2010 IEEE International Conference on Computational Intelligence and Computing Research
The Imminent Convergence of the Technology Trio: Demystifying the Super Potential of 4G, CDN and Cloud Computing N.Ramachnadran 1, P. Sivaprakasam 2 1
Computer Centre, Indian Institue of Management, Kozhikode, India Department of Computer Centre, Sri Vasavi College, Erode, India (
[email protected],
[email protected])
2
Abstract - Fourth Generation (4G) is the evolving mobile technology, supporting up to 1 Gbit/s bandwidth for fixed gadgets and 100 Mbit/s for mobiles, and is reported to be more secure than 3G and 4G. Also supports IPv6 in addition to many added features. Content Delivery Networks (CDN) is the technology deployed for good quality as well as speedy access to the content as it overcomes flash crowd, denial of services etc. Cloud Computing is the evolving technology, which allows for increased efficiency in computing by centralizing storage, memory, processing and bandwidth. In addition, the users can gain access to their applications from anywhere through connected devices. Convergence of these three technologies will be a milestone and a path-breaking revolution in information and communication technology. A logical forecast of the technology suggests that it will certainly change the present scenario, so much so that the usage of laptops and tablet PCs will considerably reduce and even the usage of desktops will drastically come down. This paper aims at unleashing the potential of these technologies in detail and portrays the impact of their convergence.
In the present scenario 3G technology supports only 2 Mbit/s in fixed gadgets and while moving 384 Kbit/s making it extremely difficult to access large size data such as accessing high definition videos or searching large databases. At present cloud computing technology is useful only for corporate but not very useful for common man. On the other hand, CDN technology is widely used by all popular web service providers to avoid flash crowd to meet the end users requirements with minimal response time. The technologies discussed above are growing independently whereas the paper discusses the converged growth of all the above technologies.
III. OVERVIEW OF FOURTH GENERATION (4G) 4G is an emerging technology in the field of communication which uses IEEE 802.16m standard [1]. This system uses the Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplex (OFDM) and Multi Input and Multi Output (MIMO) technologies [2]. 4G system follows full-fledged IP based packet switching. OFDM deploys a digital modulation technology wherein thousands of orthogonal waves are multiplexed in one time symbol waveform [3]. For high bandwidth digital transition applications, this is very useful. MIMO is used for multiple antennas at both the transmitter and receiver to improve communication performance and to avoid multipath loss. 4G system is capable of providing 100 Mbps while on mobile and 1 Gbit/s for fixed gadgets, offering higher quality and security [4]. It also offers comprehensive IP solution where voice, data and streamed multimedia can be served to users on an “Anytime Anywhere” formula. The goal of 4G is to provide high speed performance in accessing high definition multimedia contents which cannot be accomplished using 3G. It complies global interoperability standards. It is a componentization approach of the existing technologies, rather than deploying an entirely new standard. It utilizes IP with converged voice and data capability. It has scalability to handle increasing users and diversity of services because it supports IPv6 too. More over, its cost is much cheaper than 3G since 4G can be built over existing networks and does not require the operators to completely retool. Also, there is no need to buy additional spectrum for 4G as it utilizes the existing rather under utilized spectrum. This 4G mission has been strongly supported by leading international authorities and sponsored by leading
Keywords - 4G, CDN, Cloud Computing, OFDM, MIMO, DNS redirection, URL rewriting
I. INTRODUCTION The rapid developments that took place in the recent past in the areas of information technology, computing, networking, communications, content delivery etc. have radically revolutionized the ways in which we access, retrieve, disseminate and preserve information and knowledge. These technologies also brought in newer dimensions and perceptions such as mobile computing, cloud computing and content delivery technologies. The aim of this paper is to demystify the technologies namely, “4G”, Content delivery “CDN” and the Web based “Cloud computing”. The synergy of these technologies offers unprecedented strengthening to content delivery services the convergence of which creates newer opportunities and service models. The relative impacts of these technologies are discussed.
II. OVERVIEW OF EXISTING SYSTEM First Generation (1G) is an analog telecommunication network. In the second generation (2G) is a digital network. 2G networks were built mainly for voice services and slow data transmission.
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2010 IEEE International Conference on Computational Intelligence and Computing Research
Fig. 1. 4th Generation Architecture
Fig. 2. Content Delivery Network Model
wireless industries like Intel, Qualcomm, Oracle Siemens, Nokia, Microsoft, Samsung, LG, Yahoo, Vodafone, etc., Fig.1. Shows the architecture of 4th Generation.
