• Trust as a new intent for orchestrating the future 6G networks. • Continuous network assurance for cloud continuum services. • The Level of Trust framework monitors and double checks trust level agreements. • Trust-oriented ontology for Cloud Continuum and intent-based scenarios. Intent-Based Networking (IBN) has gained prominence from both industry and research communities for boosting network automation and reducing network complexity in multi-stakeholder scenarios. IBN helps service and network providers understand and translate high-level business goals by escaping from technical details. Nevertheless, the rapid evolution of service requirements in dynamic multi-stakeholder environments needs to be considered by suppliers in order to meet the continuous demands of their customers. In this regard, trustworthiness is recognized as a key feature to assess reliability, compliance, and user perception of 6G services. In that spirit, this article aims to pave the way for encompassing trustworthiness, or Level of Trust (LoT), as a new intent to properly deliver service provisioning in 6G solutions. In particular, the LoT framework introduces a set of functionalities to guarantee a proper definition of requirements (Trust Level Agreements, TLAs), their interpretation, translation, consistency, and assurance during an ongoing relationship. To this end, this article presents a trust-based intent management approach with an ad-hoc interpreter that is, in turn, powered by a trust-based ontology for Cloud Continuum scenarios. Besides, a Level of Trust Assessment Function (LoTAF) is designed to monitor and report updates and events regarding LoT continuously. Such a monitoring engine follows the IETF basics of service assurance for IBN architecture. Last but not least, experiments in a collaborative robot warehouse scenario showcase that LoTAF enables workload allocation to the most trustworthy compute nodes, improving confidence in service orchestration, while introducing negligible overheads (1.40 % RAM, 5.01 % CPU, and 0.1069s latency).

The evolution towards sixth generation (6G) wireless networks necessitates innovative approaches to achieve ubiquitous connectivity, especially in remote and underserved regions. Traditional mobile network operator (MNO) infrastructures often fall short in addressing the dynamic demands of 6G applications, such as extended reality (XR), virtual reality (VR), and massive Internet of Things (IoT) deployments. This paper introduces a novel framework for the on-demand formulation of flexible, unstructured network topologies leveraging various devices, including Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). We validate our framework through two distinct use cases: UC1 for outdoor, remote setups, and UC2 for indoor, capacity-heavy warehouse inventory management. Central to our approach is the concept of trustworthiness, which extends beyond security to encompass capacity, energy efficiency, performance, and cost. We present a comprehensive system model that emphasizes the exposure and utilization of critical network metrics, integrating AI/ML-driven resource optimization. Our results demonstrate significant improvements in deployment cost, energy consumption, and network efficiency compared to static infrastructures. Additionally, we address key challenges related to node selection, trust management, and realtime adaptability.

Wireless communication has profoundly transformed the way we experience the world. For instance, at most events, attendees commonly utilize their smartphones to document and share their experiences. This shift in user behavior largely stems from the cellular network’s capacity for communication. However, as networks become increasingly sophisticated, new opportunities arise to leverage the network for services beyond mere communication, collectively termed Beyond Communication Services (BCS). These services encompass joint communications and sensing, network as a service, and distributed computing. This paper presents examples of BCS and identifies the enablers necessary to facilitate their realization in sixth generation (6 G). These enablers encompass exposing data and network capabilities, optimizing protocols and procedures for BCS, optimizing compute offloading protocols and signalling, and employing application and device-driven optimization strategies.

Wireless networks like many multi-user services have to balance limited resources in real-time. In 6G, increased network automation makes consumer trust crucial. Trust is reflect in both a personal emotional sentiment as well as a physical understanding of the transparency of AI decision making. Whilst there has been isolated studies of consumer sentiment to wireless services, this is not well linked to the decision making engineering. Likewise, limited recent research in explainable AI (XAI) has not established a link to consumer perception.Here, we develop a Quality-of-Trust (QoT) KPI that balances personal perception with the quality of decision explanation. That is to say, the QoT varies with both the time-varying sentiment of the consumer as well as the accuracy of XAI outcomes. We demonstrate this idea with an example in Neural Water-Filling (N-WF) power allocation, where the channel capacity is perceived by artificial consumers that communicate through Large Language Model (LLM) generated text feedback. Natural Language Processing (NLP) analysis of emotional feedback is combined with a physical understanding of N-WF decisions via meta-symbolic XAI. Combined they form the basis for QoT. Our results show that whilst the XAI interface can explain up to 98.9% of the neural network decisions, a small proportion of explanations can have large errors causing drops in QoT. These drops have immediate transient effects in the physical mistrust, but emotional perception of consumers are more persistent. As such, QoT tends to combine both instant physical mistrust and long-term emotional trends.

