Increasing Customer Base Using Mpls Technology in Yemennet

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INCREASING CUSTOMER BASE USING MPLS TECHNOLOGY IN YEMENNET

A Project Paper
Presented to
The Center for Graduate Studies
Master of Information Technology and Management
Taiz University, Taiz City, Republic of Yemen
In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree of
Master of Information Technology and Management
by
Eng. Abutaleb Abdulrahman M.
Dr. Nelson Marcos
Faculty Adviser
March 22, 2014
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Approval Sheet
This project hereto entitled:
INCREASING CUSTOMER BASE USING MPLS TECHNOLOGY IN YEMENNET
Prepared and submitted by Eng. Abdulrahman M. Abutaleb in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of Master of Information Technology and Management has been
examined and is recommended for acceptance and approval for ORAL EXAMINATION.
Dr. Nelson Marcos
Adviser
Approved by the Committee on Oral Examination with a grade of PASSED on March 22,
2014.
Dr. Mohammed A. Ebrahim
Chair
Professor Vicente Pijano Professor Hans Geers
Member Member
Professor Gerrit Versluis Professor Maartin Loojien
Member Member
Accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of
Information Technology and Management.
Dr. Abdo Al-Daqaf
Managing Director
Center for Graduate Studies
Taiz University
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Abstract
YemenNet is the gateway of Yemen to Internet which was founded in 2001 and belongs
to public sector by YT. Multi Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) is an emerging technology
which transmits and delivers the Internet services with high transmission speed and lower delays.
MPLS had been installed in 2009 in YemenNet to give a broadband services and Internet. The
key feature of MPLS is its Traffic Engineering (TE), which is used for effectively managing the
networks for efficient utilization of network resources. Due to lower network delay, efficient
forwarding mechanism, scalability and predictable performance of the services provided by
MPLS technology makes it more suitable for implementing real-time applications, such as voice
and video which should be implemented in YemenNet, and definitely would increase customer
base. In this project, the researcher simulated three tests using MPLS features QoS, TE, and FRR
for proving the performance and resiliency. The performance of Voice over Internet Protocol
(VoIP), video and data (FTP) applications are compared between MPLS network and
conventional Internet Protocol (IP) network (legacy network). OPNET modeler 14.5 is used to
simulate the networks and the comparison was made based on some performance metrics such as
voice jitter, voice packet end-to-end delay, voice delay variation, voice packet sent and received.
The simulation results were analyzed and showed that MPLS based solution provided
better performance in implementing all applications. The results could help the top management
in YT and YemenNet to invest and cover all country with MPLS, and also implement real-time
applications which absolutely increase customer base.
In this project, the results met all the project objectives, and gave a good roadmap to
care about customer by designing SLA and following the recommendations. YemenNet needs
more care from top managements in YT and Ministry of Telecommunication and Information
Technology.
Keywords: Multi Protocol Label Switching (MPLS), Traffic Engineering (TE), Voice over
Internet Protocol (VoIP), FRR, QoS, Optimized Network Engineering Tool (OPNET), and
YemenNet.
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Acknowledgment
In the name of Allah, the most gracious and the most Merciful.
AND mention my prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him and his household).
First and foremost, I would like to give thanks to almighty ALLAH who blessed me with
guidance and helped me for making this short period of educational journey a reality.
I want to extend my gratitude to my beloved parents, wife, & family for their heartfelt
love, support, and encouragement during my project work, in particular my father, my mother,
my father-in-law and my mother-in-law for their kind love, encouragement, and advice.
I would also like to thank my supervisor, Dr. Nelson Marcos and the Government of the
Netherlands through Delft Technological University, who helped me to make my dream come
true after providing me with useful knowledge and directions on how to deal with Masters in
IT&M.
I am pleased to thank Dr. Ali Naji Nosary , the DG of PTC Eng. Sadek Mousleh, Sir Ali
Thabet, Sir Mohammed Alzamzami, Eng. Lutfi Bashareef, Eng. Hafiz Anwar, Eng. Amer Haza
and Eng. Yasser Alaimad for their support which helped me to feel relax and attain success. Also,
thanks to all my Colleagues in YT.
Lastly, I would like to express my love and affection to my children, to whom I owe an
apology for having been too busy throughout my Masters studies and research. And, special
thanks to my wife who has been supporting me morally.
And to all who, in one way or another, have helped me finish this endeavor, I offer my
gratitude and thanks.
.dedicated to my daughter and son (Alyaa & Ali)
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Table of Contents
Approval Sheet ................................................................................................................................ii
Abstract...........................................................................................................................................iii
Acknowledgment ............................................................................................................................ iv
Table of Contents............................................................................................................................. v
List of Tables ................................................................................................................................viii
List of Figures................................................................................................................................. ix
Chapter 1 THE PROJECT DESCRIPTION .................................................................................... 1
1.1 Project Description ............................................................................................................... 1
1.2 Overview of the Current Technology................................................................................... 1
1.2.1 Some definition of terms ................................................................................................ 1
1.2.2 Problem Statement ......................................................................................................... 2
1.3 Project Objectives................................................................................................................. 2
1.3.1 General Objective........................................................................................................... 2
1.3.2 Specific Objectives......................................................................................................... 2
1.4 Scope and Limitations of the Project.................................................................................... 3
1.4.1 Scope.............................................................................................................................. 3
1.4.2 Limitations ..................................................................................................................... 3
1.5 Significance of the Project.................................................................................................... 3
1.6 Project Methodology ............................................................................................................ 4
1.6.1 Theoretical framework ................................................................................................... 4
1.6.2 Data gathering ................................................................................................................ 4
1.6.3 Data analysis .................................................................................................................. 5
1.6.4 Schedule of activities...................................................................................................... 5
Chapter 2 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE ...................................................................... 6
2.1 Related Literature ................................................................................................................. 6
2.2 Theoretical Related Studies .................................................................................................. 8
2.3 Practical Related Studies .................................................................................................... 10
Chapter 3 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ................................................................................ 16
3.1 MPLS Introduction............................................................................................................. 16
3.1.1 Why do network providers motivate for MPLS? ......................................................... 16
3.1.2 MPLS Combines Routing and Switching .................................................................... 16
3.1.3 MPLS Header and Label .............................................................................................. 17
3.1.4 Label Space .................................................................................................................. 18
3.1.5 Forward Equivalence Class (FEC) ............................................................................... 18
3.1.6 MPLS Domain.............................................................................................................. 20
3.1.7 MPLS Architecture ...................................................................................................... 22
3.2 MPLS Application.............................................................................................................. 23
3.2.1 QOS.............................................................................................................................. 23
3.2.2 Traffic Engineering (TE).............................................................................................. 24
3.3 MPLS LSP Working........................................................................................................... 24
3.4 Signaling Protocols in MPLS Network .............................................................................. 25
3.4.1 Label Distribution Protocol (LDP)............................................................................... 25
3.4.2 RSVP- TE..................................................................................................................... 26
3.4.3 Comparison of RSVP and CR-LDP............................................................................. 27
3.5 MPLS QoS.......................................................................................................................... 28
3.5.1 Scheduling Mechanisms............................................................................................... 28
3.5.2 Scheduling WFQ....................................................................................................... 29
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3.5.3 DiffServ Basics ............................................................................................................ 30
3.6 MPLS TRAFFIC ENGINEERING (MPLS-TE) ................................................................ 32
3.6.1 Link Congestion........................................................................................................... 32
3.6.2 Benefits of MPLS-TE................................................................................................... 32
3.6.3 Network Resiliency by Using MPLS TE..................................................................... 33
3.7 OPNET Modeler 14.5......................................................................................................... 34
3.7.1 Why OPNET? .............................................................................................................. 34
3.7.2 OPNET Framework...................................................................................................... 35
3.7.3 Project Editor................................................................................................................ 35
3.7.4 The Node Editor ........................................................................................................... 36
3.7.5 The Process Model Editor ............................................................................................ 36
3.7.6 The Link Model Editor................................................................................................. 37
3.7.7 The Path Editor............................................................................................................. 37
3.7.8 The Packet Format Editor............................................................................................. 38
3.7.9 The Probe Editor .......................................................................................................... 38
3.7.10 The Simulation Sequence Editor................................................................................ 39
3.7.11 The Analysis Tool ...................................................................................................... 39
Chapter 4 The EXISTING SYSTEM ............................................................................................ 40
4.1 Description of YemenNet ................................................................................................... 40
4.1.1 YemenNet History........................................................................................................ 40
4.1.2 PTC Objectives ............................................................................................................ 40
4.1.3 YemenNet Vision......................................................................................................... 41
4.1.4 YemenNet Task............................................................................................................ 41
4.1.5 YemenNet position in YT ............................................................................................ 41
4.1.6 YemenNet (The Target Company)............................................................................... 42
4.1.7 The First Team of YemenNet in 2001.......................................................................... 43
4.1.8 YemenNet Logo ........................................................................................................... 43
4.1.9 The description of the Target business units ................................................................ 44
4.1.10 Organizational chart ................................................................................................... 44
4.2 The current situation and system of YemenNet.................................................................. 45
4.2.1 PDN (Data Transmission) Topology............................................................................ 45
4.2.2 IN (Internet Topology) ................................................................................................. 45
4.2.3 MPLS Topology in YemenNet..................................................................................... 46
4.3 YemenNet Services ............................................................................................................ 47
4.4 The problems with the existing system in YemenNet ........................................................ 48
Chapter 5 THE PROPOSED SOLUTION..................................................................................... 49
5.1 Overview of the Solution.................................................................................................... 49
5.2 Details of the Solution ........................................................................................................ 49
5.3 IP network and MPLS-TE.................................................................................................. 49
5.3.1 Assumptions................................................................................................................. 49
5.3.2 Network Scenario......................................................................................................... 49
5.3.3 Methodology ................................................................................................................ 50
5.4 Fast Reroute Technique (FRR) as Network Resilience...................................................... 61
5.4.1 Assumptions................................................................................................................. 61
5.4.2 Methodology ................................................................................................................ 61
5.5 MPLS with Quality of Services (QoS) ............................................................................... 68
5.5.1 Assumptions................................................................................................................. 68
5.5.2 Methodology ................................................................................................................ 68
Chapter 6 THE RESULTS AND OBSERVATIONS.................................................................... 77
6.1 The Results Explanations ................................................................................................... 77
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6.2 Service Level Agreement (SLA) ........................................................................................ 78
Chapter 7 THE CONCLUSION AND RECOMMANDATIONS................................................. 81
7.1 Final assessment of the project ........................................................................................... 81
7.2 Answers the project objectives ........................................................................................... 81
7.3 The future improvements.................................................................................................... 83
7.4 YemenNet recommendations.............................................................................................. 83
7.5 Future Works ...................................................................................................................... 85
References...................................................................................................................................... 86
Appendix A List of Abbreviations........................................................................................... 90
Appendix B YemenNet Services ............................................................................................. 92
Appendix C PTCs Approval Sheet ......................................................................................... 99
Appendix D Curriculum Vitae............................................................................................... 100
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List of Tables
Table Page
Table 1: The Schedule of the Project Activities .............................................................................. 5
Table 2: Reference Documents (MPLS Model /Release 14.5 Description. OPNET
Documentation., 2008)..................................................................................................................... 6
Table 3: MPLS Label Format (Rosen, et al., 2001) ....................................................................... 17
Table 4: MPLS Labels between Layer-2 and Layer-3 Headers..................................................... 17
Table 5: DiffServ Marking(OPNET Technologies, Session 1806 Introduction to QoS
Mechanisms Technology Tutorials, 2004)..................................................................................... 31
Table 6: The First Team of YemenNet in 2001............................................................................. 43
Table 7: SLA Format ..................................................................................................................... 79
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List of Figures
Figure Page
Figure 1: MPLS Combines Routing and Switching (OPNET Technologies, Session 1801
Introduction to MPLS Technology Tutorials, 2004, p. 8) ............................................................. 17
Figure 2: MPLS Shim Header (Davie & Farrel, 2008).................................................................. 17
Figure 3: Forward Equivalence Class (FEC)(OPNET Technologies, Session 1801 Introduction to
MPLS Technology Tutorials, 2004, p. 16) .................................................................................... 18
Figure 4: FTN (OPNET Technologies, Session 1801 Introduction to MPLS Technology Tutorials,
2004) .............................................................................................................................................. 19
Figure 5: ILM (OPNET Technologies, Session 1801 Introduction to MPLS Technology Tutorials,
2004) .............................................................................................................................................. 19
Figure 6: Ingress LER (OPNET Technologies, Session 1801 Introduction to MPLS Technology
Tutorials, 2004).............................................................................................................................. 20
Figure 7: Egress LER (OPNET Technologies, Session 1801 Introduction to MPLS Technology
Tutorials, 2004).............................................................................................................................. 21
Figure 8: Label Switch Router (LSR)(OPNET Technologies, Session 1801 Introduction to MPLS
Technology Tutorials, 2004).......................................................................................................... 21
Figure 9: Label Switch Path (LSP)(OPNET Technologies, Session 1801 Introduction to MPLS
Figure 10: Label stack.................................................................................................................... 22
Figure 11: Architecture of MPLS(Imran, 2009, p. 23) .................................................................. 23
Figure 12: MPLS Application and their Interaction (Imran, 2009, p. 31) ..................................... 23
Figure 13: LSP in MPLS (OPNET Technologies, Simulation-based Analysis of MPLSTraffic
Engineering A Case Study).......................................................................................................... 25
Figure 14: LDP Messages (OPNET Technologies, Session 1801 Introduction to MPLS
Figure 15: RSVP Messages (OPNET Technologies, Session 1801 Introduction to MPLS
Figure 16: RSVP Examples(OPNET Technologies, Session 1801 Introduction to MPLS
Figure 17: WFQ Principles (OPNET Technologies, Session 1806 Introduction to QoS
Mechanisms Technology Tutorials, 2004, p. 21)........................................................................... 29
Figure 18: WFQ Mechanism (OPNET Technologies, Session 1806 Introduction to QoS
Mechanisms Technology Tutorials, 2004, p. 23)........................................................................... 29
Figure 19: IP Datagram Lifecycle under QoS (OPNET Technologies, Session 1806 Introduction
to QoS Mechanisms Technology Tutorials, 2004, p. 26) .............................................................. 30
Figure 20: Shows an over utilized link(Imran, 2009, p. 33) .......................................................... 32
Figure 21: Ingress Backup LSP (OPNET Technologies, Session 1511 Understanding MPLS
Model Internals, 2004, p. 57)......................................................................................................... 33
Figure 22: FRR (OPNET Technologies, Session 1511 Understanding MPLS Model Internals,
2004, p. 59) .................................................................................................................................... 33
Figure 23: The main window of OPNET Modeler 14.5 ................................................................ 34
Figure 24: Workflow (Svensson & Popescu, 2003) ...................................................................... 35
Figure 25: A network model built in the Project Editor (Svensson & Popescu, 2003) ................. 35
Figure 26: Node Editor (Svensson & Popescu, 2003) ................................................................... 36
Figure 27: Process Model Editor ................................................................................................... 36
Figure 28: Link Model Editor ........................................................................................................ 37
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Figure 29: Path Editor.................................................................................................................... 37
Figure 30: Packet Format Editor.................................................................................................... 38
Figure 31: Probe Editor.................................................................................................................. 38
Figure 32: Simulation Sequence Editor ......................................................................................... 39
Figure 33: Analysis Tool ............................................................................................................... 39
Figure 34: YemenNet position in Yemen Telecom....................................................................... 41
Figure 35: YemenNet logo............................................................................................................. 43
Figure 36: Organizational Chart of YemenNet.............................................................................. 44
Figure 37: Yemen Data Network (ATM, the legacy network) ...................................................... 45
Figure 38: Internet Topology......................................................................................................... 46
Figure 39 : IP/MPLS Yemen National Network Topology ........................................................... 47
Figure 40: YemenNet MPLS Network Topology.......................................................................... 50
Figure 41: Methodology used in OPNET Modeler Scenario 1...................................................... 51
Figure 42: MPLS Network with two static LSPs........................................................................... 51
Figure 43: Application Definitions ................................................................................................ 52
Figure 44: Profile Definitions ........................................................................................................ 52
Figure 45: FEC Specifications ....................................................................................................... 53
Figure 46: Traffic Trunk Profiles................................................................................................... 54
Figure 47: FEC to LSP Mapping ................................................................................................... 54
Figure 48: Choose Results ............................................................................................................. 55
Figure 49: FTP Upload Response Time in Scenario 1................................................................... 57
Figure 50: Voice Delay Results in Scenario 1............................................................................... 57
Figure 51: Video Delay Results in Scenario 1............................................................................... 58
Figure 52: Links Utilization Results in Scenario 1........................................................................ 58
Figure 53: Links Utilization Results in Congestion Case in Scenario 1........................................ 59
Figure 54: FTP Upload Response Time in Congestion Case in Scenario 1................................... 60
Figure 55: Video Delay Results in Congestion Case in Scenario 1............................................... 60
Figure 56: Voice Delay Results in Congestion Case in Scenario 1 ............................................... 61
Figure 57: Methodology of FRR.................................................................................................... 62
Figure 58: MPLS Network Using Bypass Tunnel (the red one).................................................... 62
Figure 59: FRR Configurations in the Primary LSP...................................................................... 63
Figure 60: Failure Recovery Object............................................................................................... 64
Figure 61: LSP Traffic Reroute Time............................................................................................ 65
Figure 62: LSP Traffic In............................................................................................................... 66
Figure 63: The Delay Sensitive in both using Failure link or not.................................................. 67
Figure 64: Methodology of QoS.................................................................................................... 68
Figure 65: MPLS Network Map with using one LSP.................................................................... 69
Figure 66: DSCP to EXP Mapping................................................................................................ 70
Figure 67: Client FTP Upload Response Time with/without MPLS DiffServ.............................. 71
Figure 68: Client FTP Upload Response Time with/without MPLS DiffServ in congestion........ 71
Figure 69: Voice Calling Party Packet ETE Delay in normal traffic............................................. 72
Figure 70: Voice Calling Party Packet ETE Delay in congestion traffic....................................... 72
Figure 71: Voice Calling Party PDV in normal traffic .................................................................. 73
Figure 72: Voice Calling Party PDV in congestion traffic ............................................................ 73
Figure 73: IP interface WFQ Queue Delay Variation.................................................................... 74
Figure 74: Video Calling Party Packet ETE Delay in normal traffic ............................................ 74
Figure 75: Video Calling Party Packet ETE Delay in congestion traffic....................................... 75
Figure 76: Video Calling Party PDV in normal traffic.................................................................. 75
Figure 77: Video Calling Party PDV in congestion traffic............................................................ 76
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Chapter 1
THE PROJECT DESCRIPTION
This chapter shows the introductory part of the project. This chapter consists of the
overview of the current state of technology, project objectives, scope and limitations of the
research, importance of the project, definition of terms, as well as the Project Methodology.