Users can access their data through web browser using any equipment. Users can enjoy all services in a customized manner without having to bother about the technologies behind it. For example, some basic knowledge on hardware and software is required if one wants to buy a computer or depend on technical hands in sourcing them, putting them to work and their maintenance. Cloud computing will take care of all the above issues, except the clients. Cloud computing shares hardware and software to all users and ensures the quality of service, security and reliability. Cloud computing provides on demand basis for all services like Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS) [7], and hence the user has to pay only for the used hours. It will substantially reduce the usage cost and relieve the user from costly investments and maintenance of the IT setup. Fig.3. Shows The concept model of Cloud Computing. Leading cloud computing providers are Microsoft, Salesforce, Skytap, HP, IBM, Amazon Google, etc.
IV. OVERVIEW OF CONTENT DELIVERY NETWORKS (CDN) The objective of CDN is to improve the quality, reliability and the speed of content delivery. Fig.2. Shows the model of CDN. CDN technologies are both resource and intelligent intensive for providing contents over the web. It consists of a collection of surrogate servers strategically placed around the world that attempt to considerably reduce the work load from origin server by delivering content on their behalf. CDN technology delivers content intelligently to the proximity of the web surfer which is achieved by using the approach either “DNS redirection or URL rewriting” [5]. Researchers have widely considered CDN to be an effective solution to reduce flash crowd and provide efficient website access in the best response time [6]. The bandwidth of total number of surrogate servers will be much higher than the bandwidth of origin server backbone. It results in an impressive increase in the number of concurrent users and low delivery costs. As CDN delivers content from the nearest surrogate server, the number of hops will be less, resulting in speedy delivery and lower latency. Even high quality multimedia contents will be delivered with higher speed and at low cost using CDN. Leading CDN providers are akamai, limelight, AT&T, verisign, bharti airtel, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Tata, yahoo, etc. V. OVERVIEW OF CLOUD COMPUTING Cloud computing is an evolving technology; it allows to put the content remotely at a centralized place and access the content anywhere at anytime in a secure and reliable manner at lesser cost. This technology relieves the users from investing heavily on hardware and software resources.
Fig. 3. The Cloud Computing Concept Model
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2010 IEEE International Conference on Computational Intelligence and Computing Research
hassles involved in managing hardware, software and security, etc. No need to carry heavy weight gadgets while travelling. Just a hand held mobile device with browsing facility will suffice the user access needs. Only demerit is, it works only within the signal coverage range. VIII. CONCLUSION If these three technologies (i.e., 4G, CDN and cloud computing) converge and all data/services run on cloud, then the users’ mobility will increase drastically. Furthermore, people need not invest on high end equipments such as laptop, PDA, palmtop, etc. for accessing data/services. Any content could be accessed using a browser enabled handheld device. Those who are providing or supporting these technologies discretely should concentrate on giving convergence solution. Imminent convergence technology only can claim the real “anytime anywhere” access. More over the imminent technology will be the future of information technology.
Fig. 4. Convergence of 4G, CDN and Cloud Computing VI. CONVERGENCE OF THE TECHNLOGY All the above evolving technologies claim high speed, reliable, cost effective and “anytime anywhere” access in their own context. The “anytime anywhere” access will become a reality only with the convergence of all three technologies discussed above. In the case of cloud computing, the claim of cost effectiveness is only for the set of services provided by the cloud computing provider, viz., IaaS, SaaS and PaaS etc. On the other hand, user has to pay Internet Service Provider (ISP) for using bandwidth. Hence in the present scenario the end user has to effectively pay for both cloud computing as well as ISP and therefore it does not seem very cost effective. 4G claims to be much cheaper and about 260 times faster than 3G. However, if no useful data/service is available online or every application is hosted within the enterprise, 4G becomes not so relevant. On the other hand all data/service is available online but accessing speed is very slow Cloud computing will not make much sense. Therefore only a convergence of the 4G and cloud computing will be the real mobile networking and an effective technology alternative to the user community. In the event of all users migrating to cloud computing by utilizing 4G, cloud computing providers may not be able to cope with the users’ demand due to many reasons such as lack of bandwidth, flash crowd, etc. To overcome the above issues, CDN can play a vital role. CDN is a proven technology for avoiding flash crowd with good response time and the researchers have widely considered content delivery networks to be an effective solution [6]. The convergence of the above mentioned technology trio will therefore give the effective solution to the community.
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VII. MERITS AND DEMERITS Users can access any data from anywhere at anytime with high speed and low cost. Users can get rid of the
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