The Connected and Automated Mobility (CAM) services enabled by 5G connectivity are expected to change the automotive industry by offering safe, secure, and efficient autonomous capabilities to vehicles. These services depend on the ultra-fast/reliable connectivity offered by 5G, to ensure that all vehicles remain always connected and aware of their environment. This pre-condition however is challenged in cross-border areas, where vehicles change countries and consequently network service providers and may experience significant service degradation or even complete service unavailability for an extended period (up to minutes with legacy mobile networks). This paper presents a thorough evaluation of the effects of inter-PLMN Handovers on CAM applications’ performance including an analysis of the impact of different data roaming schemes, neighboring 5G networks’ interconnection (over public internet or via a direct leased line) and CAM application placement (remote Cloud vs nearby Edge). The analysis is based on real-life data from the neighboring 5G networks of the 5G-MOBIX project’s Greece-Turkey Cross-Border Corridor and offers insights on the expected mobility interruption time and end-to-end (E2E) latency of 5G enabled CAM applications when crossing national borders. The results indicate that with proper network configuration the 3GPP Rel. 15 NSA 5G networks can meet and even exceed the E2E latency requirements of certain CAM use cases, but mobility interruption time during HO remains a significant challenge.

Heterogeneity of current software solutions for 5G is heading for complex and costly situations, with high fragmentation, which in turn creates uncertainty and the risk of delaying 5G innovations. This context motivated the definition of a novel Operating Platform for 5G (5G-OP), a unifying reference functional framework supporting end-to-end and multi-layer orchestration. 5G-OP aims at integrated management, control and orchestration of computing, storage, memory, networking core and edge resources up to the end-user devices and terminals (e.g., robots and smart vehicles). 5G-OP is an overarching architecture, with agnostic interfaces and well-defined abstractions, offering the seamless integration of current and future infrastructure control and orchestration solutions (e.g., OpenDaylight, ONOS, OpenStack, Apache Mesos, OpenSource MANO, Docker, LXC, etc.) The paper provides also the description of a prototype that can be seen as a simplified version of a 5G-OP, whose feasibility has been demonstrated in Focus Group IMT2020 of ITU-T.

The paper elaborates on the technological and architectural innovations researched and developed by 5G-PPP Phase 1 projects and covering innovation areas such as 5G system design and evaluation, novel air interfaces, network management and security as well as virtualization and service deployment aspects.

Today there are forceful work streams that aim at realizing the “5th generation of wireless/mobile broadband”. This paper intends to analyse the emerging management challenges for the 5G era towards multi-service provision through optimal end-to-end resource slicing in virtualized infrastructures. Also, this paper proposes essential advances in the management intelligence, in order to achieve constantly agile and therefore optimal system behaviour in the demanding 5G wireless environment.

Global Internet traffic has increased tremendously and this trend is anticipated to continue for the next years. Consequently, network's performance and users' satisfaction cannot be guaranteed. The necessity for adequate bandwidth to carry this increased traffic has led to the addition of resources to the current core network and service infrastructures, thus affecting the levels of the consumed energy and generally resulting in higher OPerational EXpenditures (OPEX). Obviously, tackling such growth requires sophisticated Traffic Engineering (TE) and associated management schemes. On the one hand, TE mechanisms should be intelligent and self-adaptive so that to take fast and reliable decisions with respect to traffic allocation into network paths. On the other hand, the management of this intelligence cannot rely on the traditional command and control paradigm. Contrarily, it needs to be based on systems that hide technology complexity from the operator and relax him from the rather slow and error prone task of manual configuration. Accordingly, in this work, we present an operator-friendly management framework that is used to drive the decisions of an autonomous algorithm for TE in IP/MPLS core networks. Through the framework, the operator is able to select from a set of high level policies, which the proposed TE algorithm needs to take into account while seeking for routing configurations during its autonomous operation. The behavior of the proposed TE algorithm under the operator choices is experimented through numerous simulations and extensive test cases. Results showcase the efficiency and optimal performance of the algorithm, compared to other TE solutions proposed in literature, while at the same time they validate the framework's friendliness towards operator.

The adoption of autonomic features in network management becomes a necessity to cope with the increasing complexity of the telecommunications ecosystem. The purpose of this paper is to present the concept of Unified Management Framework (UMF) developed in the FP7 UniverSelf project. The core of UMF comprises three functional blocks, namely Governance, Coordination and Knowledge which allow to efficiently operate autonomic mechanisms such as SON functionalities in the radio access network. These are denoted as Network Empowerment Mechanisms (NEMs) that, by means of policies, enforce operator business and operation objectives. The paper focuses on the Coordination core block of UMF, and its instantiation to the problem of SON coordination for managing LTE-Advanced a Heterogeneous Network (HetNet) with relays. Prototype description and results are described so as to illustrate the value and applicability of the proposed framework.