1.1 Project Description
As the business grows with complexity, the number of customers continues to grow,
hence, this project aims to study how the organization, YemenNet, will deal with satisfied
customers and deal with highly qualified network.
Today, YemenNet is the most famous organization and administration in Yemen
Telecom (YT). This organization management needs to find out how it would be possible to
widely use MPLS technology that offers services to customers as a part of their business concept.
MPLS network is the most important resource for increasing the economic growth in
Yemen. There has been much debate on whether the investment in MPLS will improve
productivity.
1.2 Overview of the Current Technology
YemenNet was created in 2001 and began operations in 2002. It specializes in the
management of Internet services and data transmission, and offers services, such as Internet
broadband, Frame Relay, ATM, MPLS service connections like permanent virtual circuits (PVC),
hosting services, and wireless internet, etc., all over the Republic of Yemen.
Frame Relay/Asynchronous Transfer Mode (FR/ATM) network has been working in
2002 up to now with a total throughput (switch fabric) of 1.2Gb/s over IGX8400 Cisco Switches.
Because of the increasing demand for broadband Internet services (ADSL2+) Public
Telecommunication Corporation (PTC) in Yemen Telecom started implementing the project of
Internet Protocol/Multi-Protocol Label Switching (IP/MPLS) in 2009 with a total throughput
(switch fabric) of 640Gb/s in some cities in Yemen.
1.2.1 Some definition of terms
The following terms related to the research are defined operationally for better
understanding:
The customer base is the group of customers who repeatedly purchase the goods or
services of a business. These customers are main sources of revenue for a company. The
customer base may be considered the business' target market, where customer behavior is well
understood through market research or past experience. Relying on a customer base can make
growth and innovation difficult. (Customer base, Wikipedia)
Frame Relay (FR) is a standardized wide area network technology that specifies the
physical and logical link layers of digital telecommunications channels using a packet switching
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method. Network providers commonly implement Frame Relay for voice (VoFR) and data as an
encapsulation technique, used between local area networks (LANs) over a wide area network
(WAN). Each end-user gets a private line (or leased line) to a Frame Relay node. The Frame
Relay network handles the transmission over a frequently changing path transparent to all end-
user extensively used WAN protocols. (Frame Relay, Wikipedia)
Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) is a telecommunications concept defined by
ANSI and ITU (formerly CCITT) standards for carriage of a complete range of user traffic,
including voice, data, and video signals, and is designed to unify telecommunication and
computer networks (Asynchronous Transfer Mode - Wikipedia). It uses asynchronous time-
division multiplexing (TDM), and it encodes data into small, fixed-sized cells (53 Bytes). This
differs from approaches such as the Internet Protocol or Ethernet that use variable sized packets
or frames. ATM provides data link layer services that run over a wide range of OSI physical
Layer links.
Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) is a mechanism in high-performance (Rosen,
Viswanathan, & Callon, 2001) telecommunications networks that directs data from one network
node to the next based on short path labels rather than long network addresses, avoiding complex
lookups in a routing table (Multiprotocol Label Switching, Wikipedia). The labels identify virtual
links (paths) between distant nodes rather than endpoints. MPLS can encapsulate packets of
various network protocols. MPLS supports a range of access technologies, including T1/E1,
ATM, Frame Relay, and DSL. MPLS operates at a layer that is generally considered to lie
between traditional definitions of layer 2 (data link layer) and layer 3 (network layer), thus, is
often referred to as a "layer 2.5" protocol.
1.2.2 Problem Statement
The MPLS network has been installed and worked in 2009 with core, edge, and access
network. The demands for services increase day by day and MPLS network needs greater
concerns from YemenNet and PTC top management, to be extended and cover all areas in the
country. The top management in PTC and some technical engineers are still thinking in legacy
networks investment and lack of a knowledge and good utilization of MPLS in YemenNet which
is less than 10 percent in core link of 10Gbps for only data and internet traffic.
Finally, the performance of MPLS technology in YemenNet would impact on
productivity and customer base by introducing the new real-time applications (VoIP and Video).
The problem statement mentioned above would lead us to the attainment of the project goals.
1.3 Project Objectives
1.3.1 General Objective
The general objective of this research is to investigate how to use MPLS technology in
order to increase the customer base in YemenNet.
1.3.2 Specific Objectives
This subsection states the specific targets that must be met:
1. To identify the current services provided by YemenNet to customers.
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2. To analyze the problem of services provided by YemenNet.
3. To find ways to address the problems which were identified in objective no. 2.
4. To identify additional services which may be provided by using MPLS technology.
5. To assess the impact of the additional services by using MPLS technology. The
additional Services are like the real-time applications (VoIP and Video) implemented by
using MPLS-TE , the quality of service (QoS) and care about customer to get a service
level agreement (SLA).
1.4 Scope and Limitations of the Project
1.4.1 Scope
This research would handle the technical aspects of the MPLS technology, which were
the most important issues in transmission network to carry and control all services.
This study was conducted to find out how YemenNet could use the equipment of MPLS
technology properly and efficiently to get customer satisfactions and increase customer base by
introducing the new services in real-time applications over MPLS network.
1.4.2 Limitations
The study was limited to the creation of a management system that would cater to the
specific needs of the YemenNet. The most important research and test of the MPLS Technology
would be made by using OPNET modeler to simulate three scenarios and make comparisons. It
would be useful using some techniques and models to understand MPLS technology concept
perfectly.
Due to time constraint, this study will be applied only to internal operations of
YemenNet, not to all Yemen Telecom. It will be applied, especially in MPLS QoS, TE and FRR
parts, to increase customer base by implementing new services.
1.5 Significance of the Project
Nowadays, the rapid growth in data services, market competition, and the emergence of
new technologies, brings about evolution of the network structure. As the new technology
matures, the user needs refinement and new value-added services, such as MPLS VPN, video-on-
demand (controllable multicast such as IPTV), and VoIP, QoS early pure Ethernet IP MAN
/WAN.
In any network, there are three outstanding issues: the handling capacity bottleneck
exists, management and operations are weak that is why it is difficult to achieve a new value-
added service, and most especially without using MPLS QoS services and TE.
The project is proposed to Yemen Telecom, for the transition to an integrated information
service provider. The telecommunications MAN/WAN ongoing optimization of transformation is
in response to users demand and market competition.
The optimized MPLS will respond to the question of how to adapt to the needs of the
rapid growth of information technology and the rapid development of the two-story
interconnected business telecommunications..
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This research would examine MPLS TE and QoS, on its capability to provide users with
a highly reliable, highly secured enterprise Internet business and to satisfy users with SLAs. The
increasing demand for high-speed internet access is due to the rapid growth of the Internet over
the last decade.
In addition, this research will help the top management in YemenNet how to manage and
increase the customer base by implementing new services in real-time applications.
The significance of research may be analyzed and examined entirely in the management
of YemenNet, if it is applied perfectly, it will be reflected in the customers high satisfaction by
SLA.
The result of this study will provide YemenNet an open mind in accepting the challenges
of todays modern technology which will help provide services efficiently, effectively, and
widely.
1.6 Project Methodology
There are many ways for the researchers to gather data for this study, which could help
throughout the project. The primary source of data that the researcher used was data collection
from YemenNet and from websites.
Books, journals, reports, undergraduate thesis, published and unpublished materials, and
other documents are the secondary resources for the project as well as ample forms. All materials
mentioned above had been obtained through Internet websites.
1.6.1 Theoretical framework
The research methodology presented in this project is based on Qualitative approach. In
this Qualitative approach, four steps are considered, viz:
Evaluate the performance of MPLS network in terms of QoS and TE.
Evaluate the MPLS resiliency by using Fast Reroute (FRR) technique.
Use some frameworks of OPNET Modeler 14.5 to get the real results in comparison
between legacy network (IP) and MPLS network.
Simulate some new services in real-time applications, like VoIP and Video Conference in
both networks.
1.6.2 Data gathering
Data Collection is an important aspect of any type of research study. Inaccurate data
collection can impact the results of a study and ultimately lead to invalid results. The purpose of
data collection is to obtain information to keep on record, to make decisions about important
issues, to pass information on to others.
The researcher has worked more than 13 years in YemenNet, made a lot of training
courses for the new engineers, and has acquired experience in transmission system devices. After
Director General of PTC has approved the request to use the resources of YemenNet, the
researcher collected all needed information that would help to address the project objectives in
chapter 4.
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1.6.3 Data analysis
Data can be analyzed with the help of an appropriate computer program. In this research,
some appropriate programs will be used to perform this project, such as:
The OPNET Modeler 14.5 is well-known for network simulated, design and attractive
features. In the OPNET simulator, different network entities are needed to configure
accurately support selective application services of the network.
Visio program was used for drawing network topology.
Microsoft Word 2007 was to write this project and used its References to collect all
resources in APA style.
1.6.4 Schedule of activities
This research consists of seven chapters, as mentioned in Table 1 that would describe the
activities, names, and the period over eight months, from July 2013 to February 2014 after the
panelists from Taiz and Delft Universities have accepted this project proposal in May 2013.
Table 1: The Schedule of the Project Activities
Time &
Activity
Jul
2013
Aug
2013
Sept
2013
Oct
2013
Nov
2013
Dec
2013
Jan
2014
Feb
2014
Writing Project
Introduction in CH1
Writing Literature
Related in CH2
Writing Frameworks
of Project in CH3
Collect Data about
the Existing System
in CH4
Writing The
Proposed Solution
by OPNET in CH5
Writing Results
Explanations in CH6
Writing The Future
Work in CH7 and
Review ALL
Chapters
According to table 1, the researcher took a long time understanding the concept of
OPNET Modeler 14.5 due to the lack of training and resources. Help icon and documentation
package in software helped the researcher to understand how it works, and helped this project to
make a good decision of investing in MPLS technology.
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Chapter 2
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
This chapter presents the review of literature and studies relevant to the present research
which were culled from the internet and published/unpublished materials. This chapter was
divided into three parts: related literature, theoretical related studies, and practical related studies
which were simulated by using OPNET.
2.1 Related Literature
According to Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (2010),
Literature reviews, including research syntheses and meta-analyses, are critical evaluations of
materials that have already been published. In this manner the researcher would mention the
books which gave a perfect concept to this project.
Evans, J., & Filsfils, C. (2007), authors of the book Deploying IP and MPLS QoS for
Multiservice Networks Theory and Practice, gave complete information about QOS
Requirements and Service Level Agreements, Introduction to QOS Mechanics and Architectures,
Deploying Diffserv and Core Capacity Planning and Traffic Engineering. This book helped the
researcher to use some frameworks in QoS and TE with VoIP.
Minoli, D. (2002), author of the book Voice over MPLS Planning and Designing
Networks explained Motivations, Developments, and Opportunities in Voice over Packet (VoP)
Technologies, Technologies for Packet-Based Voice Applications, Quality of Service (QoS),
Motivations, Drivers and Approaches, and Advantages of VoMPLS. This reference gave a
standard frameworks and information in MPLS and VoIP that would be useful in this project in
the succeeding chapters.
Reagan, J. (2002), in his book, CCIP MPLS Study Guide covered everything that needs
to pass the CCIP MPLS exam. This book did not cover everything there was to know about
MPLS and MPLS VPNs, only those necessary to successfully pass the exam. The material
covered in this book serves as a foundation for your later studies in MPLS. This book taught how
to configure and maintain Cisco routers in a large internetwork. Each chapter begins with a list of
the topics covered that relate to the CCIP MPLS test, to make sure to read them over before
working through the chapter. Finally, this book helped the researcher to understand using MPLS
technology in practical way and use some terminology definitions.
Ghein, L., (2007), author of the book MPLS Fundamentals discussed everything about
MPLS Fundamentals. This book, helped the researcher to use the resources of MPLS in writing
some chapters of the research.
Besides, books, articles and researches, references from RFCs website were also utilized,
as shown in Table 2: Reference Documents . These RFCs provided definitions of MPLS
technology that were written in this project.
Table 2: Reference Documents (MPLS Model /Release 14.5 Description. OPNET
Documentation., 2008)
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Model Features Document
MPLS TE RFC-2702Requirements for Traffic Engineering
Over MPLS
Differential Services (DiffServ) DiffServ extensions, as defined in RFC-2475
FECs RFC-3031Multiprotocol Label Switching
Architecture
IGP shortcuts draft-hsmit-mpls-igp-spf-00
Dynamic LSPs Static
LSPs
RFC-3031Multiprotocol Label Switching
Architecture
OSPF
TE
IS-IS TE
RFC-2676QoS Routing and OSPF Extensions
LDP RFC-3036LDP Specification
CR-LDP RFC-3212Constraint-based LSP Setup Using LDP
RSVP-TE RFC-3209RSVP-TE: Extensions to RSVP for LSP
Tunnels
A framework for layer-3 PP VPNs RFC-2547BGP/MPLS VPNs
BGP/MPLS VPNs draft-ietf-ppvpn-framework-05
QOS Architecture RFC-2475An Architecture for Differentiated
Services
Assured Forwarding PHB Group RFC 2597
An Expedited Forwarding PHB RFC 2598
MPLS Support of Differentiated
Services
RFC-3270Multi Protocol Label Switching
draft-ietf-mpls-diff-ext-08
Fast reroute with bypass tunnels
LSP protection with ingress backup
draft-ietf-mpls-rsvp-lsp-fastreroute-00
Lu, Z., & Yang, H. (2012), stated in the book, Unlocking the Power of OPNET
Modeler, some facts about Introduction to OPNET, Installation of OPNET Modeler and setting
up environments, OPNET Modeler user interface, Debugging simulation, OPNET programming
in C++ and Traffic in OPNET simulation.
According to (Lu & Yang, 2012, p. 5) OPNET Modeler is the foremost commercial
product that provides network modeling and simulation software solution among the OPNET
product family. It is used widely by researchers, engineers, university students, and the US
military. OPNET Modeler is a dynamic discrete event simulator with a user-friendly graphic user
interface (GUI), supported by object-oriented and hierarchical modeling, debugging, and analysis.
OPNET Modeler is a discrete event simulator that has evolved to support hybrid simulation,
analytical simulation, and 32-bit and 64-bit fully parallel simulation, as well as providing many
other features. It has grid computing support for distributed simulation. Its System in- the-Loop
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interface allows simulation with live systems which feed real-world data and information into the
simulation environment.
Aboelela, E. (2003), author of the book Network Simulation Experiments Manual (The
Morgan Kaufmann Series in Computer Networks) explained 13 practical labs simulated by
OPNET IT Guru Academic Edition.
All methods of these labs provided the step by step procedure, and explained to first time
users how to use OPNET.
The researcher also used OPNET Modeler 14.5 as reference for tutorial.
Researchers use the term information technology or IT to refer to an entire industry. In
actuality, information technology is the use of computers and software to manage information. In
this project, MPLS Technology is referred to as Information Technology (or IT) because any new
protocol in Telecom becomes an IT. IT has become responsible in storing, protecting, processing
information and as well as transmitting the information then later retrieving it over MPLS
network.
In todays business environment, organizations are trying to reduce and eradicate human
effort but increasing productivity. Therefore, MPLS technology is the best solution in increasing
customer base with high bandwidth and low cost to satisfy the customer's satisfactions. The study
of increasing customer base in YemenNet by using MPLS technology will be helpful and useful
to solve all project objectives.
2.2 Theoretical Related Studies
The following are some of the theoretical studies that were considered relevant to the
present project:
Sabri, G. (2009), at Blekinge Institute of Technology, entitled QoS in MPLS and IP
Networks," provides broader information about IP and MPLS technologies and routing protocols.
Internet architecture and problems in an IP networks are illustrated when different internet
protocols are used. Small focus is provided on the demand-oriented real time applications and
data traffic for QoS parameters in IP and MPLS networks. Evaluation of QoS guarantee
parameters such as delay, jitter and throughput are described with state of art study results mainly
for real time applications in IP and MPLS networks.
This paper (Sabri, 2009, p. 87) concluded that IP technology is however not capable
handling high data rate stream of voice and video data as compared to simple datagram. To
increase data transmission rate at the core network either increase the bandwidth or
implementing new protocol is required. However, increasing bandwidth through physical mean
is unnecessary because in an internet data transmission traffic follow through certain routing
procedure to deduce routes from source to destination in connection oriented or connectionless
transmission mechanism. The routes deduce through IP routing protocol follow the shortest path
routes or least cast routes which leads to the circumstances of network congestion, underutilized
network resources/links and proper load balancing procedures at the network level.
