Service Assurance Architecture for Network Slices as a Service
In European Conference on Networks and Communications (EuCNC). IEEE, 2019.Status: Published
Towards Closed Loop 5G Service Assurance Architecture for Network Slices as a Service
5G intends to use network slicing to support multiple vertical industries. The dynamic resource sharing and diverse customer requirements bring new challenges towards service assurance (SA), such as automation and customer-centric. As a response to these challenges, this paper proposes a hierarchical, modular, distributed, and scalable SA architecture. This paper highlights an important key feature SA coordination, which is facilitated by three new SA functions, SA interpretation, SA policy management, anddata fabric. Three closed-loops are introduced to coordinate and realize automation of service management. Challenges associated with realizing SA are briefly discussed and will be addressed by leveraging the 5G infrastructure developed within the H2020-ICT-17 project 5G-VINNI.
| Afilliation | Communication Systems |
| Project(s) | 5G-VINNI: 5G Verticals INNovation Infrastructure |
| Publication Type | Proceedings, refereed |
| Year of Publication | 2019 |
| Conference Name | European Conference on Networks and Communications (EuCNC) |
| Pagination | 139-143 |
| Publisher | IEEE |
GAIA
Background
Recent advances in cloud computing and higher network capacities have led to online services being hosted at diverse geographic locations. Outsourcing of services for commercial reasons have become common. The growth of the internet infrastructure has happened dynamically and has been based on trust. Therefore, many countries now rely on services that are not contained within their respective national borders. These may be general services, such as Google, WhatsApp and Facebook as well as the DNS infrastructure and microservices critical to national services like health and online banking.
This development has led to our society becoming increasingly vulnerable to cyber-attacks and major disruptions. Recent increases in cyber attacks and their potential harmful ramifications have made combating cyber vulnerabilities a national security priority. Consequently, an increasing number of states are calling for tighter controls on service placement and Internet connectivity in order to maintain national autonomy. While these fears could be warranted, a premature push in this direction may undermine the very fabric of openness and trust that binds the Internet together.
In this respect, GAIA aims to fill an important gap in our current knowledge, which is the lack of maps that describe the geographic distribution of online services. Such maps will provide an understanding of how Internet traffic travels between different countries and allow us to explore how internet connectivity interplays with geopolitics. GAIA will achieve that through an interdisciplinary effort that combines technological and political aspects of the problem. To this end, the project consortium comprises a unique set of stakeholders, including computer scientists, social and political scientists, regulatory bodies and network operators.
See GAIA's webpages here.
Partner
SimulaMet is partnering with The Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI) to deliver this project.
Outcomes
The insights gained by the GAIA project will help reducing the vulnerability of our society to potential harmful attacks on communication infrastructures which in worse case could harm our economy, endager our democracy and even result in loss of
The envisioned results of GAIA will thus contribute to improve our understanding of the complex interplay between digital vulnerabilities and national autonomy, which will be of relevance to policy makers, technologists and end users.
And just as important, GAIA's findings will provide regulators and policy makers with expert opinions that will help navigating the intricate conflict of interest between national autonomy and the trust-based openness on which the current Internet is based.
Consortium and methods
The project consortium comprises a unique set of stakeholders, including computer scientists, social and political scientists, regulatory bodies and network operators. GAIA will be using a combination of methods; measurement and data analytics, testbed experimentations as well as interviews and case studies.
Publications for GAIA
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 |
| 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 |
| Publication Type | Proceedings, refereed |
| Year of Publication | 2020 |
| Conference Name | ACM SIGCOMM 2020 Workshop on Optical Systems Design |
HiPerConTracer - A Versatile Tool for IP Connectivity Tracing in Multi-Path Setups
In Proceedings of the 28th IEEE International Conference on Software, Telecommunications and Computer Networks (SoftCOM). Hvar, Dalmacija/Croatia: IEEE, 2020.Status: Published
HiPerConTracer - A Versatile Tool for IP Connectivity Tracing in Multi-Path Setups
Nowadays, we see a steadily increasing number of Internet devices with connections to multiple networks. For example, every smartphone provides mobile broadband and Wi-Fi connectivity. Multi-path transport protocols, like MPTCP, CMT-SCTP or Multipath-QUIC, allow for utilising all connected networks simultaneously. However, while there is a lot of research on the Transport Layer aspects of multi-path transport, there is not much work on the Network Layer perspective, yet.
In this paper, we introduce our Open Source tool HiPerConTracer (High-Performance Connectivity Tracer) for efficient, parallelised, long-term measurements of the path connectivity characteristics among multi-homed Internet systems. HiPerConTracer is now running as a permanent feature in the NorNet Core infrastructure, which is used for research on multi-homed systems, and in particular for research on multi-path transport. Based on the HiPerConTracer data collected in NorNet Core so far, we finally present some interesting results from the analysis of the inter-continental site connectivity between China and Norway in January 2020.
| Afilliation | Communication Systems |
| Project(s) | NorNet, GAIA, The Center for Resilient Networks and Applications |
| Publication Type | Proceedings, refereed |
| Year of Publication | 2020 |
| Conference Name | Proceedings of the 28th IEEE International Conference on Software, Telecommunications and Computer Networks (SoftCOM) |
| Publisher | IEEE |
| Place Published | Hvar, Dalmacija/Croatia |
| Keywords | HiPerConTracer, Multi-Path Transport, NorNet, NorNet Core, Ping, Traceroute |
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.