Today's telecommunication operators worldwide need to confront changes in both their business and operational environment. Such changes significantly affect the operators' daily life and quick adaptation is key for them to keep following competition and increase profitability. On the one hand, the services landscape has considerably altered. New types of services have come to the foreground and the service model is far deviating from the rather obsolete model of services with long lifespan, like simple voice, which used to contribute the most to the operators' revenues. This dynamicity significantly strains processes associated with the efficient service delivery to the customers. On the other hand, there is a clear trend towards empowering network infrastructures with autonomic features at the most feasible extent. Profound research in autonomics has delivered sound results during the latest years and even more, there exist cases where autonomics were instantiated in ready to market deployments. Obviously, operators that want to keep postulating considerable shares in this emerging technology and business market, they have to find ways to address the raised challenges while delivering services. We advocate that this can be achieved by modernizing and appropriately organizing operations support systems and management processes, in particular by migrating from the traditional management of boxes to the governance of services and autonomic network behaviors. This paper aims at unveiling the challenges associated with this shift/evolution in the management processes the addressing of which is key for achieving a timely and cost-efficient service delivery on top of heterogeneous and autonomic infrastructures.

Unequivocally, one of the main challenges of the arising wireless world is to support the QoS-demanding services. However, the solutions that will be considered should not only take into account the optimization of the network performance, but should also be energy efficient both for the operator and the end-user. This paper presents the concept of Opportunistic Networks (ONs) as an energy efficient method to exploit wireless networks. The case studied in this work comprises a macro base station which faces congestion issues. The proposed solution will offload the traffic from a proportion of the macro-terminals to nearby femtocells, through the creation of an ON. Therefore, the femto-terminals will operate to lower power levels leading to less energy consumption and battery savings. In addition, femtocells will operate to the minimum transmission power that is needed in order to serve the users resulting in operational expenditure savings. Results from simulations are provided to confirm the proposed solution.

The increasing dynamism, complexity and challenges of networks and services cannot be handled by traditional management schemes. The alternative is the approach of autonomic network and service management. In this context, the UniverSelf research project proposes a promising solution, called Unified Management Framework (UMF) with the goal to unify and establish autonomics in the management of networks and services. UMF provides the processes, tools and methods for achieving unification of diverse autonomic solutions, governance of automatically managed infrastructures and services, and “plug and play” of autonomic solutions within existing and future management ecosystems. Despite the soundness of UMF vision from the research point of view, careful and well planned roadmap towards standardization is required in order to boost its deployability and operator adoption. Accordingly, this paper first describes the approach followed for the design of UMF and the set of functional blocks derived as an outcome of this approach. Based on the elaboration and evolution of these functional blocks, the focus is then placed on three components namely, governance, knowledge, coordination, which comprise the so called UMF core and will monopolize the effort towards deriving the upcoming releases of UMF. The standardization opportunities of UMF can be actually indentified while looking into these components and their associated interfaces.

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have long been attracting research interest, which is reflected in the design and development of powerful and complex network infrastructures, advanced applications/services, efficient power management, and extensions in the business model. A field of applications where ICTs find prosperous ground is transportation, in the sense of utilizing ITC findings in developing intelligent transportation systems (ITSs), i.e., systems for increasing transportation efficiency. This is motivated by the fact that transportation is associated with several drawbacks, e.g., with regard to continuously increasing traffic congestion in large cities worldwide. A transportation alternative to address congestion is the concept of car pooling, i.e., sharing a vehicle toward a common destination, based on a priori agreements. The goal of this paper is to present novel management functionality for dynamic ride matching, within a car-pooling context. The functionality uses previous knowledge in proposing valid car-pooling matches. Knowledge is obtained through the exploitation of Bayesian networking concepts, specifically the Naïve-based model. Simulation results showcase the effectiveness of the proposed functionality, the advantage of which lies in the fact that the reliability of the knowledge-based selection decisions is higher. This means that there is higher probability of satisfying the drivers' and passengers' preferences through the selected matches.

The wireless world is migrating towards an era that will comprise wireless network infrastructure, as well as more local/temporary structures which, for instance, can be called Opportunistic Networks (ONs). ONs can comprise various terminals/devices, potentially organized in an infrastructure-less (ad-hoc) network mode, and be terminated at a set of access points of the infrastructure-based network. The decision of the infrastructure-based network, to create or not such a ONs will be dynamic, should respect traffic, energy and mobility aspects and should also envisage anticipated QoS related benefits for the whole network. Framed within this statement, this paper aims at recommending whether and when the creation of such a ONs will be beneficiary for the overall network. Indicative simulation results are presented, which yield the conditions in which the adoption of such a solution can lead to enhanced application provision, extended access capabilities, better resource utilization, lower costs and management decisions with a “greener” footprint.

