1,720,962 research outputs found
PhD Forum Abstract: Ultra-low Latency Communication in TSN-based Virtual Environments
Full text linkThe extension of cloud computing concepts to edge devices will lead to the coexistence of a wide range of applications with heterogeneous quality of service (QoS) requirements. Hence the need to move towards a more fluid model based on a continuum of virtual resources. In this paper, we propose a network virtualization model to support applications with ultra-low latency communication requirements and finally compare our results with those of a physical network
End-to-end QoS Management in Self-Configuring TSN Networks
Full text linkIndustrial networked computing environments are expected to serve a wide range of applications with heterogeneous Quality-of-Service (QoS) requirements. This capability demands for novel, QoS-aware network management and configuration techniques resilient in the face of network changes. State-of-the-art approaches only focus on aspects related to the management of network devices. In this work, we move a step further, proposing an end-to-end QoS management approach in Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) compliant networks, capable of handling reconfiguration events e.g., link-drop. Shedding some light on our proposal, we first discuss its functional building blocks, successively validating the approach on a real TSN testbed
A Layered Architecture Enabling Metaverse Applications in Smart Manufacturing Environments
No full textThe steady rollout of Industrial IoT (IIoT) technology in the manufacturing domain embodies the potential to implement smarter and more resilient production processes. To this end, it is expected that there will be a strong reliance of manufacturing processes on cloud/edge services so as to act intelligently and flexibly. While automation is necessary to handle the environment's complexity, human-in-the-loop design approaches are paramount. In this context, Digital Twins play a crucial role by allowing human operators to inspect and monitor the environment to ensure stability and reliability. Integrating the IIoT with the Metaverse enhances the system's capabilities even further, offering new opportunities for efficiency and collaboration while enabling integrated management of assets and processes. This article presents a layered conceptual architecture as an enabler for smart manufacturing metaverse environments, targeting real-time data collection and representations from shopfloor assets and processes. At the bottom layer, our proposal relies on middleware technology, serving differentiated Quality of Service (QoS) needs of the Operation Technology (OT) monitoring processes. The latter contributes to feeding a virtual layer where data processes reside, creating representations of the monitored phenomena at different timescales. Metaverse applications can consume data by tapping into the metaverse engine, a microservice-oriented and accelerated Platform as a Service (PaaS) layer tasked with bringing data to life. Without loss of generality, we profile different facets of our proposal by relying on two different proof-of-concept inspection applications aimed at real-time monitoring of the network fabric activity and a visual asset monitoring one
Supporting vPLC Networking over TSN with Kubernetes in Industry 4.0
Full text linkThe shift in the industrial ecosystem from closed and specialized technologies to the open and general-purpose vision of Industry 4.0 faces numerous challenges. The absence of viable solutions to replace Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs), vital components in control infrastructures, with their virtual equivalent (vPLCs) embodies those difficulties. In this paper, we introduce a framework that aims at truly materializing the integration between Operational (OT) and Information Technologies (IT) by defining an open, general ecosystem around vPLCs. Previous work either could not meet the performance and determinism requirements of the OT or did so by sacrificing the generality of IT. Building on these experiences, our framework provides both flexibility and efficiency by clearly separating the data path for OT and IT communications. To do that, we integrate tools from both domains: techniques to ensure low network performance and variability (TSN), to ease portability (OPC-UA), and to enhance management and deployment (Kubernetes). Experiments on a real testbed show that vPLCs within our framework can meet strict performance requirements and yet provide the same flexibility as cloud-based applications
INSANE: A Unified Middleware for QoS-aware Network Acceleration in Edge Cloud Computing
Full text linkEdge cloud computing is a promising programming and deployment paradigm to empower delay-sensitive applications. By executing close to the network edge, distributed applications can have quicker reactions to event occurrence and consequently prompter dynamic adaptations. In addition, recent improvements in connectivity support allow developers to benefit from heterogeneous and alternative communication technologies (e.g., RDMA, DPDK, XDP, etc.) to meet the requirements of network-intensive edge applications. However, exploiting these technologies makes applications statically tailored to a specific network interface; this significantly limits the potential of edge cloud computing, where application components should be able to migrate seamlessly at runtime. INSANE aims at solving that issue by exposing a technology-agnostic middleware API that lets developers simply specify their QoS communication requirements; the dynamic selection of the most appropriate technology on the currently hosting edge node is delegated to INSANE. The paper also presents how it is possible to develop two different INSANE-based applications (a decentralized messaging system and an image streaming framework) with a few lines of code. Finally, an extensive performance evaluation shows that our middleware adds very limited ns-scale overhead to the raw acceleration technologies
A Framework for TSN-enabled Virtual Environments for Ultra-Low Latency 5G Scenarios
Full text linkThe recent trend of moving cloud computing capabilities to the edge of the network is reshaping the way applications and their middleware supports are designed, deployed, and operated. This new model envisions a continuum of virtual resources between the traditional cloud and the network edge, which is potentially more suitable to meet the heterogeneous Quality of Service (QoS) requirements of the supported application domains. Yet, mission-critical applications such as those in manufacturing, automation, or automotive, still rely on communication standards like the Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) protocol and 5G to ensure a deterministic network behavior: in this context, virtualization might introduce unacceptable network perturbations. In this paper, we demonstrate that latency-sensitive applications can execute in virtual machines without disruptions to their network operations. We propose a novel approach to support the TSN protocol in virtual machines through a precise clock synchronization method and we implement it in integration with state-of-the-art and highly-efficient network virtualization techniques. Our experimental results show that it is possible to achieve deterministic and ultra-low latency end-to-end communication in the cloud continuum, for example providing a guaranteed sub-millisecond latency between remote virtual machines
TEMPOS: QoS Management Middleware for Edge Cloud Computing FaaS in the Internet of Things
Full text linkSeveral classes of advanced Internet of Things (IoT) applications, e.g., in the industrial manufacturing domain, call for Quality of Service (QoS) management to guarantee/control performance indicators, even in presence of many sources of "stochastic noise" in real deployment environments, from scarcely available bandwidth in a time window to concurrent usage of virtualized processing resources. This paper proposes a novel IoT-oriented middleware that i) considers and coordinates together different aspects of QoS monitoring, control, and management for different kinds of virtualized resources (from networking to processing) in a holistic way, and ii) specifically targets deployment environments where edge cloud resources are employed to enable the Serverless paradigm in the cloud continuum. The reported experimental results show how it is possible to achieve the desired QoS differentiation by coordinating heterogeneous mechanisms and technologies already available in the market. This demonstrates the feasibility of effective QoS-aware management of virtualized resources in the cloud-to-things continuum when considering a Serverless provisioning scenario, which is completely original in the related literature to the best of our knowledge
A layered middleware for ot/it convergence to empower industry 5.0 applications
Full text linkWe are still in the midst of Industry 4.0 (I4.0), with more manufacturing lines being labeled as smart thanks to the integration of advanced ICT in Cyber–Physical Systems (CPS). While I4.0 aims to provision cognitive CPS systems, the nascent Industry 5.0 (I5.0) era goes a step beyond, aiming to build cross-border, sustainable, and circular value chains benefiting society as a whole. An enabler of this vision is the integration of data and AI in the industrial decision-making process, which does not exhibit yet a coordination between the Operation and Information Technology domains (OT/IT). This work proposes an architectural approach and an accompanying software prototype addressing the OT/IT convergence problem. The approach is based on a two-layered middleware solution, where each layer aims to better serve the specific differentiated requirements of the OT and IT layers. The proposal is validated in a real testbed, employing actual machine data, showing the capacity of the components to gracefully scale and serve increasing data volumes
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
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