2026· IEEE Transactions on Network and Service Management· Vol 23, pp. 6942-6956· 0 citations· 52 references
Abstract
The rapid evolution of 5G and emerging 6G networks requires optical access systems to support immersive extended reality (XR) services with stringent quality-of-service (QoS) requirements, like ultra-low latency and high bandwidth. However, conventional dynamic bandwidth allocation (DBA) schemes in passive optical networks (PONs) allocate upstream bandwidth solely based on reported queue occupancy, without considering the unique characteristics of XR traffic. To address these limitations, we propose an XR-aware Predictive (XP)-DBA scheme that integrates XR traffic prediction, deadline-aware scheduling, adaptive grant control, and a cycle-controller to proactively allocate bandwidth, prioritize latency-critical packets, and limit polling-cycle growth. We also derive closed-form analytical expressions to characterize XR-specific stability and delay feasibility in PON systems. We evaluate XP-DBA under standardized and burst-enhanced XR traffic models across varying XR user densities and transmission distances of up to 100 km. The results show that XP-DBA will reduce latency, jitter, and polling-cycle time while increasing throughput and supporting higher XR user densities under heavy network loads without violating XR delay bounds. These findings establish XP-DBA as an efficient and scalable scheduling solution for next-generation immersive XR services over long-reach optical access networks.
A novel Multi-Armed Bandit (MAB) approach is applied to optimize dynamic bandwidth allocation at the ONU layer, enabling increased user density without inducing latency burdens at the OLT and establishes a fault-resilient infrastructure suitable for next-generation converged optical networks.
K.Tara Phani, K. Kumari· Journal of optical communica...· 0 citations
Extended Reality (XR) delivery in 5G-Advanced systems demands a simultaneous balance of ultra-low latency, high reliability, and high throughput. In accordance with 3GPP Release 18/19, this paper investigates Radio Access Network (RAN) protocol stack optimizations specifically for XR traffic. By deploying adaptive Radio Link Control (RLC) and Medium Access Control (MAC) layer mechanisms, we address architectural bottlenecks like Head-of-Line (HOL) blocking and inefficient resource allocation during traffic bursts. These modifications preserve high data rates while satisfying motion-to-photon latency and jitter bounds. Simulation results demonstrate that our multi-layer approach ensures stable Quality of Service (QoS) under dynamic channel conditions and high network congestion.
E. Stafidas, Fotis Foukalas· International Conference on...· 0 citations
As Data Center Networks (DCNs) continue to scale, the limitations of traditional centralized Software-Defined Networking (SDN) architectures become increasingly apparent, as they fail to meet the stringent demands for low latency and quality of service (QoS). In this paper, we propose an adaptive traffic-aware load balancing mechanism (ATL), a telemetrydriven in-switch scheme implemented on the programmable data plane (PDP) using P4 and driven by In-band Network Telemetry (INT). The current traffic regime is inferred by analyzing the remaining capacity (RC) of each link and its short-term variation (VAR), and adopts a dual-optimization strategy: (i) separating elephant flows (large flows) and mice flows (small flows) onto disjoint path sets to mitigate head-of-line blocking and packet reordering; (ii) dynamically adjusting the flowlet threshold $\left(F^{*}\right)$ to strike a balance between maximizing parallelism and ensuring in-order delivery. We prototyped and evaluated ATL in a Mininet/BMv2 environment, targeting bandwidth-constrained scenarios representative of IoT and edge deployments. The results show that, compared to existing methods such as ECMP, HULA, AWCMP, and APS, ATL consistently reduces both the average and 99th-percentile AFCT while achieving superior elephant-flow throughput, with notable improvements in traffic stability and packet-ordering preservation. Furthermore, ATL demonstrates a favorable cost-performance trade-off ratio of 1:0.99, confirming its efficiency and feasibility within the resource-constrained P4 switch environment.
3GPP Release 16 enables a 5G system to operate as a transparent IEEE 802.1 TSN bridge, but its scalability under heterogeneous industrial workloads remains insufficiently characterised. This paper uses the nascTime framework on OMNeT++/Simu5G to evaluate how many TSN endpoints a single 5G NR cell can bridge before per-flow QoS degrades. We model closed-loop control, machine vision, bulk telemetry, and IEEE 802.1AS traffic over a four-bearer SDAP architec- ture, varying the number of endpoints from 1 to 40, MAC scheduler, radio bandwidth (10 MHz and 20 MHz), and channel model. Results show three operating regimes. Below saturation, non-DRR schedulers perform similarly; near saturation, QoS- aware PF reduces critical-flow P99 latency by up to two or- ders of magnitude relative to channel-aware and fairness-based schedulers; and under overload, only QoS-PF maintains near- complete delivery for the highest-priority traffic. Across the two evaluated bandwidths, the saturation threshold approximately doubles when bandwidth doubles. We also show that isolating IEEE 802.1AS/gPTP traffic on a dedicated high-priority radio bearer reduces clock-servo instability, although endpoints carry- ing lower-priority data still experience elevated synchronisation delay under saturation because of reduced MAC scheduling frequency. Finally, the evaluated sub-6 GHz, 30 kHz-SCS con- figuration exhibits an effective latency floor of approximately 2.25 ms, indicating that sub-3 ms TSN deadlines may require radio-configuration changes such as configured grants or higher numerology
Mohamed A. M. Seliem, U. Roedig, C. Sreenan et al.· 0 citations
The rapid evolution of beyond-5G and emerging 6G networks is driving the need for flexible, reliable, and cost-efficient virtualized Radio Access Network (vRAN) architectures capable of supporting heterogeneous services such as enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), Ultra-Reliable Low-Latency Communication (URLLC), and Massive Machine-Type Communication (mMTC). Future disaggregated RAN systems are expected to rely heavily on network slicing, functional split flexibility, and optical x-haul infrastructures to support stringent performance, scalability, and availability requirements. In this paper, we present an integrated framework for reliable, slice-aware, and functional split-aware Virtual Network Function (VNF) placement with lightpath provisioning in disaggregated vRAN environments. The proposed approach maximizes mobile network operators'profit by jointly optimizing function placement and optical resource allocation under latency, processing, bandwidth, and availability constraints. We formulate the problem as an Integer Linear Programming (ILP) model with two variants: one that employs unshared backups and another that uses a more cost-efficient shared backup scheme. To address ILP complexity, we develop a heuristic algorithm and a Genetic Algorithm (GA)-based metaheuristic that yields near-optimal solutions in real time. Extensive evaluations on topologies up to 128 nodes show that shared backup variants yield up to 18% higher profit, while maintaining up to 5-10% lower normalized CPU usage than unshared counterparts.
Mayank Ramnani, Shasank Dixit, Sushil K. Yadav et al.· 0 citations
The rapid growth of data- and delay-sensitive applications is driving unprecedented mobile traffic demand, straining terrestrial networks (TNs). Integrated Terrestrial-NonTerrestrial Networks (IT-NTNs), envisioned for 6G, aim to expand coverage and enhance capacity via satellite connectivity. Efficient load balancing across TN and NTN domains remains challenging due to inherent heterogeneity between the networks. This paper proposes a QoS-aware load balancing (QALB) algorithm for IT-NTNs. We introduce a congestion-dependent latency model that captures the coupling between latency and resource utilization, embedded in a unified cost function for user-cell association. The resulting load balancing problem is addressed using a distributed heuristic, with simulation results showing that QALB improves network performance in load distribution, throughput, and QoS satisfaction compared to benchmark schemes.
Shaban Omary Kasinge, O. Falowo· International Conference on...· 0 citations