It is expected that the wireless world will need to encompass more local/temporary structures which can be created for exploiting dynamically appearing opportunities. Such structures, which can be called Opportunistic Networks (ONs), may comprise various terminals/devices, potentially organized in an infrastructure-less (ad-hoc) network mode, and be terminated at a set of access points of the infrastructure-based network. In this context, an operator owning a wireless network infrastructure, can exploit ONs for complementing the infrastructure, e.g., in order to resolve coverage expansions or for achieving green targets. Given the existence of opportunities in terms of available nodes and spectrum, the suitability of creating an ON can be determined by the type of involved applications and mobility levels. In this respect this paper aims to evaluate the suitability of establishing an ON as an extension to the wireless infrastructure by considering the anticipated benefits that such integration will bring about. The evaluation is based on extensive simulations so as to increase validity of results and recommendations with respect to the investigated ON suitability conditions. Finally, the simulation results and recommendations extracted from this evaluation study are used to derive policies that can be used by the operator of the wireless infrastructure to control the decision upon creating the ONs.

One of the most recent trends in the area of B3G communications are reconfigurable, cognitive systems. Cognitive systems encompass self-management and self-optimization capabilities: awareness of user, device and context information, policies derivation, decision making, reconfiguration and learning. Mechanisms for perception and learning of user and context information are one of the most important features of cognitive systems. Based on the knowledge and experience obtained through learning, cognitive systems can determine and configure their operation not only in a reactive manner, i.e. responding to the detection of problematic situations, but also proactively, so as to prevent issues undermining the optimal system function. This paper presents the approach of the European Union funded project End-to-End Efficiency (E3), aiming at integrating cognitive wireless systems in the Beyond the Third Generation (B3G) world.

In this paper we discuss on the cognitive management of wireless infrastructures that encompass Flexible Base Stations (FBSs) and Femtocells investigated by the Integrated Project E3 (End-to-End-Efficiency) funded within FP7. FBSs are equipped with Software Defined Radio (SDR) transceivers capable of operating the appropriate Radio Access Technologies (RATs) while Femtocells are capable of changing their operating parameters, including the way to manage the Mobile Terminals (MTs). The necessary reconfiguration actions are provided by the network decision entity called Dynamic Self-organizing Network Planning and Management (DSNPM). DSNPM is enhanced with optimization procedures as well as cognitive functionalities that will provide the means for proper network adaptation to the environment changes in timely manner. Our work presents an approach for the overall optimization procedure, exploiting FBSs and Femtocells software and hardware capabilities as well as knowledge and experience gained from past interactions of DSNPM with the network environment. High level system architecture will be presented describing the problem statement and the solution approach in which the above aspects will be addressed. Finally, an indicative scenario will exhibit the efficiency of FBSs and Femtocells functionalities as well as the associated cognitive management functionalities of DSNPM.

With the deployment of next generation (4G) mobile radio systems an additional radio access network is established. A variety of different Radio Access Technologies (RATs) will be operated in parallel. In this framework, the Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, specified by 3GPP, will have to co-exist with WiMAX, mobile 2G/3G networks and Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs). To cope with this increasing diversity and complexity mechanisms for self-optimisation, self-organisation, self-healing, self-configuration (self-x) are essential to guarantee cost efficient and high quality network operation. Within the project E3[1] self-x functionalities for different use cases and different elements of a mobile radio access network are developed. Aim of this paper is to give and overview about the interworking of different self-x functionalities and to present three exemplary use cases.

The continuous evolution of wireless systems has resulted in a number of new and powerful wireless networking standards. The concept of Beyond the Third Generation Systems (B3G) emerged in an attempt to exploit the variety of the available access standards to the benefit of end-users, operators and manufacturers. In this context, a key topic in the research area of B3G/4G networks is related to mechanisms and strategies to efficiently realize the complementary use of the diverse Radio Access Technologies (RATs), through their convergence into one composite radio environment. One of the most important features of these evolving systems is the availability of multiple access technologies, which will allow users to enjoy wireless services at any time, at any place. Evidently in order to truly enhance the experience of all users, even technology agnostic ones, functionality is required, on both the network and the user- device side, for providing the "always best connection" in a transparent manner. The focus of this paper is more on the end- user side. The target is to realize management functionality that takes into account user requirements, environment characteristics, configuration policies and experience established so as to dynamically configure the user terminal in a seamless and transparent manner, through machine learning mechanisms. This can be achieved with the help of Bayesian Networks, a technique used for encoding and learning probabilistic relationships.

