Next Generation Network Enabled by ZTE's Softswitch Technology

Softswitch technology integrates the su-periorities of both an intelligence net-work and the Internet, which embodiesits maturity and advancement. With ahierarchical network model, it effectivelysolves problems of evolution and convergenceof current communication networks. It also fol-

Strategic Thinking on Next Generation Network

It is noted that the revolutionary development of technologies,fundamental change of traffic composition,trend of network convergence as well as market opening and competition have become the driving forces to develop Next Generation Networks (NGN).After introducing the concepts and characteristics of NGN,the paper details its 5 strategic development directions:evolution to softswitch-based next generation switching network, evolution to next generation mobile communication network represented by 3G,evolution to IPv6-based next generation Internet,evolution to diversified broadband access network,and evolution to next generation transport network based on optical networking.Finally,it briefs the strategic thinking on NGN of China Telecom,the largest fixed network carrier in the world.

Next Generation Network Service Provision Mode and Its Developing Trend

The provision mode of the telecommunication service has experienced an evolving process, and showing the developing trend from distributed to centralized, from integrated to separated, and from closed to open. To suit this trend, there will be three provision modes as Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) server, Open Service Access (OSA) application server and intelligent network(IN) in Next Generation Network (NGN), provides all kinds of services and applications to the subscribers. With the popularity of broadband access and Internet, the NGN will provide single telecommunication service and act as the important national infrastructure to offer various information services to the subscribers. The service provision mode will be more open, diversified, and individualized.

Service Convergence in Next Generation Network

The convergence of communication services becomes a focus in the industry along with the requirement for full-service operation and technical development. Service convergence includes two aspects: The convergence of the fixed and mobile networks; and the convergence of traditional communications and Internet services. This requires balancing the conflicts between the openness and operationability of terminal capability and network convergence. Unified authentication and authorization are the basis for service convergence in terms of operationability. Modular network and open terminal are technical solutions for the service convergence.

Wavelet Neural Network Based Traffic Prediction for Next Generation Network

By using netflow traffic collecting technology, some traffic data for analysis are collected from a next generation network （NGN） operator. To build a wavelet basis neural network （NN）, the Sigmoid function is replaced with the wavelet in NN. Then the wavelet multiresolution analysis method is used to decompose the traffic signal, and the decomposed component sequences are employed to train the NN. By using the methods, an NGN traffic prediction model is built to predict one day＇s traffic. The experimental results show that the traffic prediction method of wavelet NN is more accurate than that without using wavelet in the NGN traffic forecasting.

Next Generation Network

Next Generation Network(NGN)is not a single architecture but a set of architectures with a common set of principles and hence varies by service provider history,target applications and assets.The paper introduces NGN functional requirements,NGN services and NGN architectural features.It also discusses why NGN is needed,when NGN is targeted,NGN trends and NGN deployment.It concludes that it is no longer a case whether NGN is needed but rather when and at what speed of the evolution.

Telecom Regulation of Next Generation Network in China

The advent of the Next Generation Network (NGN), a new service-driven network, urges the telecom service operators to consider transforming from single-service providers to full-service providers. During the transformation, they should be concerned about the network user number and the network quality as well as the value added network information. The low threshold for service provision brings a new breed of service providers, which impacts upon the current regulation policy. To adapt to the development of the NGN, it is a necessity to improve the regulation policy in terms of service operators management, user management, Quality of Service (QoS) assurance, service monitoring, charging, and settlement. Meanwhile, regulatory authorities should establish a new body as quickly as possible to meet the trend of the NGN convergence. The new regulatory body would be responsible for regulating operators who will be awarded full-service licenses, and managing new service providers effectively to guarantee the user’s interests.

Quality of Service in Next Generation Networks

To guarantee the Quality of Service (QoS) is one of the key objectives of the next generation network.Based on the introduction of the Next Generation Network(NGN) and the definition of QoS,various aspects of QoS are analyzed in this article,with emphasis on different approaches and business models.It is noted that QoS concerns the parametric network performance parameters and the application “satisfaction” level.

Next Generation Mobile Video Networking

HWANG Jenq-Neng received his Ph.D. degree from the University of Southern California, USA. In the summer of 1989, Dr. HWANG joined the De- partment of Electrical Engineering of the Universi- ty of Washington in Seattle, USA, where he has been promoted to Full Professor since 1999. He served as the Associate Chair for Research fi＇om 2003 to 2005, and from 2011-2015. He is current- ly the Associate Chair for Global Affairs and Inter- national Development in the EE Depamnent. Hehas written more than 330 journal papers, conference papers and book chapters in the areas of machine learning, muhimedia signal processing, and muhimedia system integration and networking, including an au- thored textbook on ＂Multimedia Networking： from Theory to Practice,＂ published by Cambridge University Press. Dr. HWANG has close work- ing relationship with the industry on muhimedia signal processing and nmltimedia networking.