To overcome the problems associated in IP network, MPLS networks are introduced
because they use label switching technology at the IP core routers to make routing mechanism
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efficient, configure data packet with small labels at the start and the end of the MPLS domain and
to deliver QoS guarantee transmission almost any voice and video application. MPLS uses
forwarded equivalency class parameters differentiate incoming traffic classes and label then
according to diffident priority based on MPLS traffic engineering implementation. MPLS also
offers various routing protocols to define routs at each MPLS domain and outside MPLS domain
and performs connectivity operation through BGP and EGP. A part from QoS guarantee for real
time applications, traffic engineering provide better utilization of network recourses if some
devices /link are underutilized and limits/avoid congestion. MPLS also offers VPN
implementation and interconnected with other network to provide secure and reliable
communication.
Finally, this study would help the proponent to immigrate from the legacy network
(TDM) which is still used in Internet network (ADSL Access Network in YemenNet) to use IP
backbone over MPLS network.
Ikram, I. (2009) at Blekinge Institute of Technology, entitled Traffic Engineering with
MPLS and QoS," summarizes MPLS concept. MPLS traffic engineering is proposed and by
taking advantage of MPLS, traffic engineering can route the packets through explicit paths to
optimize network resource utilization and traffic performance. MPLS provides a robust quality of
service control feature in the internet. MPLS class of service feature can work in accordance with
other quality of service architectures for IP networks.
In this thesis report, Ikram (2009, p. 92) focused in MPLS network. MPLS with TE,
QOS, and issue of MPLS, tried to provide a meaningful thought regarding the topic. MPLS and
QOS provide efficient transmission, reliability scalability, fault tolerance, load distribution, path
protection, end-to-end connectivity, and marvelous achievement that provide connection oriented
techniques with integration of IP networks. Point-to-multipoint (P2MP) support was not
incorporated in the inventive MPLS provision. Users wishing to transmit IP multicast traffic
traversing an MPLS network were mandatory to set up point-to-point (P2P) LSPs starting the
source point of the multicast traffic MPLS PE to each intended exit point (destination) MPLS PE.
MPLS from a theoretical approach of TE and its component like LSR, LER, LSP, CR-LDP,
RSVP, RSVP-TE, labels the necessities of the advantage of traffic engineering and its
implementation with MPLS. General and some practical scenarios was analyzed, and a deep
study of MPLS with TE is carried out. To enhance the performance of networks an easy
understanding of how traffic is mapped into any particular LSP is also discussed.
In fact, this study was very useful to summarize MPLS technology and proved that
MPLS utilize network resource more efficiently to minimize the congestion with a remarkable
objective function for TE. It brings revolution and facilitates several services such as real time
applications support in network.
The thesis of Fjellskl, E., & Solberg, S. (2002) at Agder University College entitled
Evaluation of Voice over MPLS (VoMPLS) compared to Voice over IP (VoIP) gave a
conclusion that VoMPLS is a better solution than VoIP.
It is natural to have VoMPLS as an option when implementing MPLS in a network.
Whether it will be used in the network as the main carrier of voice depends on different factors,
like voice quality (compared to other Voice over Packet [VoIP] solutions), implementation costs,
revenues, demands (from customers), and the network providers need for implementation.
When a service like VoMPLS is introduced, one has to turn the attention to delivering
high-capacity scalable services. Some success criteria may be (Fjellskl & Solberg, 2002, p. 104):
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Easy and cost-effective scale to meet customer demand.
Offer the QoS requested and give such guarantees.
Ensure compatibility with existing network infrastructure and protocols to enable a
smooth transition and reduce the cost.
Transition existing customers to a new service. Deliver telephony services with the
same or, more desirable, better level of quality than earlier.
If VoIP uses Header Compression (HC) and the layer 2 protocol is MPLS, the differences
in overhead size are minor compared to VoMPLS (layer 2). If there are minor or no differences in
voice quality in the two scenarios, the need for VoMPLS may be redundant.
MPLS-TE brings a unique QoS solution to MPLS based networks. The purpose of
MPLS-TE is to help give voice data, traveling over the MPLS traffic engineered network, better
QoS guarantees.
Finally, this paper gave the evaluation of VoMPLS which was performed only through
theoretical studies and gave a researcher a good chance to make a comparison between VoMPLS
and VoIP by using software simulator.
2.3 Practical Related Studies
The following were some of the practical studies that were done by using OPNET and
gave numerical results and charts which were being relevant to the present project:
The following are some of the practical studies that were done by using OPNET and gave
numerical results and charts which were being relevant to the present project:
The study of Jannu, K., & Deekonda, R. (2010) at Blekinge Institute of Technology
entitled, OPNET simulation of voice over MPLS with considering Traffic Engineering, was to
use voice packet end-to-end delay performance metric. An approach is made to estimate the
minimum number of VoIP calls that can be maintained in MPLS and conventional IP networks
with acceptable quality, and to help the network operators or designers to determine the number
of VoIP calls that can be maintained for a given network by imitating the real network on the
OPNET simulator. This study proved that MPLS provides the best solution in implementing the
VoIP application (Internet Telephony) compared to conventional IP networks and (Jannu &
Deekonda, 2010, p. 30) gave a good conclusion about MPLS, viz:
Routers in MPLS takes less processing time in forwarding the packets, this is more
suitable for the applications like VoIP which posses less tolerant to the network
delays.
Implementing of MPLS with TE minimizes the congestion in the network. TE in
MPLS is implemented by using the signaling protocols such as CR-LDP and RSVP.
MPLS suffers minimum delay and provides high throughput compared to
conventional IP networks.
Finally, this thesis helped the researcher to know how to use the OPNET simulation to
test some features of MPLS like QoS, TE, and FRR, and gave some steps in OPNET.
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Salah, K., & Alkhoraidly, A. (2006) in an article presented in the International Journal of
Network Management, entitled, An OPNET-based simulation approach for deploying VoIP,
gave a conclusion about VoIP applications. It is required that end-to-end packet delay
should not exceed 150 ms to make sure that the quality of the established VoIP call is
acceptable .
They found (Salah & Alkhoraidly, 2006, p. 163) the packet delay could be divided into
three contributing components, as identified below:
Encoding, compression, and packetization delay occurs at the sender. In the G.711 codec
the delay introduced for encoding and packetization are 1 ms and 20 ms, respectively.
The delay at the sender, considering above two delays along with compression, is
approximated to a fixed delay of 25ms.
Buffering, decompression, depackatization, and playback, delay result in the receiver.
The total delay due to these factors is approximated to a fixed delay of 45ms.
The delay, considering from sender and receiver, can calculate the network delay which
should not exceed 80ms or (150-25-45). This delay actually is the sum of the delays
given from propagation, transmission and queuing delay in the network.
It means that the network delay from the source to receiver shouldnt exceed 80 ms in
order to provide acceptable quality for established VoIP call.
Finally, this study gives a standard value for accepting VoIP in OPNET simulator and in
real network shouldnt exceed 80ms.
Almofary, N.,H., Moustafa, H.,S., & Zaki, F.,W. (2012) from International Journal of
Modern Computer Science & Engineering Entitled Optimizing QoS for Voice and Video Using
DiffServ-MPLS gave the comprehensive study showed general improvement in the throughput,
jitter and delay particularly of voice and video transmission when using DiffServ-aware MPLS
network as compared to pure IP only or MPLS only.
The simulation results in (Almofary, Moustafa, & Zaki, 2012, p. 31) showed that the
performances of traffic engineering parameters in MPLS network is much better as compared to
traditional IP networks. Also MPLS support of DiffServ satisfies both necessary conditions for
QoS: guaranteed bandwidth and differentiated queue servicing treatment. MPLS satisfies the first
condition, i.e., it forces applications flows into the paths with guaranteed bandwidth; and along
these paths, DiffServ satisfies the second condition by providing differentiated queue servicing.
This report gave idea to make a comparison by using MPLS only and MPLS with
DiffServ by OPNET after giving a positive impact in MPLS rather than IP.
Khan, A. S., & Afzal, B. (2011) at Halmstad University entitled MPLS VPNs with
DiffServ A QoS Performance study" which was to investigate QoS parameters (e.g. delay, jitter
and packet loss) over MPLS VPNs environment. It will help the service providers and enterprise
network customers to maintain QoS for voice, video and data traffic over MPLS VPNs
environment.
From (Khan & Afzal, 2011, p. 44) MPLS combined the features of Private WAN
connectivity (Frame Relay, ATM, and Leased Lines) and layer2 VPNs.
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MPLS VPN reduced the complexity of network operations. It also reduced the cost to
manage the network operations. By using DiffServ QoS model it was easy to manage network
resources and getting the maximum utilization from available resources. Enterprise networks send
all video, audio traffic as well as elastic data traffic over the same network infrastructure. We can
use DiffServ QoS model to gain the quality of experience for end user in MPLS VPN
environment. It is necessary for the customers network and service providers network to better
manage the resources. DiffServ QoS model itself does not create bandwidth but it manages the
available bandwidth. It is used for well-defined capacity planning and overall application
governance process. Network engineers can make traffic management decisions by analyzing
network capacity and applications requirement of resources.
MPLS is a fast packet switching technology and reduces the end-to-end delay.
TheDiffServ QoS model is more effective and scalable than the IntServ QoS model. The better
results could be gotten in MPLS VPN network environment by using a DiffServ QoS model.
Without DiffServ QoS model in MPLS VPN network environment delay, jitter, and packet loss
are rising with the increase of traffic on the network. With the configuration of DiffServ QoS
model, it provides almost constant delay, jitter, and packet loss in all different traffic loads
bounded by the limitations. Limitations are considered by the means of allocated resources for
specific traffic class. Scalable video and audio service with good quality, over the enterprise
network using MPLS VPNs together with DiffServ QoS model, can be provided.
Results were taken from the tests using NQR. In MPLS VPN, environment delay was
calculated between 0.290ms to 2.079ms, jitter was 0.060ms to 1.753ms, and packet loss was
0% to 20.9839%. After using the DiffServ QoS model, delay was calculated between
0.649ms to 0.662ms, jitter was between 0.056ms to 0.061ms, and packet loss was 0%.
Finally, this report offered a fact, that without using DiffServ QoS model delay, jitter and
packet loss are increasing as the traffic increases on the network. With a DiffServ enabled
network, the increase of traffic over network will not affect delay, jitter and packet loss and
provide constant level of service quality. Also, it would prove that MPLS network should be
installed over all country because of the highest performance of it and the best management
network.
The study of Adhikari, D., & Kharel, J. (2011) at Blekinge Institute of Technology
entitled Performance Evaluation of Voice Traffic over MPLS Network with TE and QoS
Implementation the performance variation seen in the network after, and before implementation
of QoS in the MPLS-TE network were analyzed. Different scheduling algorithms were used in
the process of implementing QoS to check if they have any effect in the performance of the
network for voice.
After the analysis of the result from the simulation (Adhikari & Kharel, 2011, p. 32), it
was concluded that the use QoS in MPLS-TE network performs better than normal MPLS-TE
network for voice packets as it provided lower delay and lower jitter. In the second phase,
different basic scheduling algorithms used for DiffServ architecture in process of QoS
implementation, among the three algorithms are FIFO, PQ and WFQ.
Finally, this thesis gave a good framework for using different algorithms and QoS
combined with TE which summarized by giving the following:
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Described the QoS parameters for real time data traffic like voice and video as delay,
jitter, and packet loss rate.
The performance of MPLS-TE network had increased after QoS implementation and
reduced the delay and jitter.
PQ algorithm performed better than basic FIFO and WFQ providing lower jitter,
lower end-to-end delay and minimum packet delay variation (PDV).
Bongale, M.,B., & Nithin, N. (2012) from International Journal of Computer
Applications Analysis of Link Utilization in MPLS Enabled Network using OPNET IT Guru
explained poor link utilization in RIP and OSPF networks. It is seen that networks configured
with RIP and OSPF routing techniques are not capable of handling the incoming traffic
efficiently. When the network traffic increases, shortest path from source node to destination
node is heavily congested and lead to loss of transmission data.
In this paper of Bongale & Nithin (2012, p. 39) it was successfully shown and simulated
that MPLS was capable of handling incoming traffic efficiently by distributing the traffic over
unutilized links. This would ensure packets entering into MPLS core reach the destination with
minimum queuing delay. MPLS-TE is most suitable for huge traffic volume.
Finally, this paper gave another support for using OPNET in the preformed simulations,
it had considered aggregate data consisting of web browsing and voice traffic only.
AlQahtani, S. M. (2010) in a research at King Saud University, entitled QoS
Comparisons for MPLS and MPLS/DiffServ networks," introduced the design and
implementation of MPLS and MPLS / DiffServ Network under the OPNET simulation
environment.
In (AlQahtani, 2010, p. 77) the QoS parameter analysis, it was evident that the
MPLS/DiffServ network is much superior in handling QoS as its architecture provides more
queues for different classifications of traffic that allows better commitment to SLAs for
customers.
It was shown that MPLS/DiffServ provided faster traffic delivery than MPLS, the Data
traffic (FTP) response time of MPLS/DiffServ was lower than the response time of MPLS, and it
was much lower in the case of heavy load. The delay for both voice and video show, that
MPLS/DiffServ had lower delay than MPLS in the case of light and heavy load, with the
difference having a larger value in the case of heavy load. The delay variation of voice and video
in case of MPLS/DiffServ were lower than the delay variation MPLS in the case of light and
heavy load, with the difference having a larger value in the case of heavy load.
The results for Packet Dropping analysis clearly showed that MPLS has a higher packet
drop than MPLS/DiffServ in both Voice and Video traffic. The data packet dropped in
MPLS/DiffServ is similar to the voice and video traffics, in the case of light load. In the case of
heavy load, the data packet drop of MPLS/DiffServ is higher than in MPLS due to the lowest
priority assigned to the data traffic in DiffServ class definition as compared to the video traffic,
while the voice traffic is negligible due to its small size.
It was looked at the performance of Voice and Video using four different queuing polices
for MPLS/DiffServ, i.e., DWRR, MDRR, PQ and WFQ. From the graphs, it was shown that
WFQ gave the best result for voice for both delay and delay variation, while PQ gave the best
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result for video for both delay and delay variation. MPLS had higher delay than the
MPLS/DiffServ for all queuing policies. The delay of video was very small and was almost the
same for all queuing polices.
From the results, we could find out that WFQ gave the best performance, lowest delay for
both data and voice.
It was found, the delay variation and end-to-end delay for Voice and Video traffic, page
response time for HTTP traffic (Data), and throughput and utilization for each traffic type using
WFQ. Each parameter was measured against network load. For delay variation it was seen that in
MPLS and MPLS/DiffServ the performance was almost the same for light load (below 40%) for
both voice and video traffics. For heavy load (over 70%) MPLS delay variation was much higher
compared to MPLS/DiffServ delay variation for both traffics.
Furthermore, it was seen that packet end-to-end delay for MPLS and MPLS/DiffServ was
the same for light load (below 40%) for both voice and video traffics. For heavy load MPLS
delay was slightly higher compared to MPLS/DiffServ delay for voice traffics. In MPLS/DiffServ
voice had higher priority than data while in MPLS it was the same, and the data traffic was much
higher than voice traffic hence the delay in the case of MPLS would be higher than the case of
MPLS/DiffServ. For video traffic MPLS delay was much higher compared to MPLS/DiffServ
delay, which is the expected desired result since video was given the highest priority.
It was shown that throughput for data was slightly better for MPLS as compared to
MPLS/DiffServ, due to the bursty nature of data traffic and noting that data burst happen in short
times. Voice had lower priority than video, hence video packets were sent more than voice
packets, and hence lower throughput was seen for voice for MPLS/DiffServ. Voice is not as
bursty as data, so there was a distinct difference between MPLS and MPLS/DiffServ. In the case
of MPLS, video had the same priority as others but it size was 90% of total traffic hence it was
occupying 90% of the queue size, that equals to 90 packets, while in the MPLS/DiffServ it was
assigned a queue of size 33 packet hence it had higher packet drop. In this case, less packets
succeeded in going out hence the throughput was seen to be lower.
Also, it was shown that the page response time for MPLS/DiffServ was lower than
MPLS, this can be explained by the fact that in MPLS/DiffServ, a dedicated buffer space is
assigned for data. Even if the priority of data queue is lower than that of the video queue, but this
is overcome by the lower percentage of data traffic in MPLS.
At high load the MPLS/DiffServ had lower packet drop than MPLS, this can be
explained by the fact that the major traffic is video, and in addition the video traffic was given a
dedicated space and higher priority than other traffics, therefore the video traffic would utilize
MPLS/DiffServ network much better than MPLS network which would lead to lower packet
dropping.
Besides, it was shown that the failure and recovery mechanism of MPLS/DiffServ
network. The resilience of the network shows that it can support network failures and recover
from them efficiently.
Finally, this thesis compared the performance of MPLS network and MPLS/DiffServ
network using different scenarios and measuring different QoS parameters (Delay variation,
delay, page response time, throughput, utilization, and packet drop). In all these sections and
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almost for all the measured QoS parameters, the performance of MPLS/DiffServ network was
better than MPLS network. This thesis gave a good road map for the researcher to use OPNET
and applied the network design with the existing network in YemenNet as it was shown in
chapter 5.
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Chapter 3
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
This chapter presents a brief overview of MPLS technology and its importance to the
emerging multi-service internet. MPLS concepts, such as labels, switching label stacking, label
distribution method and traffic engineering, label switched paths (LSPs), Forward Equivalence
Classes (FECs), and label merging were discussed in detail. Resource Reservation Protocol along
with label distribution protocol were also discussed. Additionally, MPLS applications would be
mentioned in brief.
Furthermore, this chapter also provides a brief discussion on OPNET Modeler Simulator
which was used to test a network design, created a simulated network, and run it through real-
world scenarios, to see how it could thrive with different technologies and network conditions.