According to the B3G concept, diverse radio access technologies (RATs) can converge into one composite radio environment, where the user is "always best connected" and can move between the various technologies seamlessly. Cognitive wireless networks [1],[2] have emerged as a complementary concept to B3G networks. In general, cognitive systems establish their behaviour, in a reactive or proactive manner, based on external triggers (environment), as well as their goals, principles (policies, rules), experience and knowledge. This requires, among other things, advanced terminal management functionality for dynamically selecting and adapting to the most appropriate technology, in a seamless, transparent and robust manner. This paper emphasizes on the management of user equipment and discusses on how to further progress the relevant work. The work of this paper complements legacy methods for network selection by presenting cognitive mechanisms and an associated knowledge-based network selection scheme. In particular, a specific learning scheme that relies on the use of Bayesian statistics is proposed. In the direction of assessing the performance of the developed knowledge-based selection scheme a software implementation has been realised. This software implementation also includes a legacy selection scheme thus enabling the comparison with the knowledge-based selection. Corresponding results derived from the software implementation are presented.

A key topic in the field of future wireless B3G/4G networks is related to mechanisms for the efficient complementary use of the different technologies. The goal is to exploit the multiplicity of the available access standards to the benefit of end-users, operators and manufacturers. The concept of future wireless B3G/4G introduces the idea of diverse, heterogeneous Radio Access Technologies (RATs) able to converge into one composite radio environment, where the user is ldquoalways best connectedrdquo, while the most appropriate technology is selected and applied seamlessly. Cognitive and reconfigurable wireless networks have appeared as a complementary concept to B3G networks. Cognitive systems determine their behaviour, goals, principles, experience and knowledge, reactively or proactively and acting in response to external triggers. The focus of this paper is more on the end-user side. In this sense, the paper presents a Cognitive Terminal Management System (CTMS) that comprises mechanisms for retrieving and managing user information using concepts from Bayesian statistics. The use of Bayesian Networks for the prediction of future user preferences is also addressed in terms of appropriate modelling of the user profile.

Abstract A high‐level technical survey of paging in mobile cellular communication networks is presented in this paper. We view paging as an optimal decision problem and explore different strategies based on sequential decisions. The examined schemes concentrate on different perspectives of the problem, depending on the type of decisions and the amount of information available or exploitable by the system. This approach provides a useful categorization and an easy conceptual basis for their theoretical investigation, necessary for the deployment of advanced paging algorithms. Because of its suggested generality, the discussed framework is also laid as reference for further research. As modern networks evolve, more emphasis will be given towards optimization in all aspects of a network system. The schemes presented greatly reduce paging costs and can be used in cooperation with known location update strategies to make part of a real network location management system. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The future of telecommunications is depicted on the convergence of mobile systems and IP networks, towards a global communications system, operating over a common access infrastructure, namely the "Beyond the 3rd Generation (B3G) wireless access infrastructure". The goal of this vision is the ubiquitous delivery of a great variety of innovative services, via a multitude of Radio Access Technologies (RATs). To achieve this, it is mandatory to identify and embrace the requirements for support of heterogeneity in wireless technologies. Framed within such context is the efficient management of each distinct RAT's resources (e.g. spectrum, codes, power levels etc) within the heterogeneous environment. Accordingly, this paper considers the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) as one of the most common operating RATs in B3G environments, and focuses on the efficient management of the total spectrum assigned to UMTS Network Providers (NPs). Specifically, the method proposed herewith, called Demand Allocation into Multiple UMTS Carriers (DAMUC), aims at finding the optimum partitioning of the demand to the multiple available, wideband UMTS carrier frequencies owned by a single NP. The method investigates certain demand allocation policies and selects the most appropriate one in terms of minimizing the total downlink power consumption in the network. Validation and consolidation can be ensured through indicative results from the application of DAMUC to a simulated network.

The course of events in the wireless communications area has driven the research towards the beyond third generation (B3G) systems. The B3G concept leans on the coexistence and co-operation of multiple, dissimilar radio access technologies (RATs). The reconfigurability concept has been developed to accommodate and exploit the advantages offered by B3G systems. Reconfigurability supports the B3G concept by providing equipment (terminals and network elements) with capabilities to dynamically select and adapt to the most appropriate RAT. In order for this to be realised, an enhanced equipment management and control functionality should be introduced. Such architecture is presented on this paper that focuses on the prototyping environment and the functional entities of the equipment reconfiguration management and control architecture. Also, the correlation between the concept of autonomic computing and this architecture is presented.

