Fiber-Wireless (FiWi) Broadband Access Networks


Motivation

           Future broadband access networks will be bimodal, capitalizing on the respective strengths of both optical and wireless technologies and smartly merging them in order to realize future-proof Fiber-Wireless (FiWi) networks that strengthen our information society while avoiding its digital divide. By combining the capacity of optical fiber networks with the ubiquity and mobility of wireless networks, FiWi networks form a powerful platform for the support and creation of emerging as well as future unforeseen applications and services, e.g., telepresence. FiWi networks hold great promise to change the way we live and work by replacing commuting with teleworking. This not only provides more time for professional and personal activities for corporate and our own personal benefit, but also helps reduce fuel consumption and protect the environment, issues that are becoming increasingly important in our lives.

Research Direction

           The proposed research direction includes the both following FiWi broadband access network classifications:

Radio-and-Fiber (R&F)
           Protocol translation might be done at the interface of optical and wireless segments by an appropriate optical-wireless device, such as Optical Network Unit – Base Station (ONU-BS), or at the optical part, e.g., by an Optical Line Terminal (OLT), in a Passive Optical Network (PON).

Fiber-Wireless (FiWi) Broadband Access Networks
Fig. 1. Example of R&F FiWi broadband access network architecture: PON and its wireless extension (SS: Subscriber Station)

Radio-over-Fiber (RoF)
           The required protocol translation is done in the optical part by an appropriate optical element, e.g., OLT.
  •    Flexibility
  •    Centralized maintenance
  •    Cost-effective and fast deployment
Fig. 2. Example of RoF FiWi broadband access network architecture: PON and its wireless extension (RAU: Remote Antenna Unit)
Fig. 2. Example of RoF FiWi broadband access network architecture: PON and its wireless extension (RAU: Remote Antenna Unit)

The special and unique characteristics of FiWi broadband networks attract us to design a novel FiWi architecture with ability of providing end-to-end QoS connectivity for both wireless and optical subscribers. Some of the characteristics of FiWi access networks are as follows:
Architecture
  •    Reduces costs and increases flexibility
Reconfigurability
  •    Allows for demand change among districts
  •    Improves network performance in terms of throughput, connectivity, and QoS
  •    One solution: Wavelength Division Multiplexing PON (WDM PON)
Load balancing
  •    Renders FiWi networks robust
Routing
  •    Plays a key role in wireless mesh networks which render robust wireless segment in FiWi access networks
Cost-efficiency and Migration
  •    Future-proofness by providing cautious pay-as-you-grow migration
  •    Backward compatibility with implemented standards as well as interoperability with future technologies
User-friendliness
  •    Autonomic FiWi networks: Self-configuring, Self-protecting, Self-optimizing, and Self-healing

It is worthwhile to note that the main research effort aims at providing access to information when we need it, where we need it, and in whatever format we need it. The research work project will not only be restricted to the above mentioned research areas, but also covers all related research areas on the future bimodal communications provided by FiWi broadband access networks.

Researchers

Advisor
  •    Prof. Martin Maier
Collaborators
  •    Prof. Sonia Aissa
  •    Prof. Chadi M. Assi
  •    Prof. Martin Reisslein
Visitors
  •    Prof. Michael Scheutzow
  •    Francesco Paolucci
Graduate Students
  •    Navid Ghazisaidi