3.1 MPLS Introduction
Multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) is a versatile solution to address the problems
faced by present-day networks speed, scalability, quality-of-service (QoS) management, and
traffic engineering (Trillium, p. 1). MPLS has emerged as an elegant solution to meet the
bandwidth-management and service requirements for next-generation Internet protocol (IP)
based backbone networks. MPLS addresses issues related to scalability and routing (based on
QoS and service quality metrics) and can exist over existing asynchronous transfer mode
(ATM) and frame-relay networks.
To honor the service level guarantees, the service providers not only have to provide
large data pipes, but also look for architectures which can provide & guarantee QoS (Quality of
Service) guarantees and optimal performance with minimal increase in the cost of network
resources.
MPLS is standardized by the IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) in RFC 3031
(Rosen, Viswanathan, & Callon, 2001).
3.1.1 Why do network providers motivate for MPLS?
Demand for QoS services with only software upgrade.
Demand for ATM-like classes of services without the cost of ATM.
Growing number of users.
Increasing need for bandwidth.
Diverse service types and QoS requirements.
Managing bandwidth versus buying bandwidth.
Limitations of existing core technologies.
Movement to a single unified network.
3.1.2 MPLS Combines Routing and Switching
As shown in Figure 1, the main concept of MPLS which combines IP routing and ATM
switch IP routing is pure Layer 3 technology which provides rich functionality: wide range of
protocols, interface types, and speeds.
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ATM switching is pure Layer 2 technology which does simple forwarding of Layer 2
protocol packets based on circuit numbers. One view is that MPLS combines the best of both
ATM and IP which rich functionality and flexibility of Layer 3 routing and Speed and simplicity
of Layer 2 switching. So MPLS is Layer 2.5 protocol.
Figure 1: MPLS Combines Routing and Switching (OPNET Technologies, Session 1801
Introduction to MPLS Technology Tutorials, 2004, p. 8)
3.1.3 MPLS Header and Label
MPLS Header is 32 bit in length. That 32 bits Header field is embedded between layer 2
and layer 3 headers. Shim header encapsulates every incoming packet. They are shimmed
because they are placed between the existing headers. As it is a small header so it is appropriate
to call it shim. Figure 2 shows MPLS header format.
Figure 2: MPLS Shim Header (Davie & Farrel, 2008)
MPLS label contains the following information as it is shown in Table 3.
20 bit contain label
3 bit contain exp
1 bit contain in S
8 bit contain in TTL
Table 3: MPLS Label Format (Rosen, et al., 2001)
0 1 2 3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4567 8 9 0 1
Label Exp S TTL
Table 4: MPLS Labels between Layer-2 and Layer-3 Headers
L2 Header Last Label . First Label L3 Header
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The shim header may contain more than one label as shown in Table 4. Labels act as path
identifiers, at each router the contents of the labels are examined and the next hop is determined.
The fixed length 20 bit space in the label is set aside for the address space having a local
significance only. Labels are chosen locally and are advertised by a router to its neighbors using a
Label Distribution Protocols (LDP) and are swapped away of each incoming packet before being
forwarded to the next routers. MPLS is a datagram oriented technology though it uses IP routing
protocols. In MPLS label the EXP is a 3 bit field set aside for experimental use. S bit is a 1 bit
field that indicates the bottom and is set for the stacking of labels and finally TTL is an 8 bit field
which determines the time and number of hops a packet has to traverse before it can die.
3.1.4 Label Space
Label space means the range of label values, and the label space is classified (Huawei
Technologies Co., 2013) as follows:
015: indicates special labels.
161023: indicates the label space shared by static LSPs and CR-LSPs.
1024 or above: indicates the label space for dynamic signalling protocols, such as LDP,
RSVP-TE, and MP-BGP.
3.1.5 Forward Equivalence Class (FEC)
Each label has a local significance and short identifier with fixed length, which is used to
identify a particular Forward Equivalence Class (FEC). When they reach at MPLS network at the
ingress node, packets are divided into different FECs, on which different labels are encapsulated
as it is shown in Figure 3.
Figure 3: Forward Equivalence Class (FEC)(OPNET Technologies, Session 1801 Introduction to
MPLS Technology Tutorials, 2004, p. 16)
Forward Equivalence Class (FEC) set of packets where they have related characteristics
which are forwarded with the same priority to the same path. This set of packets is has the same
MPLS label. Each packet in MPLS network is assigned with FEC only once at the Ingress router.
Packets are classified into FECs, only once at the ingress to the MPLS domain. A FEC
identifies a set of IP packets to map to an LSP (Label Switch Path). Packets in the same FEC,
receive the same label from the ingress LSR (Label Switch Router) and are mapped to the same
LSP and forwarded over the same path (or sets of paths in the case of multi-path routing).
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The next hop label forwarding entry (NHLFE) can guide the MPLS packet
forwarding. Its main contents:
Next hop address
Outgoing Label
Outgoing Interface information
Operation to be performed on the label
FTN is short for FEC-to-NHLFE. The FTN indicates the mapping between an FEC and
a set of NHLFEs. Details about the FTN can be obtained by searching the token values that are
not 0x0 in the FIB. The FTN exists only on the ingress. Hash Table hashed on the FEC name as
shown in Figure 4.
Figure 4: FTN (OPNET Technologies, Session 1801 Introduction to MPLS Technology Tutorials,
2004)
The incoming label map (ILM) indicates the mapping between an incoming label and a
set of NHLFEs. The ILM can bind the label to the NHLFE, forming the mapping between the
label and the NHLFE. The function of an ILM table is similar to that of the FIB that is searched
with destination IP addresses. Thus, you can obtain all labels forwarding information in an ILM
table. Array of NHLFEs indexed on the incoming label value as shown in Figure 5.
Figure 5: ILM (OPNET Technologies, Session 1801 Introduction to MPLS Technology Tutorials,
2004)
Label Information Base (LIB) can be global as one for whole node and the interface-
specific is one for each interface on node. LIB contains NHLFEs. NHLFE is used to determine
Next Hop, New Label, Label Operation and Outgoing interface. NHLFEs are stored in Ingress
node where FTN (FEC to NHLFE) hash table, hashed on FEC name and At Core node where
ILM array, indexed on incoming label.
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3.1.6 MPLS Domain
MPLS is a technology that forward packets as a way of communication by using labels to
make forwarding decisions. MPLS forward packets by using label lookup because it is extremely
fast and efficient. As the packet enters the MPLS domain layer 3 analyses is performed and a
particular label is assigned to each incoming packet based on the layer 3 destination address.
A MPLS network consists of a number of nodes called Label Switched Router (LSRs),
others nodes that connects with IP routers or ATM switches are called Label Edge Router
(LERs). This router within MPLS domain that connects with the customer side, thorough which a
packet enters the network with push label is called Ingress LER router as shown in Figure 6 and
the one through which the packets leaves the MPLS domain is called egress LER router with
removing label (POP label) as shown in Figure 7. The label defines the fast and effective label
switch path (LSP) to direct the traffic all the way to the destination as shown in Figure 9.
Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) is a tunneling technology used in many service
provider networks, MPLS domain has two main types of switches: MPLS core switch which
consists of Label Switch Routers (LSRs) and the other is MPLS edge which consists of Label
Edge Routers (LERs), the main components of MPLS technology are explained as follows:
Figure 6: Ingress LER (OPNET Technologies, Session 1801 Introduction to MPLS Technology
Tutorials, 2004)
Label Edge Router (LER) handles L3 lookups and is component that is responsible for
adding or removing the labels from the packets when they enter or leave the MPLS domain.
Whenever a packet is entering or leaving MPLS domain it has to pass through LER router, when
a packet enters into MPLS domain through LER which is called Ingress router, or when a
packet leaves the MPLS domain through LER which is called Egress router.
Ingress LER (also called head end) does the following: Examines IP packets as they
enter the MPLS domain, Aggregates flows into FECs, Generates the MPLS header and assigns,
or pushes, the initial label onto packet and Upstream from all other LSRs in the LSP.
Egress LER (also called tail end) does the following: Removes, or pops, the MPLS
header (unless using Penultimate Hop Popping), Examines the packet to determine forwarding
(normal IP forward, label swap, etc.) and Downstream from all other LSRs in the LSP.
Label Switch Router (LSR) A router which is located in the MPLS domain and
forwards the packets based on label switching is called LSR and usually this type is located the
provider cloud; as soon as LSR receives a packet it checks the look-up table and determines the
next hop, then before forwarding the packet to next hop it removes the old label from the header
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and attaches new label.
Figure 7: Egress LER (OPNET Technologies, Session 1801 Introduction to MPLS Technology
Tutorials, 2004)
LSR forwards traffic using label swapping by pushing and popping labels (Swap Labels
as shown in Figure 8). LSR can label swap from any input port to any output port. LSR can be a
router or switch (and label switching can be done in hardware or software) and runs one or more
IP routing protocols and uses LDP to distribute FEC/label bindings.
Figure 8: Label Switch Router (LSR)(OPNET Technologies, Session 1801 Introduction to MPLS
Technology Tutorials, 2004)
Label Switch Path (LSP) is the path set by signaling protocols in MPLS domain. In
MPLS domain there are number of LSPs that are originated at Ingress router and traverses one or
more core LSRs and terminates at Egress router as shown in Figure 9.
A sequence of LSRs, from ingress to egress of the MPLS domain, that describes the path
followed by labeled packets in the same FEC. A unidirectional tunnel through the MPLS
domain and for a round trip, two LSPs are required. LSP May deviate from the IGP shortest path
due to resource subscription and due to explicit routing.
Penultimate Hop Popping (PHP)
In fact, the label is useless at the last hop of an MPLS domain. In this case, the feature of
penultimate hop popping (PHP) is applied. On the penultimate node, the label is popped out of
the packet to reduce the size of the packet that is forwarded to the last hop. Then, the last hop
directly forwards the IP packet or the VPN packet.
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Figure 9: Label Switch Path (LSP)(OPNET Technologies, Session 1801 Introduction to MPLS
Label Stack
A label stack is a set of arranged labels. An MPLS packet carries multiple labels at the
same time. The label next to the Layer 2 header is called the top label or the outer label. The label
next to the Layer 3 header is called the bottom label or inner label. Theoretically, MPLS labels
can be nested limitlessly as shown in Figure 10.
Label-----------------------Stack
Link layer
header
Outer
label
Inner
label
Layer 3
header
Layer 3
payload
Figure 10: Label stack
The label stack organizes labels according to the rule of Last-In, First-Out and processes
labels from the top of the stack. This is Useful for IP/MPLS VPNs and TE.
3.1.7 MPLS Architecture
The MPLS architecture consists of a control plane and a data (forwarding) plane.
The control plane is connectionless and mainly responsible for distributing labels,
creating the label forwarding table, and creating or deleting LSPs and summarized as follows:
Determines routes for LSPs: IGP routes or CSPF routes like OSPF-TE
Signals the LSP: using RSVP-TE or CR-LDP
Builds tables for label switching: FTN at ingress and ILM in the core
The forwarding plane, also known as the data plane, is connection-oriented. It can apply
services and protocols of ATM, Frame Relay, and Ethernet networks. The forwarding plane is
mainly responsible for adding labels to and deleting labels from IP packets. Simultaneously, it
forwards received packets according to the label and forwarding table using LFIB managed by
the control plane. See Figure 11.
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Figure 11: Architecture of MPLS(Imran, 2009, p. 23)
3.2 MPLS Application
There are three main areas of significant MPLS:
1. QOS.
2. Traffic Engineering (TE).
3. Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) (out of the scope of this project).
As it is shown in Figure 12, it is summarized the MPLS Application and their Interaction.
Figure 12: MPLS Application and their Interaction (Imran, 2009, p. 31)
3.2.1 QOS
Highly generating revenue application are VPNs and audio/video conferencing that
require a significant amount of QOS support (Imran, 2009, p. 16). This is to make sure the
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availability of certain amount of bandwidth for particular applications and a guarantee for service
level agreement. Whereas the conventional IP network fails to do so and is unable to provide an
adequate level of QOS to applications due to the lack of the support for traffic engineering and
QOS. And are limited to either scalability or flexibility or sometimes even both. Even though Diff
serve (DS) and Int-serve (IS) provides much better support for QOS but their performance is
limited to scalability and flexibility. In short DS and IS approaches are insufficient for support of
QOS enabled applications in highly loaded networks. To overcome this MPLS provides a
connection-oriented framework over the current IP based network which gives an adequate
support for the required QOS enabled applications
3.2.2 Traffic Engineering (TE)
Traffic Engineering was needed due to the random nature of the Internet where the ability
is required to define routes dynamically, an important result of this process is the avoidance of
congestion on any one path (Imran, 2009, p. 16). Plan resource commitments on the basis of
required QOS which includes known demands and optimized network utilization is known as
traffic engineering. Why it is needed because the conventional IP network provides a poor
support for traffic engineering because its core protocol IP (Internet Protocol) was never designed
with QOS in mind rather it was designed for education and research purpose. Important thing is
that how to allocate the available network resources in order to optimize the performance of the
network when the network has to sustain heavy traffic loads while having limited
resources. The destination based forwarding paradigm cases congestion in the conventional IP
networks because some links are heavily congested while the others remain underutilized which
is an inevitable phenomenon. Interior Gateway protocols such as OSPF and IS-IS routing
protocols use destination based forwarding paradigm without taking into consideration other
networking parameters like available bandwidth and all the traffic flow between the source to
destination through the shortest path. So it is quite obvious that when all the traffic follow the
same route it will create a hot spot situation and creates congestion while the other link in the
network remain unutilized which results in the degradation of throughput, delay and packet loss.
3.3 MPLS LSP Working
Data transmission in MPLS occurs on label switched path. Two protocols are used to
setup LSPs so that the necessary information can be passed among the LSRs. These LSRs are
responsible for performing switching and routing of packets according to the label assigned to
them. The label is attached to a packet within MPLS header (Header may contain more than one
label), altogether making a label stack. When labels are attached to a packet they are switched
using label lookup instead of looking into IP table. The route traversed by a packet within MPLS
domain between ingress and egress nodes while passing through the intermediate LSRs is LSP.
As shown in Figure 13, the steps could be summarized as follows:
LSP Routing: The path of the LSP across the MPLS domain can be:
Determined dynamically (online) using IGP, Packets will take the IGP shortest path
and will traverse the hops using label swapping instead of standard lookup.
Determined dynamically (online) using constraint-based routing algorithm,
Constrained Shortest Path First (CSPF) and using CSPF, additional constraints
(bandwidth, etc.) are applied when selecting the path.
Calculated offline and administratively
operator to control where traffic flows are placed in the network
based on administrative policies
Figure 13: LSP in MPLS (OPNET Technologies, Simulation
Engineering A Case Study)
Constraint Shortest Path First
constraints on the LSP like OSPF
information to all routers,
constraints and update and propagate link information
Packet Forwarding Mechanism
FEC, look up the NHLFE and push a label onto the packet
on the NHLFE and forward the packet to next hop
cloud for a particular path
from NHLFE and forward the packet.
3.4 Signaling Protocols in MPLS Network
Signaling protocols are used to
commonly known as Label
many protocols which can be used for the selection of
the signaling protocols that support Traffic
3.4.1 Label Distribution Protocol (LDP)
LDP is RFC 3036
Constraint based LDP setup
every reachable network.
LDP Messages are as shown in
25
Calculated offline and administratively configured (explicit route)
o control where traffic flows are placed in the network, Permits routes to be
based on administrative policies and useful for traffic engineering (TE)
(OPNET Technologies, Simulation-based Analysis of MPL
A Case Study)
Constraint Shortest Path First (CSPF): Used to calculate LSP path when there are
constraints on the LSP like OSPF-TE or ISIS-TE. CSPF can do the following: a
build network graph at each router, compute LSP routes based on
pdate and propagate link information.
Packet Forwarding Mechanism Ingress LER: Classifies the incoming packet into a
ook up the NHLFE and push a label onto the packet and Forward the packet to next hop
Packet Forwarding Mechanism Core LSR: Swap label on the incoming packet based
orward the packet to next hop.
Packet Forwarding Mechanism PHoP LSR: Penultimate hop router in the MPLS
can pop out the Label from incoming packet and f
om NHLFE and forward the packet.
Signaling Protocols in MPLS Network
Signaling protocols are used to set up the paths for the packets to follow, these paths are
commonly known as Label Switched Path (LSP) (Adhikari & Kharel, 2011, p. 14)
many protocols which can be used for the selection of paths but here we are concerned only on
the signaling protocols that support Traffic Engineering, which are explained below:
bution Protocol (LDP)
3036 (Andersson, Doolan, Feldman, Fredette, & Thomas, 2001)
etups LSP based on TE constraints. Topology based LDP setups LSPs to
LDP Messages are as shown in Figure 14.
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(explicit route), allows network
Permits routes to be
seful for traffic engineering (TE).
based Analysis of MPLSTraffic
Used to calculate LSP path when there are
can do the following: advertise link state
ompute LSP routes based on
Classifies the incoming packet into a
he packet to next hop.
Swap label on the incoming packet based
Penultimate hop router in the MPLS
and finds the next hop
set up the paths for the packets to follow, these paths are
(Adhikari & Kharel, 2011, p. 14). There are
paths but here we are concerned only on
Engineering, which are explained below:
(Andersson, Doolan, Feldman, Fredette, & Thomas, 2001).
Topology based LDP setups LSPs to
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Discovery messages: Used to announce and maintain the presence of an LSR in a
network
Session messages: Used to establish, maintain, and terminate sessions between LDP
peers
Advertisement messages: Used to create, change, and delete label mappings for FECs
Notification messages: Used to signal error information
Figure 14: LDP Messages (OPNET Technologies, Session 1801 Introduction to MPLS
3.4.2 RSVP- TE
Enhancement to RSVP to support MPLS LSP Signaling in RFC 3209 (Awduche, Berger,
Gan, Li, Srinivasan, & Swallow, 2001) and Reserves resources in the network, depending upon
LSP constraints.
