arXiv subjects

Nicola Blefari Melazzi

Publications and source records attributed to Nicola Blefari Melazzi.

10 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2022

"Cellular Network Densification Increases Radio-Frequency Pollution": True or False?

A very popular theory circulating among non-scientific communities claims that the massive deployment of Base Stations (BSs) over the territory, a.k.a. cellular network densification, always triggers an uncontrolled and exponential increase of human exposure to Radio Frequency "Pollution" (RFP). To face such concern in a way that can be understood by the layman, in this work we develop a very simple model to compute the RFP, based on a set of worst-case and conservative assumptions. We then provide closed-form expressions to evaluate the RFP variation in a pair of candidate 5G deployments, subject to different densification levels. Results, obtained over a wide set of representative 5G scenarios, dispel the myth: cellular network densification triggers an RFP decrease (up to three orders of magnitude) when the radiated power from the BS is adjusted to ensure a minimum sensitivity at the cell edge. Eventually, we analyze the conditions under which the RFP may increase when the network is densified (e.g., when the radiated power does not scale with the cell size), proving that the amount of RFP is always controlled. Finally, the results obtained by simulation confirm the outcomes of the RFP model.

eess.SP↗

arXiv2021

Design and Experimental Assessment of Detection Schemes for Air Interface Attacks in Adverse Scenarios

In this letter, we propose three schemes designed to detect attacks over the air interface in cellular networks. These decision rules rely on the generalized likelihood ratio test, and are fed by data that can be acquired using common off-the-shelf receivers. In addition to more classical (barrage/smart) noise jamming attacks, we further assess the capability of the proposed schemes to detect the stealthy activation of a rogue base station. The evaluation is carried out through an experimentation of a LTE system concretely reproduced using Software-Defined Radios. Illustrative examples confirm that the proposed schemes can effectively detect air interface threats with high probability.

eess.SP↗

arXiv2021

Anomaly Detection Algorithms for Location Security in 5G Scenarios

Location based services are expected to play a major role in future generation cellular networks, starting from the incoming 5G systems. At the same time, localization technologies may be severely affected by attackers capable to deploy low cost fake base stations and use them to alter localization signals. In this paper, we concretely focus on two classes of threats: noise-like jammers, whose objective is to reduce the signal-to-noise ratio, and spoofing/meaconing attacks, whose objective is to inject false or erroneous information into the receiver. Then, we formulate the detection problems as binary hypothesis tests and solve them resorting to the generalized likelihood ratio test design procedure as well as the Latent Variable Models, which involves the expectation-maximization algorithm to estimate the unknown data distribution parameters. The proposed techniques can be applied to a large class of location data regardless the subsumed network architecture. The performance analysis is conducted over simulated data generated by using measurement models from the literature and highlights the effectiveness of the proposed approaches in detecting the aforementioned classes of attacks.

cs.IT↗

arXiv2019

Exploiting Information-centric Networking to Federate Spatial Databases

This paper explores the methodologies, challenges, and expected advantages related to the use of the information-centric network (ICN) technology for federating spatial databases. ICN services allow simplifying the design of federation procedures, improving their performance, and providing so-called data-centric security. In this work, we present an architecture that is able to federate spatial databases and evaluate its performance using a real data set coming from OpenStreetMap within a heterogeneous federation formed by MongoDB and CouchBase spatial database systems.

cs.NI↗

arXiv2017

RDCL 3D, a Model Agnostic Web Framework for the Design and Composition of NFV Services

We present RDCL 3D, a "model agnostic" web framework for the design and composition of NFV services and components. The framework allows editing and validating the descriptors of services and components both textually and graphically and supports the interaction with external orchestrators or with deployment and execution environments. RDCL 3D is open source and designed with a modular approach, allowing developers to "plug in" the support for new models. We describe several advances with respect to the NFV state of the art, which have been implemented with RDCL 3D. We have integrated in the platform the latest ETSI NFV ISG model specifications for which no parsers/validators were available. We have also included in the platform the support for OASIS TOSCA models, reusing existing parsers. Then we have considered the modelling of components in a modular software router (Click), which goes beyond the traditional scope of NFV. We have further developed this approach by combining traditional NFV components (Virtual Network Functions) and Click elements in a single model. Finally, we have considered the support of this solution using the Unikernels virtualization technology.

cs.NI↗

arXiv2017

Application of Information Centric Networking to NoSQL Databases: the Spatio-Temporal use case

