Program

A big step lies ahead, when moving from today’s 4G cellular networks to tomorrow’s 5G network. Today, the network is used for content delivery, e.g. voice, video, data. Tomorrow, the 5G network (and possibly beyond that) will be fully softwarized and programmable, with new degrees of freedom. The aim of the tutorial is to illustrate how the emerging paradigms of Software Defined Networking, Network Function Virtualization, and Information Centric Networking will impact on the development of future systems and networks, both from the theoretical/formal as well as from the practical perspective. Main focus will be on mobile networks, i.e. 5G and beyond.
The tutorial will provide a comprehensive overview of the individual building blocks (software defined networking; network function virtualization; information centric networks) enabling the concept of computing in future networks, starting from use cases and concepts over technological enablers (Mininet; Docker) and future innovations (machine learning; network coding; compressed sensing) to implementing all of them on personal computers.

Practical hands-on activities will be proposed, with realistic use cases to bridge theory and implementation by several examples, through the usage of a pre-built ad-hoc Virtual Machine (ComNetsEmu) that can easily be extended for new experiments. The instructions to download the Virtual Machine will be provided in advance of the event. The main objective of the tutorial will be to expose attendees to the most recent technologies in the field of networking and teach them how to use them in a real setup in the “hands-on” session.
A related book written by the two presenters “Computing in Communication Networks” (published in 2020 by Elsevier) provides in-depth description of the concepts and hands-on activities presented in the tutorial, to enable interested attendees to learn additional details on the reviewed technologies.

https://git.comnets.net/public-repo/comnetsemu

Refer to part 1 for further details.

https://git.comnets.net/public-repo/comnetsemu

The role of Internet and Communication Technology (ICT) in bringing about a revolution in almost all aspects of human life needs no introduction. It is indeed a well-known fact that the transmission of the information at a rapid pace has transformed all spheres of human life such as economy, education, and health to name a few. In this context, and as the standardization of the fifth generation (5G) of wireless communication systems (WCSs) has been completed, and 5G networks are in their early stage of deployment, the research visioning and planning of the sixth generation (6G) of WCSs are being initiated. 6G is expected to be the next focus in wireless communication and networking and aim to provide new superior communication services to meet the future hyper-connectivity demands in the 2030s. In addition, keeping in mind that urbanized populations have been the major beneficiary of the advances offered by the previous generations of WCSs and motivated by the recently adopted united nations sustainability development goals intended to be achieved by the year 2030, 6G networks are anticipated to democratize the benefits of ICT. Indeed these advantages are still not experienced by almost 4 billion people in the world who are still “unconnected or under-connected” and who suffer as such from the “digital divide”, a term coined in order to emphasize the lack of ICT infrastructure in many parts of the world. Given this background, this talk aims to (i) provide an envisioned picture of 6G, (ii) serve as a research guideline in the beyond 5G era, and (iii) go over the recently proposed solutions to provide high-speed connectivity in under-covered areas in order to serve and contribute to the development of far-flung regions.

Sergio Borghese (Netresults), “Test execution in Python toward a description driven testing platform”

Luca Tavanti (CUBIT), “Intelligent edge devices for vertical applications“