Adaptive networks are envisaged to play a significant part in the future, where the time and space variations in the traffic pattern will necessitate the ability to continuously amend the Radio Access Technologies' (RATs') operating parameters. Reconfiguration of communications systems is a facilitator towards this convergence and enables the dynamic adaptation and optimization of the access characteristics. However, such far ranging optimization concept involves many different mechanisms and work areas. Each of these areas provides an answer to a different optimization problem; Dynamic Network Planning and Management (DNPM) provides a load and demand driven optimization of the radio planning of multiple different networks within a given area. Advanced Spectrum Management (ASM) enables short term use of spectrum for services with higher demand. Finally Joint Radio Resource Management (JRRM) coordinates different access schemes and facilitates a more centralized approach to allocation of radio resource. Each of the schemes optimizes spectrum and radio resource usage on a different time scale. ARRM deals with the rather short term allocation, ASM with more medium term spectrum assignments while DNPM assumes time scales up to the range of weeks or months. Consequently, there is need of combining all working areas in the form of a Functional Architecture (FA), where each module represents a concept, aiming at forming part of the global end-to-end reconfigurability architecture. This paper includes a detailed analysis of the Reconfigurability FA, along with a description of the functionality of each of the modules included therein.

This contribution presents key functionalities and design approaches of a distributed system architecture as it is studied in the framework of the European E2R II project. An emphasis is laid on policy based self-governance, distributed reconfiguration concepts and corresponding cognitive support functionalities; this support is necessary to assure context awareness in the equipment in order to facilitate (enable) distributed decision making. The idea is to distribute decision making functionalities among network and user equipment elements in order to (i) limit the required calculation complexity on the network and user side for the determination of the optimum resource selection strategy, (ii) increase the reactivity of the equipment to any context change minimizing the required amount of human interaction and (iii) minimize the signaling overhead by broadcasting generic policy rules applicable to all users instead of targeting a user-by-user based reconfiguration approach. A simple use case illustrates how Game Theoretic tools can be used in order to derive suitable policies and how to perform decisions.

The evolution of wireless communications over the last years has resulted in a clear trend towards Beyond Third Generation (B3G) systems, which support the co-existence and co-operation of multiple, diverse Radio Access Technologies (RATs) in a common composite radio environment. The Reconfigurability concept has been developed for facilitating B3G Systems and enabling the seamless experience. Reconfigurability supports the B3G concept by providing equipment (terminals and network elements) with capabilities to dynamically select and adapt to the most appropriate RAT. Reconfigurability calls for enhanced equipment management and control functionality. The aim of this paper is to present a Management and Control System for Reconfigurable Equipment (MCS-RE) for enabling the realization of the seamless experience in a B3G context.

The continuous introduction of applications and services for wireless communications is depicted on the convergence of mobile systems and IP networks, towards a global system, operating over a common access infrastructure, namely the "Beyond the 3rd Generation (B3G) wireless access infrastructure". In such context, the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) will constitute one of the most common operating Radio Access Technologies (RATs), where Network Providers (NPs) will need to manage their specific resources (spectrum), so as to deliver services efficiently and cost-effectively. This paper deals with such issues, by presenting functionality for managing UMTS spectrum in B3G environments. The Demand Allocation into Multiple UMTS Carriers (DAMUC) method proposed herein results in finding the optimum partitioning of the demand to the multiple available, UMTS carrier frequencies (carriers) owned by a single NP. The method investigates certain demand allocation possibilities and selects the most appropriate one in terms of partitioning the demand as per balancing the uplink load (uplink loading factors) between the carriers. Moreover, results from the application of the method in a simulated network are also contained.

The migration of telecommunications towards the B3G era is characterized by the convergence of mobile communication systems and IP networks, in order to better adapt to the - continuously increasing - user demands. Reconfigurability is a key concept facilitating such convergence. This paper emphasizes on the potential benefits reconfigurability may hold far operators and manufacturers, and also presents some business models describing its penetration into the global market. Moreover, the introduction of such concept can change the way wireless networks are designed. In this context, the paper also discusses on some strategies for the dynamic planning and management of reconfigurable network segments, including some simulations and indicative results.

The evolution of wireless communications over the last years has resulted in a clear trend towards beyond third generation (B3G) systems, which support the integration and coexistence of multiple, diverse radio access technologies (RATs) in a common composite radio environment. The reconfigurability concept has been developed for the facilitation of B3G Systems. Reconfigurability supports the B3G concept by providing technologies that enable equipment (terminals and network elements) to dynamically select and adapt to the most appropriate RAT. Negotiation and selection of the most appropriate reconfigurations is a capability required by the Reconfigurability concept. This paper presents the integration of negotiation and selection functionality in a management and control system for reconfigurable equipment (MCS-RE) in B3G environments. The negotiation and selection process and the related interfaces are elaborated.