ZTE Unveils Next Generation iCTN Transport Network Solution and Flagship Product ZXONE 5800 at MWC Barcelona 2009

ZTE Corporation (ZTE),a leading global provider of telecommunications equipment and network solutions,shined at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2009 by rolling out its next generation intelligent Converged Transport

Machine learning-based zero-touch network and service management:a survey

The exponential growth of mobile applications and services during the last years has challenged the existing network infrastructures.Consequently,the arrival of multiple management solutions to cope with this explosion along the end-to-end network chain has increased the complexity in the coordinated orchestration of different segments composing the whole infrastructure.The Zero-touch Network and Service Management(ZSM)concept has recently emerged to automatically orchestrate and manage network resources while assuring the Quality of Experience(QoE)demanded by users.Machine Learning(ML)is one of the key enabling technologies that many ZSM frameworks are adopting to bring intelligent decision making to the network management system.This paper presents a comprehensive survey of the state-of-the-art application of ML-based techniques to improve ZSM performance.To this end,the main related standardization activities and the aligned international projects and research efforts are deeply examined.From this dissection,the skyrocketing growth of the ZSM paradigm can be observed.Concretely,different standardization bodies have already designed reference architectures to set the foundations of novel automatic network management functions and resource orchestration.Aligned with these advances,diverse ML techniques are being currently exploited to build further ZSM developments in different aspects,including multi-tenancy management,traffic monitoring,and architecture coordination,among others.However,different challenges,such as the complexity,scalability,and security of ML mechanisms,are also identified,and future research guidelines are provided to accomplish a firm development of the ZSM ecosystem.

Distributed Broker-Agent Architecture for Multimedia Communications Traversing NAT/Firewall in NGN

The forthcoming Next Generation Network (NGN) is an all IP network. Multimedia communications over IP networks are a type of bundled session communications, which cannot directly traverse Network Address Translations (NATs) and firewalls even in NGN. To solve the problem that the existing traversal methods are not suitable for service providers to set up a real system in NGN, a Distributed Broker-agent Architecture (DBA) is addressed. DBA is secure and realizable for service providers and enterprises because it is easy to set up and does not need to upgrade the existing devices like Firewalls, NATs or endpoint devices of subscribers. DBA is composed of two-layer distributed agents, the server proxies and the client agents, in which all multimedia communications use shared tunnels to carry signaling messages and media data between broker-agents, and the call signaling is encrypted over Security Socket Layer (SSL) to guarantee the security of calling. Moreover, the function model and multiplexed connection messages format of DBA are designed, which lays a basis for the protocol in the future NGN. In addition, a simple implementation based on H.323 verifyies the main function of traversing firewalls and NATs.

Evaluating Dedicated Slices of Different Configurations in 5G Core

Network slicing is one of the most important concepts in 5G networks. It is enabled by the Network Function Virtualization (NFV) technology to allow a set of Virtual Network Functions (VNFs) to be interconnected to form a Network Service (NS). When network slices are created in 5G, some are shared among different 5G services while the others are dedicated to specific 5G services. The latter are called dedicated slices. Dedicated slices can be constructed with different configurations. In this research, dedicated slices of different configurations in 5G Core were evaluated in order to discover which one would perform better than the others. The performance of three systems would be compared: 1) Free5GC Stage 2 with each dedicated slice consisting of only UPF;2) Free5GC Stage 3 with each dedicated slice consisting of only UPF;3) Free5GC Stage 3 with each dedicated slice consisting of both SMF and UPF in terms of their registration time, response time, throughput, resource cost, and CPU utilization. It is shown that not one of the above systems will always be the best choice;based on the requirements, a specific system may be the best under a specific situation.

Convergence of mobile broadband and broadcast services:A cognitive radio sensing and sharing perspective

With next generation networks driving the confluence of multi-media,broadband,and broadcast services,Cognitive Radio(CR)networks are positioned as a preferred paradigm to address spectrum capacity challenges.CRs address these issues through dynamic spectrum access.However,the main challenges faced by the CR pertain to achieving spectrum efficiency.As a result,spectrum efficiency improvement models based on spectrum sensing and sharing models have attracted a lot of research attention in recent years,including CR learning models,network densification architectures,and massive Multiple Input Multiple Output(MIMO),and beamforming techniques.This paper provides a survey of recent CR spectrum efficiency improvement models and techniques,developed to support ultra-reliable low latency communications that are resilient to surges in traffic and competition for spectrum.These models and techniques,broadly speaking,enable a wide range of functionality ranging from enhanced mobile broadband to large scale Internet of Things(IoT)type communications.In addition and given the strong correlation between the typical size of a spectrum block and the achievable data rate,the models studied in this paper are applicable in ultra-high frequency band.This study therefore provides a good review of CRs and direction for future investigations into newly identified 5G research areas,applicable in industry and in academia.