Publications and Presentations

  •     N. Ghazisaidi, M. Maier, and M. Reisslein, “VMP: A MAC Protocol for EPON-based Video-dominated FiWi Access Networks,” IEEE Transactions on Broadcasting, vol. 58, no. 3, pp. 440-453, Sept. 2012
  •     M. Maier and N. Ghazisaidi, “FiWi Access Networks,” Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, Feb. 2012
  •     X. Liu, N. Ghazisaidi, L. Ivanescu, R. Kang, and M. Maier, “On the Tradeoff Between Energy Saving and QoS Support for Video Delivery in EEE-based FiWi Networks Using Real-World Traffic Traces,” IEEE/OSA Journal of Lightwave Technology, vol. 29, no. 18, pp. 2670-2676, Sept. 2011
  •     N. Ghazisaidi and M. Maier, “Hierarchical Frame Aggregation Techniques for Hybrid Fiber-Wireless Access Networks,” IEEE Communications Magazine, vol. 49, no. 9, pp. 64-73, Sept. 2011
  •     N. Ghazisaidi, M. Scheutzow, and M. Maier, “Survivability Analysis of Next-Generation Passive Optical Networks and Fiber-Wireless Access Networks,” IEEE Transactions on Reliability, vol. 60, no. 2, pp. 479-492, June 2011
  •     F. Aurzada, M. Scheutzow, M. Reisslein, N. Ghazisaidi, and M. Maier, “Capacity and Delay Analysis of Next-Generation Passive Optical Networks (NG-PONs),” IEEE Transactions on Communications, vol. 59, no. 5, pp. 1378-1388, May 2011
  •     N. Ghazisaidi, M. Maier, and M. Reisslein, “Video Streaming in FiWi Access Networks,” IEEE Communications Society Multimedia Communications Technical Committee E-letter, vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 7-9, Feb. 2011
  •     N. Ghazisaidi and M. Maier, “Fiber-Wireless (FiWi) Access Networks: Challenges and Opportunities,” IEEE Network, vol. 25, no. 1, pp. 36-42, Jan./Feb. 2011
  •     M. Maier, “Fiber-Wireless (FiWi) Access Networks for a Green Video-Dominated Future Internet (Invited Paper),” Proc., IEEE/OSA/SPIE Asia Communications and Photonics (ACP), Shanghai, China, Dec. 2010
  •     N. Ghazisaidi and M. Maier, “Techno-Economic Analysis of EPON and WiMAX for Future Fiber-Wireless (FiWi) Networks,” Computer Networks, vol. 54, no. 15, pp. 2640-2650, Oct. 2010
  •     N. Ghazisaidi and M. Maier, “Fiber-Wireless (FiWi) Networks: Technologies, Architectures, and Future Challenges,” Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, "Convergence of Mobile and Stationary Next-Generation Networks," pp. 109-140, Nov. 2010
  •     “Unique Integration Scheme of Fiber and Wireless Technologies for Multimedia Applications,” Mobile and Wireless Technology alert, Frost & Sullivan, June 2010
  •     N. Ghazisaidi, C. Lange, A. Gladisch, and M. Maier, “Concepts, Potentials, and Limitations of Fiber-Copper and Fiber-Wireless (FiWi) Networks,” Proc., OSA Access Networks and In-house Communications (ANIC), Karlsruhe, Germany, June 2010
  •     M. Maier and N. Ghazisaidi, “QoS Provisioning Techniques for Future Fiber-Wireless (FiWi) Access Networks (Invited Paper),” Future Internet, Special Issue on QoS in Wired and Wireless IP Networks, vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 126-155, April 2010
  •     M. Maier and N. Ghazisaidi, “QoS-Aware Radio-and-Fiber (R&F) Access-Metro Networks (Invited Paper),” Proc., IEEE Wireless Communications & Networking Conference (WCNC), Workshop on Integrated Optical-Wireless Networks, Sydney, Australia, April 2010
  •     “FiWi networks may be considered the endgame of broadband access,” Interview in IET Electronics Letters, vol. 46, no. 5, p. 312, March 2010
  •     N. Ghazisaidi, M. Scheutzow, and M. Maier, “Frame Aggregation in Fiber-Wireless (FiWi) Broadband Access Networks,” IET Electronics Letters, vol. 46, no. 5, pp. 377-379, March 2010
  •     S. Chowdhury and M. Maier, “Security Issues in Integrated EPON and Next-Generation WLAN Networks,” Proc., IEEE Consumer Communications & Networking Conference (CCNC), Las Vegas, NV, USA, Jan. 2010
  •     N. Ghazisaidi and M. Maier, “Advanced Aggregation Techniques for Integrated Next-Generation WLAN and EPON Networks,” Proc., IEEE Consumer & Communications & Networking Conference (CCNC), Las Vegas, NV, USA, Jan. 2010
  •     N. Ghazisaidi and M. Maier, “Fiber-Wireless (FiWi) Networks: A Comparative Techno-Economic Analysis of EPON and WiMAX,” Proc., IEEE GLOBECOM, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA, Nov./Dec. 2009
  •     N. Ghazisaidi and M. Maier, “Fiber-Wireless (FiWi) Networks: A Comparative Techno-Economic Analysis of EPON and WiMAX,” Proc., Communications Workshop, Concordia University, Montréal, QC, Canada, Nov. 2009
  •     “FiWi: des réseaux technosociaux,” Découvrir, pp. 18-19, Sept./Oct. 2009
  •     M. Maier, N. Ghazisaidi, and M. Reisslein, “The Audacity of Fiber-Wireless (FiWi) Networks,” Heidelberg, Germany: Springer, "AccessNets: Lecture Notes of the ICST," vol. 6, pp. 16-35, Sept. 2009
  •     M. Maier, “Fiber-Wireless (FiWi) Access Networks (Invited Talk),” Proc., CMOS Emerging Technologies workshop, Vancouver, BC, CANADA, Sept. 2009
  •     N. Ghazisaidi, H. Kassaei, and M. S. Bohlooli, “Integration of WiFi and WiMAX-Mesh Networks,” Proc., IARIA/IEEE International Conference on Advances in Mesh Networks (MESH), pp. 1-6, Athens/Vouliagmeni, Greece, June 2009
  •     N. Ghazisaidi, F. Paolucci, and M. Maier, “SuperMAN: Optical-Wireless Integration of RPR and WiMAX,” OSA Journal of Optical Networking, vol. 8, no. 3, pp. 249-271, March 2009
  •     N. Ghazisaidi, M. Maier, and C. M. Assi, “Fiber-Wireless (FiWi) Access Networks: A Survey,” IEEE Communications Magazine, vol. 47, no. 2, pp. 160-167, Feb. 2009
  •     M. Maier, N. Ghazisaidi, and M. Reisslein, “The Audacity of Fiber-Wireless (FiWi) Networks (Invited Paper),” in Proc., ICST International Conference on Access Networks (AccessNets), Las Vegas, NV, USA, Oct. 2008
  •     M. Maier, “From Next-Generation WiFi to Future Optical-Wireless FiWi Networks (Invited Talk),” in Proc., Optimization of Optical Networks (OON) workshop, Montreal, QC, CANADA, May 2008
  •     N. Ghazisaidi and M. Maier, “Fiber-Wireless (FiWi) Access Networks (Poster),” in Proc., Optimization of Optical Networks (OON) workshop, Montreal, QC, CANADA, May 2008
  •     S. Aissa and M. Maier, “Towards Seamless Fiber-Wireless (FiWi) Access Networks: Convergence and Challenges (Invited Paper),” in Proc., International Conference on Transparent Optical Networks (ICTON) 'Mediterranean Winter' 2007, Sousse, Tunisia, Dec. 2007