This paper adopts the assumption that cellular, broadband fixed wireless access (BFWA), wireless local area networks (WLAN), and digital video broadcasting (DVB) systems can be co-operating components of a composite-radio infrastructure. It is believed that through the composite radio concept, operators will be enabled to offer efficient, in terms of cost and QoS, wireless access to broadband IP-based services. The exploitation of this infrastructure calls for the application of computational intelligence (CI) technologies for the development of appropriate, sophisticated service and network resource management functionality. In this context, this paper identifies and addresses the important problem of service configuration and distribution in a composite radio environment (SCD-CRE). The problem's objective is to determine the best way to accommodate a demand volume, with which the composite radio infrastructure is faced. The pro finds the QoS levels that can be offered, and the networks that can support the demand at the selected QoS levels. The paper includes a first approach to the definition, mathematical formulation, and solution of a version of the SCD-CRE problem. Results indicating some of the capabilities of the SCD-CRE are also presented. Further application fields for CI technologies are indicated, in the area of the necessary reconfiguration of the managed, radio and fixed, network segments.

Abstract Data services like Web browsing, e‐mail and file transfer are becoming more and more popular in cellular systems. In contemporary systems like Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), data transfer has been circuit‐switched, that is, physical resources are allocated to a user for the entire call/session duration. However, this is inefficient in case of bursty traffic, where bursts are separated by long intervals of inactivity. This has been the main reason for the introduction of General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), which on the one hand acts as a mobile access network to the Internet, while on the other hand it enables the operator to offer a wide variety of value‐added services [Wireless Access Protocol (WAP) over GPRS, e/m‐banking, e/m‐commerce, push services, etc.] efficiently. However, in contemporary commercial implementations of GPRS the radio resource allocation algorithm does not take into account the Quality of Service (QoS)‐related service characteristics—although such information is exchanged between the terminal and the network—and consequently all service requests are treated the same way (‘best effort’). In this paper, we propose and evaluate via a simulation platform various Radio Resource Management (RRM) schemes capable of differentiating the handling of ‘service requests’ (in uplink and downlink), taking into account the GPRS‐related QoS parameters (precedence, reliability, delay, mean and peak throughput). The evaluation is performed for a range of voice (circuit‐switched) traffic loads, number of Transmit Receive eXchange (TRXs), offered data (packet‐switched) services characteristics, number of dedicated Packet Data Channels (PDCHs), and so on, taking into account the respective QoS requirements for both service types (circuit‐ and packet‐switched). Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Abstract The essence of designing a good paging strategy is to incorporate the user mobility characteristics in a predictive mechanism that reduces the average paging cost with as little computational effort as possible. In this scope, we introduce a novel paging scheme based on the concept of reinforcement learning. Learning endows the paging mechanism with the predictive power necessary to determine a mobile terminal's position, without having to extract a location probability distribution for each specific user. The proposed algorithm is compared against a heuristic randomized learning strategy akin to reinforcement learning, that we invented for this purpose, and performs better than the case where no learning is used at all. It is shown that if the user normally moves only among a fraction of cells in the location area, significant savings can be achieved over the randomized strategy, without excessive time to train the network. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

This paper builds on the assumption that in the fourth generation (4G) wireless system context Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), mobile broadband systems (MBS) and digital broadcasting systems (DBS) can be three co-operating components that enable wireless access to IP-based services. Managing the resources of this powerful infrastructure in an aggregate manner and multi-operator scenario is a complex task. This paper presents an approach to the overall UMTS, MBS and DBS network and service management problem. Key points addressed are the development of open interfaces with service provider mechanisms and the heterogeneous managed infrastructure, performance monitoring, joint optimization of the UMTS, MBS and DBS resources in accordance with the service provider requests and the changing with time environment conditions. The architecture of a corresponding UMTS, MBS and DBS network and service management platform is presented, in terms of logical blocks, implementation options and validation approach.

Future mobile telecommunication systems have to offer advanced multimedia services to a large number of users. The burden imposed by the signaling operations supporting these services can severely degrade the system performance and lead to congestion problems in network equipment (switches, databases, gateways, etc.). Paging operations in a mobile cellular network are responsible for a large part of the signaling load and, therefore, the issue of how to conduct them efficiently becomes of critical importance. The key to its solution lies on the application of multiple-step paging schemes and on the "proper" planning of paging areas. We devise and solve a version of the paging area planning problem. In particular, we provide a low complexity algorithm capable of reducing the paging cost, at the price of a moderate increase in the call set-up delay.

This paper adopts the assumption that cellular, Broadband Fixed Wireless Access (BFWA) and DVB systems can be co-operating components of a composite-radio infrastructure. It is believed that through the composite radio concept operators will be enabled to offer very efficient, in terms of cost and Quality of Service (QoS), wireless access to broadband IP-based services. The exploitation of this infrastructure requires new service and network resource management functionality. In this context, this paper addresses a problem called Traffic Distribution in a Composite Radio Environment (TD-CRE). The paper includes a first approach to the definition, mathematical formulation and solution of a version of the TD-CRE problem.

