State of the art communication systems are solely conveying agnostically information between two places where a very limited number of applications is hosted. Communication links are often addressed as dump pipes. Future communication networks are becoming intelligent as information is increasingly processed within the communication network, rather than solely in the end points, for a massive number of heterogeneous applications. In the era of digital transfer, computing within the network is the key enabler for new services offering increased security, lower latency, increased resilience, and many additional features. Once computing is introduced into networks, the role of the network operator will change dramatically.
The course will offer a review of the key theoretical concepts to enable computing in communication networks (network slicing, mobile edge computing, content distribution), the related enabling technologies (SDN, NFV) and how to deploy in-network innovation. Theoretical lectures will be associated to hands-on activities that students will be able to perform using a dedicated virtual machine, developed on purpose for the course.
The contents of the course will be the following:
PART 1 INTRODUCTION: FUTURE COMMUNICATION NETWORKS AND SYSTEMS
- On the Need of Computing in Future Communication Networks
- Standardization Activities for Future Communication Networks
- Introduction to the hands-on environment:
o Mininet: An Instant Virtual Network on Your Computer
o Docker: Containerize Your Network Function
o ComNetsEmu: A Lightweight Emulator
o Useful networking tools
PART 2 KEY THEORETICAL CONCEPTS
- Network Slicing
- Mobile Edge Cloud
- Content Distribution
PART 3 ENABLING TECHNOLOGIES
- Software-Defined Networking (with hands-on lab on OpenFlow and different controllers)
- Network Function Virtualization (with hands-on lab on docker)
PART 4 DEPLOYING IN-NETWORK INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES
- Mobile Edge Cloud (with hands-on lab on MEC and security)
- Machine Learning (with hands-on examples on routing, flow compression, congestion control, object detection)
- Network Coding (with hands-on on transport and storage applications)
- Compressed Sensing (with hands-on examples)
PART 5 ADDITIONAL LAB ACTIVITIES
- Connecting the testbed Virtual Machine to the Outer World
- Integrating Software Defined Radios