RSVP Messages are as shown in Figure 15.
Path Messages: Used to request labels from nodes downstream by sending Label
Request Object
Resv Messages: Used to announce labels to upstream nodes by sending Label
Object
Resv/Path Tear Messages: Used to tear down an LSP
Figure 15: RSVP Messages (OPNET Technologies, Session 1801 Introduction to MPLS
Example: RSVP-TE
Ingress LER sends a PATH message downstream to Egress LER with Label Request
Object. Egress LER assigns a Label and sends a RESV message upstream with Label Object.
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Intermediate LSRs stores outbound label provided by downstream LSR and assigns an
inbound label and transmits upstream with the RESV message. Ingress LER binds the label to
the FEC as shown in Figure 16.
Figure 16: RSVP Examples(OPNET Technologies, Session 1801 Introduction to MPLS
Requirements of Signaling Protocols used in MPLS TE
It is essential that signaling protocols used in MPLS TE need to contain the
following characteristics:
Robustness: Even in the presence of network congestion or failure the
delivery of signaling messages need to be reliable in the network.
Scalability: If the size of MPLS network is large, each node needs to support a large
number of LSPs. It is required that the signaling system is scalable in order to deliver
the required performance, even though there are large number of LSPs and nodes.
LSP establishment/teardown/maintenance: The signalling protocol has to provide
LSP establishment, teardown and maintenance in the MPLS network.
LSP priority/preemption: In MPLS network it is possible that high priority
LSPs may teardown lower priority LSPs, when there are not enough resources
available for both.
3.4.3 Comparison of RSVP and CR-LDP
The comparison of RSVP and CR-LDP signaling protocols are as follows:
RSVP is the soft-state protocol. It requires periodic refreshing of Path and Resv
messages to maintain the state in all LSRs along the CR-LSP. The signaling
traffic (Path and Resv messages) increases as the number of CR-LSPs increases in
the MPLS network. Due to this, RSVP provides poor scalability in the MPLS
network.
In contrast, CR-LDP provides better scalability. It is a hard sate protocol
and establishes the CR-LSP based on Label request and Label mapping
messages. Once the CR-LSP is established it will not be teardown until a specific
request is made.
The other difference is that CR-LDP uses TCP to transport its signaling
messages. When a failure occurs the error message is sent using reliable
transport mechanism this can ensure the fast failure notification. Whereas the RSVP
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doesn't guarantee fast failure notification, because RSVP lack in reliable transport
infrastructure.
RSVP was created before CR-LDP for different purposes. Due to above reasons
mentioned RSVP is not suitable for TE in MPLS networks. Among the two protocols
CR-LDP is best suited in MPLS TE.
3.5 MPLS QoS
We may need QoS mechanisms for guaranteed services across the network. QoS has two
aspects for users and providers.
QoS: The end-to-end perspective (users):
QoS is a quantification of service/application-relevant measures of network effectiveness
against acceptable levels for measures such as: delay, jitter, loss, response time and throughput.
QoS: The Network architecture perspective (the providers):
Provide services to specific traffic classes such that QoS can be provided to end-users on
a guaranteed/differential basis.
So, what is Quality of Service?
Ability to provide better service to selected traffic
Distinguish traffic with strict timing requirements
Allocate resources in the network (e.g., bandwidth, buffer, priority) so that traffic gets to
destinations quickly and reliably
Do not create bandwidth simply manage it effectively to meet application requirements
Benefits of using QoS
Dedicated bandwidth
Controlled network latency and jitter
Improved loss characteristics
Control and predictability beyond the best-effort concept
3.5.1 Scheduling Mechanisms
Queuing mechanisms are to provision differing levels of service with Common queuing
disciplines:
WFQ (Weighted Fair Queuing) which was used in simulated tests and its mechanism is
shown in Figure 17.
Variable weight given to each queue
Approximate when packet sizes disparate
Implemented in software
FIFO (First In First Out) which is the default in the router.
3.5.2 Scheduling WFQ
In Figure 17, WFQ principles
Figure 17: WFQ Principles
Mechanisms Technology Tutorials, 2004,
WFQ Operational basics
Divide traffic into various queues
Assign a weight (portion of bandwidth) to each queue
Serve each queue according to its weight (in essence, desired percentage of output port
bandwidth for the queue)
Each class is guarant
Note that the queues are not in a priority order
server for a fraction of the total time
Allows for configuration of multiple levels of sharing hierarchy
Figure 18: WFQ Mechanism
Mechanisms Technology Tutorials, 2004, p. 23)
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WFQ principles could be summarized.
(OPNET Technologies, Session 1806 Introduction to QoS
Mechanisms Technology Tutorials, 2004, p. 21).
Divide traffic into various queues
Assign a weight (portion of bandwidth) to each queue
bandwidth for the queue)
Each class is guaranteed a minimum share of output forwarding capacity
Note that the queues are not in a priority order which means each queue sees the full
server for a fraction of the total time
Allows for configuration of multiple levels of sharing hierarchy
WFQ Mechanism (OPNET Technologies, Session 1806 Introduction to QoS
Mechanisms Technology Tutorials, 2004, p. 23)
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eed a minimum share of output forwarding capacity
which means each queue sees the full
It could be described as
following:
Classifier: Selects packets based on portions of packet header
Marker: Marks/Remarks the packet header based on traffic class
Meter: Checks compliance to traffic profile and passes result to Marker and
Shaper/Dropper
Shaper: Allows f
profile
Dropper: Drops traffic that does not conform with traffic profile
Congestion Avoidance: Checks buffer levels and stochastically drops packets
Scheduler: Allows for differential que
An example of IP Datagram Lifecycle under QoS is as shown in
Figure 19: IP Datagram Lifecycle under
to QoS Mechanisms Technology Tutorials, 2004, p. 26)
3.5.3 DiffServ Basics
Focus on QoS provisioning across single domain and not end
Classification/Policing at the edge and class
Use of IP ToS byte for DSCP (Dif
Allocate resources for aggregated traffic (Not individual flows)
Emphasis on guaranteeing QoS by provisioning (SLA
than reservation (signaling)
PHB (Per Hop Behavior) is
for an aggregate of flows with the same DSCP value.
30
It could be described as shown in Figure 18 and defined all terminologi
Classifier: Selects packets based on portions of packet header
Marker: Marks/Remarks the packet header based on traffic class
Shaper/Dropper
Shaper: Allows for delaying of packets in buffer to enforce compliance with traffic
Dropper: Drops traffic that does not conform with traffic profile
Scheduler: Allows for differential queuing and servicing of packets
An example of IP Datagram Lifecycle under QoS is as shown in Figure
IP Datagram Lifecycle under QoS (OPNET Technologies, Session 1806 Intro
to QoS Mechanisms Technology Tutorials, 2004, p. 26)
Focus on QoS provisioning across single domain and not end-to-end
Classification/Policing at the edge and class-based forwarding in the core
Use of IP ToS byte for DSCP (DiffServ Code Point)
Allocate resources for aggregated traffic (Not individual flows)
Emphasis on guaranteeing QoS by provisioning (SLA- Service Level Agreement) rather
than reservation (signaling).
PHB (Per Hop Behavior) is Externally observable forwarding treatment at a single node
for an aggregate of flows with the same DSCP value.
30
and defined all terminologies as the
or delaying of packets in buffer to enforce compliance with traffic
uing and servicing of packets
Figure 19.
OPNET Technologies, Session 1806 Introduction
based forwarding in the core
Service Level Agreement) rather
treatment at a single node
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EF (Expedited Forwarding) for low delay, low jitter requirements (Jacobson, Nichols, &
Poduri, 1999).
AFxy (Assured Forwarding) for differential treatment (Heinanen, Baker, Weiss, &
Wroclawski, 1999). Allows for four classes (0 < x < 5) and three levels (0 < y < 4) of
drop precedence.
BE (Best Effort)
Allows for backward compatibility with IP ToS precedence values.
DiffServ Components
At the edge of DiffServ domain: Classification and Marking and Policing/Shaping.
Within the core of the DiffServ domain: Congestion Avoidance and Scheduling.
Result: Provide differential treatment to Behavior Aggregates (BA) by proper
configuration and remove complexity from core of network and place it at edges.
DiffServ involves two basic functions:
Marking: Traffic at the boundaries is assigned to different behavior aggregates (BAs)
each marked with a unique DiffServ codepoint (DSCP) in the IP header.
Forwarding: In the core, packets are forwarded according to the per-hop behavior (PHB)
associated with the DSCP includes queueing and congestion control.
DiffServ Marking is as shown in Table 5.
Table 5: DiffServ Marking (OPNET Technologies, Session 1806 Introduction to QoS
Mechanisms Technology Tutorials, 2004)
Marking Service Classes with DSCPs
According to draft-baker-diffserv-basic-classes-03, identifies DiffServ service classes and
proposes a DSCP marking scheme. This gave a reference to roadmap of SLA as shown in chapter
6.
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3.6 MPLS TRAFFIC ENGINEERING (MPLS-TE)
TE involves computation, calculation and configuration of paths throughout a network so
that the bandwidth can be used efficiently. TE is promising that act as a key tool for achievement
and accomplishment of goals like fast, absolute utilization of bandwidth, dependable, cost
valuable, mechanized and differentiated services.
3.6.1 Link Congestion
A fighting fit recognized issue in IP networks is the calculation of IGP best paths which
results in over utilization of those specific paths while alternate paths are either underutilized or
not utilized at all.
Figure 20: Shows an over utilized link(Imran, 2009, p. 33)
In the above diagram in Figure 20, the link F-E-D-B is not used to forward traffic from G
to A. All the traffic follows the shortest F-C-B path to reach the destination A, a path with little
number of hops (or the least path cost). Here, an IGP can be impelled to look through a path with
more hops by adding bandwidth, at the same time as one of the link metrics for SPF computation;
however, this is the rough calculation that has no concept of congestion.
According to TE it must ask that: what is the most exceptional best path to a destination?
Definitely the solution is provided by TE.
3.6.2 Benefits of MPLS-TE
TE provides systematic, logical, technical measurements, classification, modeling, and
management of Internet traffic. MPLS provides the groundwork that allows traffic engineering in
an ISP networks due to the following reasons.
TE allows ISP to balance their hardware and resources, like router and switches in
the network so that there is a proper employment of all the components.
TE also ensures that none of the component is over utilized or underutilized.
TE makes effective use of the available bandwidth so to achieve best performance
even in the situation of congestion.
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Maintain support for the specific paths and allows network to identify the precisely
exact path that an LSP takes across the ISPs network.
Individual LSP statistics used to recognize bottlenecks and trunk utilization.
Constraint Base Routing (CBR) provides capabilities that allow LSP to gather and
meet definite performance requirements before their establishment.
Solutions provided by MPLS are not limited to ATM infrastructures but they can
easily be run on packet oriented networks.
3.6.3 Network Resiliency by Using MPLS TE
Ingress Backup
It offers full protection using end-to-end backup tunnels. Ingress LER is notified of any
failure along LSP path and switches traffic to backup as shown in Figure 21.
Figure 21: Ingress Backup LSP (OPNET Technologies, Session 1511 Understanding MPLS
Model Internals, 2004, p. 57)
Weight of backup LSP is less than the primary LSP and upon failure, RSVP/CR-LDP
sends message upstream to inform Ingress LER and Ingress LER decreases weight of primary
LSP to less than backup LSP.
Fast Reroute (FRR)
It offers local protection using Bypass Tunnel and prevents loss of in-flight data. Traffic
is switched to bypass immediately at the point of failure and Label stacking is used to transfer
traffic from primary to bypass as shown in Figure 22.
Link protection Bypass tunnel to next hop
Node protection Bypass tunnel to next-next-hop
Figure 22: FRR (OPNET Technologies, Session 1511 Understanding MPLS Model Internals,
2004, p. 59)
3.7 OPNET Modeler 14.5
OPNET stands for Optimized Network Engineering Tools which
network simulator. Main purposes are to optimize cost, performance and availability.
Figure 23: The main window of OPNET Modeler
3.7.1 Why OPNET?
There are various simulation experiment environments.
most popular network simulators, targeting a wider
Weidong, & Shengquan, 2007, pp. 217
OPNET is the best netw
reasons:
OPNET is much easier to use than NS
Interface (GUI) and is very easy to learn.
OPNET can be used to model the entire network, including its r
protocols, servers, and the individual applications they support. A large range of
communication systems from a single LAN to global inter
supported.
OPNET software (with model source code) is available for FREE to the aca
research and teaching community. Students can download and install OPNET IT
Guru Academic Edition at home.
The OPNET's discrete event engine for network simulations is the fastest and most
scalable commercially available solution. It usually takes ju
complete simulations of most lab experiments.
34
OPNET stands for Optimized Network Engineering Tools which is a very powerful
: The main window of OPNET Modeler 14.5
There are various simulation experiment environments. OPNET and NS
most popular network simulators, targeting a wider range of networks and protocols
Weidong, & Shengquan, 2007, pp. 217-218).
OPNET is the best network simulator to meet our teaching goals for the following
OPNET is much easier to use than NS-2. It provides a very convenient Graphic User
Interface (GUI) and is very easy to learn.
OPNET can be used to model the entire network, including its r
communication systems from a single LAN to global inter-
OPNET software (with model source code) is available for FREE to the aca
Guru Academic Edition at home.
scalable commercially available solution. It usually takes just a few minutes to
complete simulations of most lab experiments.
34
is a very powerful
OPNET and NS-2 are the two
range of networks and protocols (Jinhua,
ork simulator to meet our teaching goals for the following
2. It provides a very convenient Graphic User
OPNET can be used to model the entire network, including its routers, switches,
-networks can be
OPNET software (with model source code) is available for FREE to the academic
st a few minutes to
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OPNET has a large user community. OPNET software is used by major fortune-500
companies, service providers, and government organizations worldwide. Students
who have experiences with OPNET simulator will have much better future
employment opportunities in industry.
3.7.2 OPNET Framework
To build a network model the workflow centers on the Project Editor. This is used to
create network models, collect statistics directly from each network object or from the
network as a hole, execute a simulation and view results. See Figure 24.
Figure 24: Workflow (Svensson & Popescu, 2003)
3.7.3 Project Editor
The main staging area for creating a network simulation is the Project Editor. This is used
to create a network model using models from the standard library, collect statistics about the
network, run the simulation and view the results. Using specialized editors accessible from the
Project Editor via File New one can create node and process models, build packet formats and
create filters and parameters.
Depending on the type of network being modeled, a network model may consist of
subnetworks and nodes connected by point-to-point, bus, or radio links. Subnetworks, nodes, and
links can be placed within subnetworks, which can then be treated as single objects in the
network model. This is useful for separating the network diagram into manageable pieces and
provides a quick way of duplicating groups of nodes and links.
Figure 25: A network model built in the Project Editor (Svensson & Popescu, 2003)
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3.7.4 The Node Editor
The Node Editor is used to create models of nodes. The node models are then used to
create node instances within networks in the Project Editor. Internally, OPNET node models have
a modular structure. You define a node by connecting various modules with packet streams and
statistic wires. The connections between modules allow packets and status information to be
exchanged between modules. Each module placed in a node serves a specific purpose, such as
generating packets, queuing packets, processing packets, or transmitting and receiving packets.
Figure 26: Node Editor (Svensson & Popescu, 2003)
3.7.5 The Process Model Editor
To create process models which control the underlying functionality of the node models
created in the Node Editor one can use the Process Editor. Process models are represented by
finite state machines (FSMs) and are created with icons that represent states and lines that
represent transitions between states. Operations performed in each state or for a transition are
described in embedded C or C++ code blocks.
Figure 27: Process Model Editor
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3.7.6 The Link Model Editor
This editor enables for the possibility to create new types of link objects. Each new type
of link can have different attribute interfaces and representation. Specific comments and
keywords for easy recognition are also possible.
Figure 28: Link Model Editor
3.7.7 The Path Editor
The Path Editor is used to create new path objects that define a traffic route. Any protocol
model that uses logical connections or virtual circuits such as MPLS, ATM, Frame Relay, etc can
use paths to route traffic.
Figure 29: Path Editor
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3.7.8 The Packet Format Editor
By making use of this editor, it is possible to define the internal structure of a packet as a
set of fields. A packet format contains one or more fields, represented in the editor as colored
rectangular boxes. The size of the box is proportional to the number of bits specified as the fields
size.
Figure 30: Packet Format Editor
3.7.9 The Probe Editor
This editor is used to specify the statistics to be collected. By using different probes there
are several different types of statistics that can be collected, including global statistics, link
statistics, node statistics, attribute statistics, and several types of animation statistics. It is
mentioned that similar possibilities for collecting statistics are also available under the Project
Editor. These are however not as powerful as the Probe Editor.
Figure 31: Probe Editor
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3.7.10 The Simulation Sequence Editor
In the Simulation Sequence Editor additional simulation constrains can be specified.
Simulation sequences are represented by simulation icons, which contain a set of attributes that
control the simulations run-time characteristics.
Figure 32: Simulation Sequence Editor
3.7.11 The Analysis Tool
The Analysis Tool has several useful additional features like for instance one can create
scalar graphics for parametric studies, define templates for statistical data, create analysis
configurations to save and view later, etc.
Figure 33: Analysis Tool
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Chapter 4
The EXISTING SYSTEM
In this chapter, the researcher gave the details about the target entity (YemenNet), target
units, and users. In addition to this, the following were also mentioned: Details about the current
situation, processes, systems, etc., which includes diagrams, tables, Figures, statistics, data (ex.
data flow diagram).
Finally, details about the issues, gaps, problems, concerns with the existing system in
YemenNet were also mentioned.