We present two decentralized iterative power control algorithms (IPCAs) for the uplink and downlink communication in multi-service CDMA wireless environments in order to expand the system capacity while at the same time satisfy the various QoS requirements. The proposed dynamic IPCAs are decentralised in the sense that they can be implemented in a distributed mode at the individual cell sites and mobile stations based on local measurements and information, and without the need of co-ordination between the different cells. The main feature of these two power control algorithms is that they combine the allocation as well as the correction of power in a multi-service wireless system. The formulation of the power control problem as presented in this paper, as well as the proposed algorithms, are especially applicable in multi-service wireless environments that support several classes of applications where each class has different quality of service requirements. Finally we present some numerical results that show that the convergence of the algorithm is very fast and the powers approach the optimal values within a small number of iterations.

The success of service providers in the competitive communications market of the future will be determined by the efficiency with which the services will be developed, and the quality levels at which the services will be provided. A service creation environment (SCE) should provide the service developer with solutions to these problems. In this paper we present an SCE focusing on the service creation practice, the software technologies applied for the development of the service logic, the support of standardised service architectures, through libraries of service components, and the provision of QoS handling related facilities.

The success of third-generation mobile communication systems, e.g., UMTS, will depend on the quality of service (QoS) that the mobile users will perceive, and whether the QoS levels will be provided in a cost efficient manner. In this perspective, the importance of tools for "proper" planning of a mobile system becomes straightforward. In the context of this paper, we present such planning tools related to the design of future mobile communication systems. In addition, we present a platform that enables the assessment of the derived solutions by means of simulation.

Efficient spectrum utilization in third-generation cellular systems has motivated the study of the traffic adaptive channel allocation problem: given the set of channels, the cell structure and the load to be accommodated in each cell find the optimal allocation of channels to cells, subject to the reuse distance constraints. In this paper, we extend this scheme in order to include time fluctuating traffic loads. The extended problem is formulated and solved by reduction to 0-1 (linear and quadratic) programming.

It is envisaged that future cellular systems, e.g., UMTS, will consist of three network segments, namely, core, access, and intelligent. In the context of this paper, we define and solve some of the design problems related to the design of the access and intelligent network segments. In addition, we present a platform that enables the assessment of the derived solutions by means of simulation. Our aim is to analyse, formally state, and theoretically formulate these problems, and to provide a platform for assessing the efficiency of the solutions to these problems.

Frequency reuse is a key property of cellular mobile communication systems. The frequency spectrum can be more effectively exploited if the allocation of the available channels to cells takes into account the traffic distribution. Dynamic channel allocation (DCA) algorithms adapt continuously to the traffic changes. In this paper both static and dynamic algorithms are proposed and studied. The optimization criterion used is the maximization of the total traffic volume, which is accommodated by the mobile system.

Important factors that will determine the success of service providers in the competitive communications market of the future are the efficiency with which the services will be developed, the "quality" of the service deployment, and the quality levels at which the services will be provided. A service creation environment (SCE) should provide the service developer with solutions to these problems. In this paper we present an SCE focusing on some essential characteristics, namely, the service creation practice underlying the operation of the SCE, and realisation in terms of existing software technologies and tools, the support of standardised service architectures.

One of the most central issues in third generation telecommunication systems is efficient spectrum utilisation. This objective has motivated extensive research in the area of channel allocation techniques. The basic version of the channel allocation problem is the following: given a set of channels, the cell structure and the load to be accommodated in each cell, find the optimum allocation of channels to cells, subject to the restrictions concerning the distance of cells, where the same channel can be used. This problem handles a traffic load that is fixed with time. We extend this formulation so as to include time variant traffic loads and, hence, to obtain efficient spectrum utilisation. We consider two approaches to this extension, which are differentiated by the fact that the first involves a total reconfiguration of the channel allocation, while the second only a partial reconfiguration. Both approaches are theoretically formulated and solved. Finally, we present results and draw subsequent conclusions.

A fundamental notion in third generation mobile systems is efficient spectrum utilisation. A first approach of the traffic adaptive spectrum allocation problem is the following: given the set of channels, the cell structure and the load to be accommodated in each cell, find the optimal allocation of channels to cells, subject to the restrictions arising from the minimum permissible distance of cells where the same channel can be used at the same time. This problem presupposes a traffic load that is fixed with time. In this paper we extend this scheme in order to include fluctuating traffic loads. This extended scheme is theoretically formulated, and found to be a difficult problem. Finally, a set of results is presented.