This paper explores methodologies, advantages and challenges related to the use of the Information Centric Network technology for developing NoSQL distributed databases, which are expected to play a central role in the forthcoming IoT and BigData era. ICN services make possible to simplify the development of the database software, improve performance, and provide data-level access control. We use our findings for devising a NoSQL spatio-temporal database, named OpenGeoBase, and evaluate its performance with a real data set related to Intelligent Transport System applications.

cs.DB↗

arXiv2016

OpenGeoBase: Information Centric Networking meets Spatial Database applications - Extended Version

This paper explores methodologies, advantages and challenges related to the use of Information Centric Networking (ICN) for realizing distributed spatial databases. Our findings show that the ICN functionality perfectly fits database requirements: routing-by-name can be used to dispatch queries and insertions, in-network caching to accelerate queries, and data-centric security to implement secure multi-tenancy. We present an ICN-based distributed spatial database, named OpenGeoBase, and describe its design choices. Thanks to ICN, OpenGeoBase can quickly and efficiently provide information to database users; easily operate in a distributed way, deploying and using many database engines in parallel; secure every piece of content; naturally slice resources, so that several tenants and users can concurrently and independently use the database. We also show how OpenGeoBase can support a real world Intelligent Transport System application, by enabling discovery of geo-referenced public transportation information.

cs.DB↗

arXiv2016

On-the-Fly TCP Acceleration with Miniproxy

TCP proxies are basic building blocks for many advanced middleboxes. In this paper we present Miniproxy, a TCP proxy built on top of a specialized minimalistic cloud operating system. Miniproxy's connection handling performance is comparable to that of full-fledged GNU/Linux TCP proxy implementations, but its minimalistic footprint enables new use cases. Specifically, Miniproxy requires as little as 6 MB to run and boots in tens of milliseconds, enabling massive consolidation, on-the-fly instantiation and edge cloud computing scenarios. We demonstrate the benefits of Miniproxy by implementing and evaluating a TCP acceleration use case.

cs.NI↗

arXiv2013

Internames: a name-to-name principle for the future Internet

We propose Internames, an architectural framework in which names are used to identify all entities involved in communication: contents, users, devices, logical as well as physical points involved in the communication, and services. By not having a static binding between the name of a communication entity and its current location, we allow entities to be mobile, enable them to be reached by any of a number of basic communication primitives, enable communication to span networks with different technologies and allow for disconnected operation. Furthermore, with the ability to communicate between names, the communication path can be dynamically bound to any of a number of end-points, and the end-points themselves could change as needed. A key benefit of our architecture is its ability to accommodate gradual migration from the current IP infrastructure to a future that may be a ubiquitous Information Centric Network. Basic building blocks of Internames are: i) a name-based Application Programming Interface; ii) a separation of identifiers (names) and locators; iii) a powerful Name Resolution Service (NRS) that dynamically maps names to locators, as a function of time/location/context/service; iv) a built-in capacity of evolution, allowing a transparent migration from current networks and the ability to include as particular cases current specific architectures. To achieve this vision, shared by many other researchers, we exploit and expand on Information Centric Networking principles, extending ICN functionality beyond content retrieval, easing send-to-name and push services, and allowing to use names also to route data in the return path. A key role in this architecture is played by the NRS, which allows for the co-existence of multiple network "realms", including current IP and non-IP networks, glued together by a name-to-name overarching communication primitive.

cs.NI↗

arXiv2010

Fundamental delay bounds in peer-to-peer chunk-based real-time streaming systems

This paper addresses the following foundational question: what is the maximum theoretical delay performance achievable by an overlay peer-to-peer streaming system where the streamed content is subdivided into chunks? As shown in this paper, when posed for chunk-based systems, and as a consequence of the store-and-forward way in which chunks are delivered across the network, this question has a fundamentally different answer with respect to the case of systems where the streamed content is distributed through one or more flows (sub-streams). To circumvent the complexity emerging when directly dealing with delay, we express performance in term of a convenient metric, called "stream diffusion metric". We show that it is directly related to the end-to-end minimum delay achievable in a P2P streaming network. In a homogeneous scenario, we derive a performance bound for such metric, and we show how this bound relates to two fundamental parameters: the upload bandwidth available at each node, and the number of neighbors a node may deliver chunks to. In this bound, k-step Fibonacci sequences do emerge, and appear to set the fundamental laws that characterize the optimal operation of chunk-based systems.

cs.PF↗