4.1 Description of YemenNet
4.1.1 YemenNet History
In 2000, the Cabinet Resolution number 16 in Yemen Government intended to open the
opportunity to compete and provide Internet service. In June 2001, the formation of a professional
team of specialists was realized, to study the idea of creating a network messaging data and
building of the Yemeni Internet portal and Internet service provision by PTC.
From June to October 2001, the professional team was messaging specialist companies
the RFQ prices, and studies the presentations in order to choose the best. On October 10, 2001,
signing the agreement with the selected company happened, to implement the project. And, in
January 2002, the equipment arrived and installation began.
From April1 to 5, 2002, the service was provided as free of charge to all Internet users in
Yemen and during the trial period. On April 6, 2002, YemenNet started its commercial operation.
On February 1, 2003, under the guidance of his Excellency, the President of the Republic of
Yemen, subscribed to monthly Internet access (dialing subscription is free of charge).
4.1.2 PTC Objectives
PTC is a public institution, created in 1981, is duly owned by the. Its goal is to provide
telecommunication services to Yemeni citizen. It operates under the supervision of the Ministry
of Communications and Information Technology (PTC - ITU-D Sector Membership Portal). PTC
provides mainly telecommunications services and different technologies to all segments of
society in the various communities in rural and urban areas alike, and to ensure the right of every
citizen, whether individuals, groups, or sectors, to have access to communications and
technology.
The objectives of PTC in Internet service are to be fitted and to build the gateway of
YemenNet. They were translated from Arabic to English from internal documents of PTC, as
follows:
To provide Internet service in a modern way, excellent and able to accommodate
the requirements of comprehensive development in all fields.
To reduce tariffs online and encourage researchers, scholars and students to
participate in this service and get benefits.
To improve Internet service through fair competition among Internet service
providers.
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To reduce the technical problems faced by the user, such as interruptions and
slow speed through the acquisition of equipment and hardware and software with
high technical specifications and excellent performance.
To facilitate access to all Internet service providers in Yemen to the World Wide
Web through one gate capacity and speed of the replay.
To find an effective mechanism to control and protect the users and the service
providers in order to prevent the exploitation of service from entering the sites
which are not allowed accessing, such as sites against the moral and religious
values and preventing any breaches of the network.
4.1.3 YemenNet Vision
To be a pioneer in providing Internet services and data transmission, and that the client
gets our full attention, and work to develop the market we serve (About Yemennet).
4.1.4 YemenNet Task
Provide the latest services in the field of Internet and data transmission, focus on our
customers, our employees, and our community, through superior management and offer value-
added and high technology (About Yemennet).
4.1.5 YemenNet position in YT
YemenNet is one of the most important General Administrations in Yemen Telecom as,
described in Figure 34.
Figure 34: YemenNet position in Yemen Telecom
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4.1.6 YemenNet (The Target Company)
The target company for this research is YemenNet (Internet service provider and Data
Services). YemenNet is an internet service provider (ISP) and Data Service that forms part of the
government-run and belongs to Public Telecommunications Corporation (PTC).
YemenNet was created in 2001 and began operations in 2002 as mentioned before,
specializes in the management of Internet services and data transmission in all over the country,
and to provide the services provided by Internet Service Providers in the world (Internet
broadband, Frame Relay, ATM, and MPLS services connections (PVC), hosting services,
wireless internet, etc.) in all parts of the Republic of Yemen.
The government of the Republic of Yemen perceived the importance of communications
and information technology in the process of comprehensive economical and social development
for achieving a better life for persons and societies. Thus, their decisions, rules and
recommendations are in harmony with this view, which included the instructions to expand the
base of beneficiaries from the internet services and doing more and more to reduce the prices of
subscription and make the connection to the net, easy for students, researchers and academicians
especially with the spreading of the ownership of computers.
The Republic of Yemen was the third country in the Arab world that ventured into the
services of internet, and it endeavored to utilize and invest this service as soon as possible in
different ways through electronic rail, electronic government, e-banking, e-bill, electronic library.
Consequently, the Republic of Yemen framed laws, legislations and procedures, which made the
entry of internet service to the organization easier.
Rapid development of the telecommunications and information technology sectors in
Yemen occurred from 2000 to 2005 (Internet in Yemen, Wikipedia). The number
of Internet users was 3,597,097 in 2011, a great increase from 110,000 in 2006, and 3,800 in
1991, respectively. This represents 14.9% of Yemen's 2011 population. The number of
subscribers to cellular telephone networks came to 11.7 million in 2011, from 1.2 million in early
2006, and 153,000 in 1991, respectively.
There has been a huge demand for faster Internet connections in Yemen, and that pushed
the two ISPs, TeleYemen, operators of the service YNet, and YemenNet, through the state's
powerful Ministry of Telecommunications, to introduce ADSL and Dial UP connections. But
still, the quality of speed is not that up to the mark. There were 84,000 fixed broadband
subscriptions in 2010. However, According to the ITU (Yemen Media and Telecoms Landscape
Guide - infoasaid, 2012), Yemen had just over one million fixed line phone subscribers in 2010.
The country only had four fixed line phones for every 100 inhabitants.
YemenNet is the premier Internet service provider in Yemen, providing a wide range of
Internet services, such as dial-Up, ISDN, leased line, web and email hosting. YemenNets vision
is to increase the IT adoption and awareness of the Yemeni public by providing high speed
Internet access throughout the country at affordable rates, as the catalyst for future services, such
as ecommerce, e-Trade and e-Health.
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Hence, the goal is how to increase the subscribers, by using fixed broadband and using
the new technology in WAN, which is to extend the Core network of IP/MPLS and to cover all
cities.
4.1.7 The First Team of YemenNet in 2001
The team was composed of seventeen engineers from different departments in PTC who
were considered intelligent, and a general manager of the project of Internet and Data
Transmission (YemenNet). They are presented in Table 6.
Table 6: The First Team of YemenNet in 2001
No. Name Profession
1 Ali Thabet GM of Project
2 Amer Haza Internet Manager
3 Yasser Al Emad Internet Engineer
4 Ibrahim Al-Saighal Internet Engineer
5 Abduljalil Al Gobati Internet Engineer
6 Khaldoon Fadhel Internet Engineer
7 Mohammed Al Dhaifi Internet Engineer
8 Mohammed Al Sharafi Internet Engineer
9 Mohammed Al Gasri Internet Engineer
10 Mohammed Al Tawaili Internet Engineer
11 Abdulhameed Alsaidi Data Transmission Manager
12 Abdulrahman Abutaleb Data Transmission Engineer
13 Nabil Abbas Data Transmission Engineer
14 Taha Al Radaai Data Transmission Engineer
15 Mohammed Al Jarbani Data Transmission Engineer
16 Saleh Al Suraihi Data Transmission Engineer
17 Waheeb Al Araighi Data Transmission Engineer
18 Najeeb Al Ameir Data Transmission Engineer
4.1.8 YemenNet Logo
YemenNet Logo is described in Figure 35.
Figure 35: YemenNet logo
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4.1.9 The description of the Target business units
YemenNet Services and Subscribers increase day by day and the constituency services of
YemenNet are for the following sectors:
Government agencies, ministries, and embassies (Leased Line and PVCs)
Commercial and private entities (Leased Line and PVCs)
Home users especially Internet (Dial up, ADSL)
4.1.10 Organizational chart
YemenNet consists of two main administrations which are Data transmission and Internet
as follows in Figure 36.
Figure 36: Organizational Chart of YemenNet
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4.2 The current situation and system of YemenNet
YemenNet has two networks, Packet Data Network (PDN) with MPLS and Internet
Network (IN).
4.2.1 PDN (Data Transmission) Topology
YemenNet has a legacy network which is FR/ATM and worked in 2002. During that
year, the capacity for bandwidth was enough by using IGX 8400 series of Cisco switching, as
described below in Figure 37:
Figure 37: Yemen Data Network (ATM, the legacy network)
4.2.2 IN (Internet Topology)
IN network was designed and worked by Cisco routers. No more information was
offered because of security issues. The network was implemented, as shown in Figure 38.
Internet Plan
Free Email
Web Hosting
IP Addresses
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Banner Advertisement in the YemenNet Website
Broadcast email (To all YemenNet Email users)
Figure 38: Internet Topology
Future Plans
Build and Install the IP/MPLS network
Yemen Net Network and Servers expansion
Gateway Expansion to the World wide Web
Move to the NGN to Supply the ADSL Services
Starting the process of building the WI-MAX
New ADSL Policy with possibility of payment via Prepaid Cards
4.2.3 MPLS Topology in YemenNet
Because of ATM capacity speed, the broadband ADSL users are limited. The demands
for Internet and Data transmission increase day by day. Hence, YemenNet implemented
IP/MPLS project in 2009 and provided longer bandwidth by using NE80E Huawei routers as core
network, and NE40E routers as edge network which are connected with MSAN as access network
(UA5k). This description is shown below in Figure 39.
This network will increase the number of subscribers for data and internet services, by
covering all cities with IP/MPLS. The researcher presents below an in-depth analysis about
MPLS technology.
1. This research was to implement the quality of service and care about the customer to get
and format the SLA, by implementing Quality of Service (QoS) process in MPLS.
2. To introduce some new services in real-time applications (VoIP and Video).
3. To give some recommendations for employees and managers in order to increase their
performance, by implementing all management process required.
4. Also was to increase customer base by using and implementing all features of MPLS
technology.
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Figure 39 : IP/MPLS Yemen National Network Topology
4.3 YemenNet Services
YemenNet website is a wonderful interactive website for customer to know all services
that can be served (Services - YemenNet). All the current services provided by YemenNet to
customers which are non-real-time applications, like http, email, web hosting, and ftp (data with
PPP connections). Thus, the core MPLS network utilizations are less than eight percent.
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There are no other applications used by MPLS, except non-real time applications, and of
course the demands of Internet Services (ADSL) have been increased day by day. But, Yemen
Telecom will implement VoIP and IPTV in the near future and we need to know which
transmission layer is the best for carrying these applications. This question gave a good challenge
for the researcher to compare between the legacy networks (IP) and MPLS network.
The Summary of YemenNet Services are as follows. For more information, all services
are found in appendix B or see YemenNet website for updates.
1. Internet Leased Line Service
2. Data Transmission Service ( My Private Developed Network Service)
3. My Fast Network Service
4. Static IP
5. Advertising Via E-mail
6. Frame Relay Service
7. Webhosting Service
8. Domain Name Service
9. ADSL(Super Yemen Net) Golden Subscription
10. ADSL (Super Yemen Net) Silver Subscription
11. Dial up internet
4.4 The problems with the existing system in YemenNet
A lot of problems were identified relevant to the services provided by YemenNet, such
as:
Lack of MPLS-QoS implementation.
The MPLS Network is still covering only 40 percent of Yemen Republic.
Investments in legacy network (SDH and IP over ATM) are still there by top
management in YT.
Some problems with copper wires network which give bad services with multi-
disconnects in services.
No real-time applications are implemented except non-real time (data and
internet applications) which will increase customer base.
Increase customer base needs to give a good quality of services from providers
better than these services applied nowadays.
Top management did not give this network a special care because of lack of
knowledge about it.
The demands for internet and data transmission are crucially large.
The number of subscribers is still limited.
So, the main target for this research was to provide knowledge and roadmap about how to
increase the customer base by using MPLS Technology widely, and to implement new features
and services, like voice and video, with improved quality of services.
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Chapter 5
THE PROPOSED SOLUTION
5.1 Overview of the Solution
In the previous chapters, the features of MPLS technology were introduced, as well as the
OPNET Modeler version 14.5 which will be used in the proposed solution. In this chapter, several
scenarios will be explained and whatever is necessary to configure an OPNET Modeler make an
MPLS network work, by adding new services in real time like, VoIP and Video Conference,
which may increase customer base in YemenNet by applying TE and QoS.
5.2 Details of the Solution
There were three scenarios that would be simulated by using OPNET Modeler 14.5 and
the comparison of VoIP, data (FTP), and Video traffic over the following networks:
IP network and MPLS-TE network.
Fast Reroute Technique (FRR) as Network Resilience.
MPLS QoS with and without using DiffServ.
These tests could help the technical and technician engineers in YemenNet to convince
the top management about increasing the investment in MPLS technology.
5.3 IP network and MPLS-TE
In this Scenario, the researcher will make a comparison of VoIP data by using ftp and
Video traffic over the conventional Internet Protocol (IP) network and MPLS network to explore
the network performance when implementing real-time applications, such as voice and video.
OPNET modeler version 14.5 is used to simulate both networks and the comparison is made based
on some performance metrics, such as video/voice jitter, video/voice packet end-to-end delay,
video/voice delay variation, and video/voice packet sent and received.
5.3.1 Assumptions
It is clear to predict the behavior of MPLS network with different design, and
implementation factors are involved in the network, such as the VoIP traffic, Video conferencing,
and FTP because of using Traffic Engineering which shows that MPLS based solution provides
better performance and 75% of link capacity is allowed for VoIP traffic to protect it from bursts.
5.3.2 Network Scenario
All the scenarios are simulated by considering the same type of network topology as
depicted in Figure 40.
The YemenNet MPLS core network consists of six P-nodes that are presented as LSR (Label
Switch Routers) within the OPNETModeler 14.5. The router cities are listed below::
Hodidah
Sana_PTC
Sana_A
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Dhamar
Taiz
Aden
The YemenNet MPLS Edge Network (as an example) consists of two PE-nodes that are
presented as LER (Label Edge Routers). The routers cities are shown below:
7 July_Ingress LER (in Hodidah City)
Mukalla_Egress LER (in Hadramout Governorate)
Figure 40: YemenNet MPLS Network Topology
The links between the P-nodes and PE are the PPP_adv point-to-point link. This link
connects two nodes with serial interfaces (e.g., routers with PPP ports) at a selectable date rate
(e.g., DS0,DS1,DS3,T1.T3,E1,E3,OC3,OC12,etc.). The links being used in this scenario with
selectable date rate are PPP_DS3 (44.736 Mbps). The links between the PE-nodes and sites
(which are Workstations and Servers) are also PPP_DS3. The core nodes are in partial mesh
topology which would provide different physical paths to the Label Switch Paths (LSPs). As
shown in Figure 42, two static LSPs would be simulated.
5.3.3 Methodology
The methodology used in presenting the traffic analysis is presented in Figure 41.
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Figure 41: Methodology used in OPNET Modeler Scenario 1
1. Drew Network Topology
The simulated network consists of the network topology as shown in Figure 42.
Figure 42: MPLS Network with two static LSPs
In this topology, there are two LSPs carrying all traffics by using TE feature and giving a
good performance in utilization links.
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2. Create Traffic Sources
Traffic sources are generated through the five workstation (sites) objects and one server.
In addition, there are two Background traffic clients and servers in order to control the traffic
until the congestion occurred which were simulated.
3. Define Application Configuration
Application Configuration object has been defined, as shown in Figure 43.
Figure 43: Application Definitions
This object has defined three traffics: FTP with high load, VoIP with PCM Quality
Speech (64kbps), and video with high resolution to be the source of traffic within the simulation.
4. Define Profile Definition
The "Profile Config" node can be used to create user profiles. These user profiles can
then be specified on different nodes in the network to generate application layer traffic. The
application defined in the Application Config" objects are used by this object to configure
profiles, as shown in Figure 44.
Figure 44: Profile Definitions
5. Auto-Assign IP Addresses and Routing IGP
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This step can be done from the icon Protocols > IP > Addressing > Auto-Assign IP
Addresses and define the routing using OSPF as IGP from Protocols > IP > Routing > Configure
Routing Protocols.
6. Build FECs and Traffic Trunk Profiles
MPLS Configuration object is used to configure Forwarding Equivalence Class (FEC)
and Traffic Trunk specifications. These specifications are associated with different flows at the
ingress LERs, to differentiate the flows into various classes and different QoS agreements.
FEC Specifications used to specify different Forwarding Equivalence Classes to be used
in the network. These configurations should be made on the MPLS Config Object. Different
FECs can be specified depending upon one or more combinations of ToS, Protocol used,
Source/Destination Address, Source/Destination Port etc.
Traffic Trunk Profiles are specified at the MPLS Config Object. Various Traffic Trunks
with different maximum, average bit rates, and out of profile actions can be specified here. Each
Traffic trunk is assigned a DiffServ Class. This step is done, as shown in Figure 45 and Figure 46.
Figure 45: FEC Specifications
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Figure 46: Traffic Trunk Profiles
7. Define MPLS Configuration
The MPLS must be enabled in all LSRs and LERs routers and their interfaces from
Protocols > MPLS > Configure Interface Status in OPNET.
8. Map FEC to LSP through MPLS Traffic Mapping Configuration
This configuration is used to perform the traffic bindings. Different FEC and Traffic
Trunk specifications can be bound to different incoming interfaces at the Router, and they can be
assigned to various LSPs, as shown in Figure 47.
Figure 47: FEC to LSP Mapping
9. Run DES Simulation through a Specific time
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Before running the Discrete Event Simulation (DES), there are some statistics parameters
that must be selected in Global Statistics and Link Statistics, as shown in Figure 48.
Figure 48: Choose Results
Upload Response Time (sec): Time elapsed between sending a file and receiving the
response. The response time for responses sent from any server to an FTP application is included
in this statistic.
Packet Delay Variation: The delay variation incurred by voice application packets while
going from a calling party to called party and vice-versa.Variance among end to end delays for
voice/video packets. End to end delay for a voice packet is measured from the time it is created to
the time it is received. In video application packets, the delay is Variance among end to end
delays for video packets. End to end delay for a video packet is measured from the time it is
created to the time it is received.
Packet End-to-End Delay (sec): The delay incurred by voice/video application packets,
while going from a calling party to called party and vice-versa. The total voice packet delay,
called "analog-to-analog" or "mouth-to-ear" delay = network_delay + encoding_delay +
decoding_delay + compression_delay + decompression_delay.
Where these delays descriptions are as follows:
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Network delay is the time at which the sender node gave the packet to RTP to the time
the receiver got it from RTP.
Encoding delay (on the sender node) is computed from the encoder scheme.
Decoding delay (on the receiver node) is assumed to be equal to the encoding delay.
Compression and Decompression delays come from the corresponding attributes in the
Voice application configuration.
This statistical records/data are from all the nodes in the network. In video application
packets, the delay is the time taken to send a video application packet to a destination node
application layer. This statistical records/data are from all the nodes in the network.
Link Statistics: the parameters are as follows:
Throughput (bits/sec): These statistics represent the average number of bits successfully
received or transmitted by the receiver or transmitter channel per unit time, in bits per second.
Utilization: These statistics represent the percentage of the consumption to date of an
available channel bandwidth, where a value of 100.0 would indicate full usage.
After choosing these statistics, the DES simulation has been run twice, one for using IGP
network without enabling MPLS and one with latter enabled over 600 seconds in case of no
congestion in network.
Running again DES simulation in case of the core network (LSR or P routers),
congestion occurred by reducing the date rate to 32, 000 ,000 b/s.
10. Analyse the Results
The results, in case of no congestion in network, are shown in Figure 49, Figure 50,
Figure 51 and Figure 52. They are respectively associated with metrics exhibition in both MPLS
and conventional IP networks based scenarios. It is clear to observe that there is an increase in
the performance when the real time traffic, like VoIP and video, and even in data applications,
like FTP are transferred using MPLS technology.
The time elapsed between sending a request and receiving the response packet in IP
network took more time than MPLS network. So, MPLS Network has a positive impact even in
non-real time application like FTP, as shown in Figure 49.
The total voice packets delay in the network that includes network delay,
encoding/decoding and compression/decompression delays in IP network, took more time than in
MPLS in case of no congestion in network and also the variance among end to end delays for
voice packets from the time it is created to the time it is received, that MPLS gave a positive
impact, as shown in Figure 50.
In Video delay results show also a positive impact on MPLS with less time than IP
network, as shown in Figure 51.
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Figure 49: FTP Upload Response Time in Scenario 1
Figure 50: Voice Delay Results in Scenario 1
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Figure 51: Video Delay Results in Scenario 1
Figure 52: Links Utilization Results in Scenario 1
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Figure 52 explains poor link utilization in IP network with OSPF. When the packets are
routed, an IP network with OSPF routing protocol uses only the shortest path and does not
consider the other path. Since TE is implemented in the MPLS network, the network load is
evenly distributed and makes MPLS an efficient technology.
In case Congestion occurred
Figure 53: Links Utilization Results in Congestion Case in Scenario 1
When the network traffic increases, as shown in Figure 53, shortest path from source
node to destination node is heavily congested and lead to loss of transmission data.
Thus, we found MPLS has efficiently used many of the unutilized links. From this result
it can be ensured that MPLS TE with OSPF protocol configured on all the nodes and interfaces,
maximum link utilization is guaranteed.
We have successfully simulated and shown that the MPLS is capable of handling
incoming traffic efficiently by distributing the traffic over unutilized links. This will ensure
packets entering into MPLS core reach the destination with minimum queuing delay. MPLS-TE
is most suitable for huge traffic volume without implementing any quality of service.
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Figure 54: FTP Upload Response Time in Congestion Case in Scenario 1
The upload response time increased in IP network because of delay and dropped packets,
as shown in Figure 54. However, MPLS network remains the constant time because of the best
link utilized by using TE.
Figure 55: Video Delay Results in Congestion Case in Scenario 1
As depicted in Figure 55, the end-to-end delay in a network was to increase in IP
network, but MPLS gave constant time in accepted value to transfer real time applications
without using MPLS QoS yet..
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Figure 56: Voice Delay Results in Congestion Case in Scenario 1
As shown in Figure 56, the end-to-end delay in a network is not advised to increase
above the threshold value of 80 milliseconds. So that established VoIP calls are acceptable
quality in congestion without using MPLS QoS yet.
5.4 Fast Reroute Technique (FRR) as Network Resilience
In this Scenario, the researcher has shown the resilience of the network in case of failures
and how quickly the recovery could be done in MPLS network. Fast reroute offers local
protection against failures by using bypass tunnels.
5.4.1 Assumptions
It is great to discover the behavior of MPLS network in case of failures in nodes or links
on factors involving the network, such as the VoIP traffic, Video conferencing, and FTP. So
MPLS TE with FRR shows that there is no failure that occurred because the delay time with
Bypass Tunnel is not noticeable (approximately Zero).
5.4.2 Methodology
The methodology used in FRR was depicted in Figure 57.
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Figure 57: Methodology of FRR
1- Network Topology
The simulated network consists of the network topology depicted in Figure 58 below.
Figure 58: MPLS Network Using Bypass Tunnel (the red one)
2- Create Three Dynamic LSP
Two dynamic LSPs were created as primary LSPs, which are Primary with Bypass
Tunnel and Primary with Ingress Backup LSP. One Backup LSP to the primary LSP is called
Ingress Backup LSP (with green color in MPLS Map). The primary with bypass tunnel LSP
configuration must be done as shown in Figure 59.
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Many-to-one Fast Reroute can be used to provide local protection against single link,
node or shared risk group failures throughout an MPLS network.
Figure 59: FRR Configurations in the Primary LSP
3- Configuring Bypass Tunnel
A bypass tunnel protects an interface on a point of local repair against downstream
link/node failures. The steps of setting up the bypass tunnel in OPNET Modeler, they are:
Open the Attributes dialog box for the node (Taiz) at the start of the bypass tunnel.
Open MPLS >MPLS Parameters >Interface Information >Bypass Tunnel Configuration
attribute.
Set the LSP Name to the name of an LSP (Bypass Tunnel) that should be used as a
bypass tunnel in the event of a node or link failure.
Click OK to close the attribute dialog box(es).
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4- Define Failure Recovery Object
Failure Recovery Object node could be used to make link failure at the specific time and
recover again. The failure occurred in the link between Taiz and Dhamar as shown in Figure 60.
Figure 60: Failure Recovery Object
5- Choosing the Statistics
Besides the previous scenario statistics with delay sensitive for real time applications,
there are others that are very important in this scenario, they are as follows:
Traffic Reroute Time (sec): Time taken to switch traffic away from failed LSP. This
statistic is the difference between the time when LSP actually failed and the time when the
Ingress LER or the Point of Local Recovery (PLR) switches the traffic away from failed LSP.
Traffic In (bits/sec): Total Traffic in bits/sec, sent into the LSP at the ingress end of the
tunnel.
6- Run DES Simulation
In this step we will run this simulation twice, once failure has occurred and once without..
7- Analysing the Results
It is clear now the MPLS with FRR technique provides a high network resiliency.
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Figure 61: LSP Traffic Reroute Time
In Figure 61, it shows that the traffic rerouting time is shown for the primary LSPs. The
result shows that for LSP that is using Fast Reroute for protection with Bypass Tunnels, Traffic
rerouting time is almost 11times less than the Traffic rerouting time for LSP that use Ingress
initiated Backup LSP.
The possible amount of data lost for a DS3 LSP is equal to Time_to_notify_head_end *
peak_lsp_traffic (i.e.,) 0.0011071 * 44,736,000 = 49,527/8 = 6190 bytes.
In Figure 62, the failover to Fast Reroute is significantly faster than to secondary routes
because the routes are pre computed, the paths are already established, and the failure information
only needs to reach the preceding LSR. Fast reroute or local protection done at point of failure
could prevent loss of data, and depending on what is shown in Figure 61, the LSP traffic
rerouting time is approximately zero.
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Figure 62: LSP Traffic In
Figure 62 shows Traffic In of the LSPs in the network is shown above in all four LSPs.
The results show that Traffic is immediately bypassed using Bypass Tunnel for the LSP that uses
Fast Reroute. Whereas, Traffic is switched to backup LSP some time after failure, for LSP that
use Ingress initiated Backup LSP.
In Figure 63, it shows that there is no effect in the real time and non real time traffic with
failure occurrence.
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Figure 63: The Delay Sensitive in both using Failure link or not
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5.5 MPLS with Quality of Services (QoS)
In this Scenario, the researcher compared using MPLS and MPLS with Differentiation
services (DiffServ) networks with three types of traffic (FTP, VoIP, and Video) being generated from
the workstations near the router 7 July_Ingress LER.
5.5.1 Assumptions
The main aim of this analysis is to show the difference in performance after deploying DiffServ
on MPLS. Different parameters, such as end to end delay and delay variation for Video and VoIP and
response time for FTP were compared.
5.5.2 Methodology
The methodology used in QoS is depicted in the Figure 64 below:
Figure 64: Methodology of QoS
1- Network Topology
In this network, all traffic will be carried over one LSP only without using TE and to
notice the effect of using MPLS with and without DiffServ. The topology is described and shown
in Figure 65.
2- Re define the Sources with ToS Enabled
The application configuration of FTP, VoIP, and Video are setting the Application traffic
priority through Type of Service attribute, which are configured as DSCP as follows using
Assured Forwarding and expedited Forwarding:
AF21 for FTP
AF41 for Video
EF for VoIP
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Figure 65: MPLS Network Map with using one LSP
3- Configure all nodes and Interfaces with QoS
This step has been done from the icon Protocols > IP > QoS Configuration and choose
WFQ with DSCP based.
4- Traffic Classification
Traffic arrives at the PE were classified and mapped into the corresponding Queue
according to its priority set on the DiffServ code Point (DSCP) within the TOS field.
5- EXP to PHB Mapping
After the traffic has been classified and marked according to the traffic policies
configured on the PE, the traffic would arrive at the P node where DiffServ Code Point is being
mapped into MPLS Experimental Bits (EXP) within the MPLS label. This process is known as
DSCP to EXP mapping.
OPNET Modeler performs this process through MPLS configuration object within the
network model. Figure 66 shows the MPLS configuration object which is used by OPNET
Modeler to simulate the DSCP to EXP mapping.
In MPLS Config: This node is used to configure Forwarding Equivalence Class (FEC)
and Traffic Trunk specifications. These specifications are associated with different flows at the
ingress LERs, to differentiate the flows into various classes and different QoS agreements.
FEC Specifications: Used to specify different Forwarding Equivalence Classes to be
used in the network. These configurations should be made on the MPLS Config Object. Different
FECs can be specified depending upon one or more combinations of ToS, Protocol used,
Source/Destination Address, Source/Destination Port etc.
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Figure 66: DSCP to EXP Mapping
Traffic Trunk Profiles: Traffic Trunk Profiles are specified at the MPLS Config Object.
Various Traffic Trunks with different maximum, average bit rates, and out of profile actions can
be specified here. Each Traffic trunk is assigned a DiffServ Class.
6- Traffic Mapping Configuration
The traffic needs to be associated with specific Label Switch Path (LSP) to be transported
to the peer PE node where the destination of traffic exists. The association of traffic to the LSP is
performed by mapping the FEC to Traffic Trunk with associated interfaces in the Traffic
Mapping Configuration attribute on Ingress LER.
7- Run the Simulation
In the simulation, it was done twice with normal load is defined as 20% of traffic load
and heavy load is defined at 80% of traffic load and compared with using MPLS and MPLS with
DiffServ.
8- Analyze the Results
In this section of the scenario, we are comparing different QoS traffic parameters
between MPLS and MPLS/DiffServ networks. We will compare response time for FTP traffic;
end to end delay and delay variation for VoIP and video traffic in both normal link utilization (no
Congestion) and 80 percent of link utilization (with congestion).
First: FTP Traffic Analysis
As we can see in Figure 67 and Figure 68, the response time for MPLS is higher than the
MPLS with DiffServ network. Clearly, the DiffServ provides better performance in response
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times for FTP based traffic. After increasing the load on the network, the response time for MPLS
jumps to a very high value, but DiffServ remains almost the same.
Figure 67: Client FTP Upload Response Time with/without MPLS DiffServ
Figure 68: Client FTP Upload Response Time with/without MPLS DiffServ in congestion
Second: VoIP Traffic Analysis
In Figure 69, Figure 70, Figure 71, Figure 72, and Figure 73, the results for VoIP shows
that MPLS with DiffServ had lower delay than MPLS in the case of light and heavy load, with
the difference having a bigger value in the case of heavy load.
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Figure 69: Voice Calling Party Packet ETE Delay in normal traffic
Figure 70: Voice Calling Party Packet ETE Delay in congestion traffic
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Figure 71: Voice Calling Party PDV in normal traffic
Figure 72: Voice Calling Party PDV in congestion traffic
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Figure 73: IP interface WFQ Queue Delay Variation
In Figure 73, an example is shown using WFQ with different weight which has higher
weight, has lower delay in seconds and lower queue usage in bytes.
Final: Video Traffic Analysis
The end to end delay for video stream is higher for MPLS as compared to the MPLS with
DiffServ. After increasing the load until congestion, the End-to-End Delay for MPLS becomes
very high and keeps on increasing. While the MPLS with DiffServ delay remains at a low level.
This shows that MPLS with DiffServ provides better QoS even in congested network with higher
loads, while in MPLS, the delay increases to a very high value as shown in Figure 74 and Figure
75.
Figure 74: Video Calling Party Packet ETE Delay in normal traffic
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Figure 75: Video Calling Party Packet ETE Delay in congestion traffic
Figure 76: Video Calling Party PDV in normal traffic
The delay variation in Figure 76 provides evidence of MPLS with DiffServ excellence
and superiority.
The result in Figure 77 was the evidence that the delay variation jumped to a very high
value for MPLS, while MPLS with DiffServ delay variation remained at a very small value,
keeping the QoS performance at the required level.
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Figure 77: Video Calling Party PDV in congestion traffic
So, MPLS with DiffServ provides better performance than MPLS; i.e., delay and delay
variation for voice and video are always lower when using MPLS with DiffServ network.
Delay in the case of voice (Voip-Info.org - A reference guide to all things VOIP) is less
than 150 milliseconds, as standard in ITU-T G.114.
Thus, MPLS with QoS can be used to assign different Service Level agreements (SLA)
as it was discussed in chapter 6.
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Chapter 6
THE RESULTS AND OBSERVATIONS
In this chapter, the researcher would evaluate all Testing and experiment plans that
occurred and as shown in previous chapter, and the benefits of the related studies which would
help the organization (YemenNet) to implement all features of MPLS technology to get customer
satisfactions with SLA.
6.1 The Results Explanations
The main objective of this project is based on the MPLS technology and Customer base
performance analysis of conventional IP network and MPLS network in respect of VoIP & Video
traffic and also data application (FTP). The performance analysis is followed by presenting an
approach in OPNET to estimate the minimum number of VoIP calls that can be maintained in the
MPLS and IP networks and also MPLS with QoS.
The performance analysis in both networks is made on focusing on the performance
metrics such as voice jitter, voice packet delay variation, voice end-to-end delay, voice packet
send and received.
In the first scenario, the research started on MPLS with TE and IP and no QoS applied.
Based on the simulation results in Figure 49, Figure 50,Figure 51 and Figure 52, they can be
concluded that MPLS provides the best solution in implementing the real-time applications (VoIP
& Video Conferencing) and even non-real time application (FTP) compared to conventional IP
networks in normal case and in congestion case. The results in Figure 53, Figure 54, Figure 55,
and Figure 56 also gave a positive impact on MPLS network because of the following reasons:
MPLS with TE minimizes the congestion in the network because of traffic
distribution over links while conventional IP network is using the Shortest Path First
only one way until congestion.
LSR&LER MPLS Routers take less processing time in forwarding the packets; this is
more suitable for the real-time applications like VoIP and Video which posses less
tolerant to the network delays.
MPLS minimizes delay and provides high throughput compared to conventional IP
networks.
These reasons will give a good challenge to increase customer base by introducing
new services like VoIP and Video Conferencing and IPTV.
So, these results will help my organization (YemenNet) to stop thinking and investing in
the legacy network (TDM, FR and ATM) and start to deploy all places in my country with MPLS
network.
In the second scenario, with Fast Reroute shows the resilience of the network in case of
failures and how quickly the recovery can be occurred in MPLS network. According to the
simulation results in Figure 61 and Figure 62 gave a perfect solution with no loss data by using
Bypass Tunnel and no change in results, as shown in Figure 63, with and without failure
occurred.
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The conclusions of using FRR are as the following points:
Many-to-one Fast Reroute can be used to provide local protection against single
link, or node failures throughout an MPLS network.
When a PLR (Taiz LSR router in our scenario) detects an immediate downstream
link or node failure, it switches traffic to detour using label swapping. Another
detour merges back to the protected LSP, if feasible. Only one detour can be used
to protect one LSP.
Failover to Fast Reroute is significantly faster than to secondary routes because
the routes are precomputed, the paths are already established, and the failure
information only needs to reach the preceding LSR.
Deploying Fast Reroute effectively requires carefully considering the resiliency
strategy.
Fast Reroute or local protection done at point of failure can prevent loss of in-
flight data.
Utilize Fast Reroute (FRR) to mitigate packet loss associated with link and node
failures
Fast Reroute provides high network resiliency.
MPLS with FRR gives high customer satisfaction and guarantee of service
delivery even in failure case.
In the last scenario, the use of MPLS-QoS (DiffServ) gave a better results in delay sense
and throughput than using MPLS only, as described in Figure 67, Figure 68, Figure 69, Figure 70,
Figure 71, Figure 72, Figure 73, Figure 74, Figure 75, Figure 76, and Figure 77 in both cases. The
priority was applied for each packet by implementing DSCP codes, whereas EF has the best
priority and guarantee and AF4j>AF3j> AF2j>AF1j.
The conclusions of using MPLS with DiffServ are the following points:
MPLS with DiffServ provided faster traffic delivery than MPLS.
Data traffic (FTP) response time of MPLS with DiffServ was lower than the
response time of MPLS and it was much lower in the case of congestion.
The delay and delay variation for both VoIP and video show that MPLS with
DiffServ had lower delay than MPLS in both cases.
WFQ with different weight which has higher weight has lower delay in seconds
and lower queue usage in bytes.
Higher weight also gives higher guarantee and availability which increase
customer satisfaction.
MPLS with DiffServ can define SLA easily.
In these results, YemenNet can start to implement QoS based on SLA agreements as they
are explained in the following section.
6.2 Service Level Agreement (SLA)
Service Level Agreement (SLA) is a powerful mechanism for the service provider and its
customer to establish a service contract before the service delivery. In general, an SLA contains
the detailed information on service terms, QoS levels, service price, penalties, etc. Once an SLA
is agreed by both the service provider and its customer, the service provider will ensure the QoS
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according to the detailed description in the SLA. In a service-oriented architecture, SLA
management is a service negotiation gateway between the application service providers and their
customers. It allows clients to subscribe services by specifying their requirements.
The key components of the Service-Level Agreement (SLA) (Cheung, 2003, pp. 4-5)
(Babiarz, Chan, & Baker, 2004) are the Traffic Conditioning Agreement (TCA), the service
description and the commercial agreement. Supporting the SLA are the service levels or classes
that are available to the customers traffic. Traffic traveling under different classes of service
receives different levels of quality or performance. It is shown in Table 7.
Table 7: SLA Format
Service Class and
Description
Traffic Conditioning
Agreement (TCA)
Per-Hop Behavior
(PHB) Service Class
(DSCP)
Services on
Demand
Delay tolerant
applications such
as Internet/intranet
browsing, file transfer
Best-effort delivery
Unmanaged
performance
Normal availability
Low priority data
No Guaranteed
Default PHB
BE
Ordinary or
Normal
Multimedia
conferencing(H.323/V2
video conferencing)
Multimedia
streaming(Streaming
video and audio, web
cast)
Low latency
data(Telnet, HTTP, e-
commerce, chat)
High throughput
data(E-mail, FTP)
Low loss rate
Controlled latency
Controlled jitter
High availability &
Guaranteed
Assured forwarding
PHB
AF41
AF42
AF43
AF31
AF32
AF33
AF21
AF22
AF23
AF11
AF12
AF13
Platinum
Golden
Silver
Bronze
Real-time
applications (VoIP &
Video)
Very low loss rate
Very low jitter
Very low latency
Highest availability &
Guaranteed
Expedited forwarding
PHB
EF
Platinum +
An important function of the SLA is to assign responsibility for mapping traffic to the
different service classes offered.
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Service Description: This may include service name, business criticality, business function,
application type, application characteristics, application requirements, etc.
Traffic Conditioning Agreement (TCA): Each service is assigned a specific TCA, based on the
service description. The TCA defines the mechanisms used to realize the service, such as
accounting, marking and discarding.
Per-Hop Behavior (PHB): Defines a combination of forwarding, classification, and drop
behaviors at each hop in the network. A PHB service class is a collection of PHBs intended to be
applicable for transmitting packets of one particular service type. This determines the QoS that is
assigned to the customers traffic at each element in the network by defining the actions taken at
each router or switch, as described in Table 7.
PHBs are established at the edge of the network and provide the forwarding instruction
set that is used on a hop-by-hop basis to create a packet treatment for internal scheduling and
buffering of aggregate class-based flows.
This table and the simulation results would help my organization (YemenNet) to start
implementing QoS and inserting new services which definitely would increase customer base.
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Chapter 7
THE CONCLUSION AND RECOMMANDATIONS
In this chapter, the researcher mentioned the final assessment of what had in the project
and explained how the objectives of the project were met, to what extent and why some
objectives were not met. Finally, the discussion of possible improvements and recommendations
are mentioned which could be adopted in the future.
7.1 Final assessment of the project
In this project Paper, the researcher had evaluated the MPLS-TE, MPLS-FRR and
MPLS-QoS performance of real-time applications (VoIP and Video) and non-real-time
application (FTP) in terms of various performance metrics such as delay, delay variation,
throughput, utilization, and queuing delay in IP and MPLS networks. Three network scenarios
had been simulated with IP network and MPLS-TE, FRR and MPLS-DiffServ Network. The
simulations were carried out by using OPNET Modeler 14.5 and gave a positive impact on MPLS
network.
7.2 Answers the project objectives
In this point, the researcher tried to meet all the project objectives even though some
constraints were faced like the following:
The project resources were all from Internet due to lack of library and books for this
study.
There is no support from my organisation, except my individual experiences over 14
years in Yemen Telecom and YemenNet.
Electricity disconnections are frequent, hence, the use of the internet was hampered, and
that affected the writing of this research.
Time Constraints.
Here, the researcher explains the project objectives, with the use of related studies that
were met:
1. To identify the current services provided by YemenNet to customers.
Answer 1. Referring to chapter 4, the researcher mentioned all the current
services provided by YemenNet to customers which are non-real-time applications like
http, email, web hosting and ftp (data with PPP connections). Consequently, the core
MPLS network utilizations are less than 8 percent.
There are no other application that was used by MPLS except non-real time
applications and the demands of Internet Services (ADSL) have increased day by day, but
Yemen Telecom will implement VoIP and IPTV in the near future and we need to know
which transmission layer is the best for carrying these applications. This question gave a
good challenge for the researcher to compare between a legacy network (IP) and MPLS
network.
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2. To analyze the problems of services provided by YemenNet.
Answer 2. Also referring to chapter 4, the problems of services provided by
YemenNet are as follows:
Lack of MPLS-QoS implementation.
The MPLS Network is still covering only 40 percent of Yemen Republic.
Investments in legacy network (SDH and IP over ATM) still are there by top
management in YT.
Some Problems with copper wires network which give a bad services with
multi-disconnects in services.
No real-time applications are implemented except non-real time (data and
internet applications) which will increase customer base.
Increase Customer base needs to give a good quality of services from
services provider better than these services applied nowadays.
Top management did not give this network a special care because of lack of
knowledge about it.
3. To find ways to address the problems which were identified objective in no.2.
Answer 3. Based on the simulation results in chapter 5, the MPLS with DiffServ
(QoS) gave a better impact than using MPLS only, especially in congestion case. After
making these three scenarios, simulations by using OPNET Modeler 14.5 provided the
following:
The benefit of using and implementing MPLS with QoS which gave priority
and guarantee in traffic.
Both MPLS-TE and MPLS-QoS gave a complete conclusion, thats why this
network is better than using legacy network.
The experiments tests gave the fact that MPLS is the best solution for data
transmissions and must have been cared more from top management in YT
and YemenNet.
About copper wires network, the best solution is to replace these wires with
wireless network or implement fiber optics instead. Because of this project
scope the researcher put this solution in the technical recommendation.
4. To add additional services which may be provided by using MPLS technology.
Answer 4. Based on chapter 5, after adding new services like VoIP and Video
traffic as real-time applications, MPLS network gave a good solution to deploy these
services.
5. To assess the impact of the additional services by using MPLS technology. So the
additional Services are like the real-time applications (VoIP and Video)
implemented by using MPLS-TE , the quality of service (QoS) and care about
customer to get a service level agreement (SLA).
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Answer 5. Based on chapters 5 and 6, from the literature and studies and from the
simulation results (shown in Fig., , and), the researcher found that the real-time
applications by using MPLS-TE are less tolerant to network delays and packet loss. There
will be degradation in the VoIP service if it is implemented in a network which exhibit
high delays and packet loss.
The researcher can conclude that TE minimizes the congestion and provides the
scalability in the networks. It helps in managing the network effectively by efficiently utilizing
the available network resources.
The researcher has identified some crucial factors why IP networks are unsuitable for
implementing VoIP and video applications. IP networks offer little predictability of services and
exhibits high packet loss and more delays which are unacceptable for the real-time applications.
The simulation results show that the performance of VoIP and video applications are
increased when it is implemented in MPLS network with considering TE. OPNET modeler 14.5
is used for simulation. The performance metrics obtained from the simulation shows that due to
the added features like TE and MPLS-QoS mechanism of forwarding packets make MPLS a
better choice in transferring the VoIP and video communications.
Based on the review of literature and studies, it is concluded that using MPLS network
gives more number of VoIP calls which can be established when compared to IP networks.
According to MPLS with QoS implemented, the SLA can be concluded and gives a
good prototype for YemenNet (the service provider) and customer, as mentioned in chapter 6.
7.3 The future improvements
During the study of IT and Management courses, there are some recommendations that
can help my organization to start thinking about IT, and why it is important to operate any
business in order to make business-IT alignments.
7.4 YemenNet recommendations.
In addition to what had been presented in the previous chapters on the use of MPLS
technology, there are administrative and technical recommendations that would increase the
number of subscribers, they are as follows:
Administrative recommendations
Activation of incentives: It is common in the public sector, that the employees are
treated equally in additional financial incentives for employees, whether or not they have
worked for a particular product. This action might frustrate active employees and the
public sector; they must be distinguished from the others to maintain their performances.
Administrative System cares about attendance only (It's not fear): Administrative
System must be concerned with their Employees conditions and help to find solutions
for their problems. Also, find the remedial solution for their performance decrease, and
not to punish them for non-attendance without even knowing the reasons their absence.
Train and Support Employees to improve their Skills: (coaching, p. 4) Valued
employees are the ones that business owners invest in to help them further their careers
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and skills by developing a sense of ownership and responsibility that can boost a
business customer base dramatically. By helping that employee learn the skills needed to
promote the business to those contacts, it is possible to capture new customers. But
employees need attention, guidance, training, education, and incentives.
Technical teams must have a special concern: The top management must have special
concern for the technical team because they are the once that initiate actions and solve
technical problems when problems arise.
The relationship between managers and employees: It should be a relationship of
honesty and sincerity.
Managers must tell the truth and not promise what they cannot achieve: However, if
managers do the opposite, the employees will lose the confidence and will decrease their
performance at work.
Incorporate Customer Requirements into Your Operating Processes: This will be
accomplished during a series of sessions with the following goals: (Customer Lifecycle,
2012)
Identify those processes that require improvement efforts;
Gain commitment from process owners to utilize the customer data;
Translate customer needs and expectations into product and/or service
requirements;
Develop priorities for action;
Assign ownership and timing for action items;
Develop data-based action plans;
Establish performance metrics;
Implement customer-focused improvements; and
Define specific measures of progress.
Create a Powerful Customer-focused Value Proposition: A powerful value
proposition is a customer-focused description of value that demonstrates a companys
knowledge about the customers experience or challenge as well as the companys
specific offer to address it, underscored by what differentiates their offer from any other.
(Customer Lifecycle, 2012).
According to Wikipedia, value proposition is a promise of value to be delivered and a
belief from the customer that value will be experienced. A value proposition can apply to an
entire organization, or parts thereof, or customer accounts, or products or services.
Creating a value proposition is a part of business strategy. Kaplan and Norton say
"Strategy is based on a differentiated customer value proposition. Satisfying customers is the
source of sustainable value creation." (Barnes, Blake, & Pinder, 2009, p. 21)
Developing a value proposition is based on a review and analysis of the benefits, costs
and value that an organization can deliver to its customers, prospective customers, and other
constituent groups within and outside the organization. It is also a positioning of value, where
Value = Benefits - Cost (cost includes economic risk).
This point gave a chance to make a research about it to help any organization to develop
a value proposition and also gave another idea to help YemenNet.
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Technical recommendations
Solving the problems of copper network: There are problems in the copper
network and will find more when we use a copper line in the Internet or data
transmission services. Copper network gives poor services for customer and it has
developed a plan, but later to improve or to put another plan, to replace it by fiber-
optic network. In fiber-optic, it should use some new technology like FTTx and
GPON.
Increase customer base by asking for opinions: (Five Simple Ways to Increase
Your Customer Base, 2013) Before a web visitor leaves YemenNet website, request
that they complete a short survey related to your business services. People are happy
to express themselves and often enjoy telling you about their online and offline
experiences. You can use a survey to conduct industry research, customer experience
or measure customer satisfaction.
Keep YemenNet website content fresh: Fresh and informative content is one of the
main elements that pull in new visitors and potential customers. Keep your content
fresh by publishing a blog that reports the latest business news, key-takeaways from
whitepapers, and hot topics within your industry. Fresh content will also help your
website be found in search engines.
Keep update with the new IT technology: try to implement the new IT technology
first before any competitors do.
Keep up and maintain excellent customer support and service: A customers who
contact customer service about their first order is just as important as a customer who
contacts customer service about their tenth order. Treat each customer with respect
and take appropriate action. A happy customer is likely to tell at least three friends
about a positive experience and great customer service leads to increased sales.
Market Engineering is very important part in Marketing: lack of it in YemenNet.
Use Radio, TV, and Newspaper Advertising: It is just only one month in a year to
advertise about YemenNet services and it is not enough. It should be daily or
monthly, both in English and Arabic languages.
7.5 Future Works
This project gave a lot of future works and new ideas which are as follows:
GMPLS Technology.
MPLS-TP Technology.
LTE by using the new version of OPNET Modeler 17.5.
Network Security by using MPLS VPN.
Access networks by implementing FTTx and GPON.
Creating and developing a value proposition.
MPLS Technology is the best solution for data transmission and makes many networks to
be as one network.
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Adhikari, D., & Kharel, J. (2011). Performance Evaluation of Voice Traffic over MPLS Network
with TE and QoS Implementation. Karlskrona,Sweden: School of Computing Blekinge
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Almofary, N. H., Moustafa, H. S., & Zaki, F. W. (2012). Optimizing QoS for Voice and Video
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AlQahtani, S. M. (2010). QoS Comparisons for MPLS and MPLS/DiffServ networks. Riyadh:
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RSVP-TE: Extensions to RSVP for LSP Tunnels, RFC 3209. Retrieved January 12, 2013,
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increase-your-customer-base/
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Voice over IP (VoIP). Grimstad,Norway: Agder University College.
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Group, RFC 2597. Retrieved October 10, 2013, from https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2597
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December 12, 2013, from Huawei Enterprise:
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Retrieved October 8, 2013, from http://tools.ietf.org/search/rfc2598
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Traffic Engineering. Blekinge Institute of Technology.
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Simulation. (P. Jerry, Ed.) Journal of Information Technology Education , VII, 215-226.
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OPNETWORK 2004 , p. 71.
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MPLS Label Stack Encoding, RFC 3032. Retrieved September 7, 2013, from
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ms_landscape_guide__120212_20.12.12.pdf
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Appendix A
List of Abbreviations
AF Assured Forwarding
ANSI American National Standards Institute
ATM Asynchronous Transfer Mode
BA Behavior Aggregates
BE Best Effort
CCITT Consultative Committee on International Telephone and Telegraph
CCIP Cisco Certified Internetwork Professional
CoS Class of Service
CR-LDP Constraint-Routing Label Distribution Protocol
CSPF Constraint Shortest Path First
EF Expedited Forwarding
ETE Delay End To End Delay
DiffServ Differentiated Services
DES Discrete Event Simulation
DSCP Differentiated Services Code Point
DSL Digital Subscriber Line
DOI Digital Object Identifier
FEC Forward Equivalence Class; also, Functional Equivalent Class
FIB Forward Information Base
FIFO First In First Out
FR Frame Relay
FRR Fast Reroute
FTN FEC to NHLFE
FTTx Fiber To The "X." Whereas, "X" can be any location
GMPLS Generalized Multi-Protocol Label Switching
GPON Gigabit Passive Optical Network
GUI Graphic User Interface
IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
IP Internet Protocol
IGP Interior Gateway Protocol
ILM Incoming Label Map
ISIS Intermediate System to Intermediate System
ISP Internet Service Provider
IT Information Technology
ITU International Telecommunication Union
ITU-T Telecommunication Standardization Sector
IETF Internet Engineering Task Force
LAN Local Area Network
LDP Label Distribution Protocol
LER Label Edge Router
LFIB Label Forward Information Base
LIB Label Information Base
LSP Label Switch Path
LSR Label Switch Router
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LSA Link State Announcement (Messages that are exchanged in OSPF)
LTE Long Term Evolution
MPLS Multiple Protocol Label Switching; also Multiple Protocol Lambda
Switching
MP-BGP Multiprotocol Border Gateway Protocol
MPLS-TP MPLS Transport Profile
MSAN Multi Service Access Network or Node
MTIT Ministry of Telecommunication and Information Technology
MTU Maximum Transmission Unit
NHLFE Next Hop Label Forwarding Entry
NQR Network Quality Reporter is a simple IOS based pageant router tool
NS Network Simulator
OPNET Optimized Network Engineering Tool (software).
OSPF Open Shortest Path First
OSPF-TE OSPF- Traffic Engineering (An extension of OSPF)
PDN Packet Data Network
PDV Packet Delay Variation
PHB Per-Hob Behavior
PTC Public Telecommunication Corporation
PHP Penultimate Hop Popping
PDU Protocol Data Unit
PLR Point of Local Repair
QoS Quality of Service
RFC Request For Change (an IETF memorandum on Internet systems)
RSVP Resource Reservation Protocol
RSVP-TE RSVP-Traffic Engineering
RTP Real-Time Transport Protocol (digital switched telephony)
SDH Synchronous Digital Hierarchy
SLA Service Level Agreement
TCA Traffic Conditioning Agreement
TCP Transmission Control Protocol
TDM Time Division Multiplexing
TE Traffic Engineering
TGN Traffic Generator
ToS Type of Service
TTL Time to Live
UDP User Datagram Protocol
URL Uniform Resource Locator
VCI Virtual Channel Identifier
VoFR Voice over Frame Relay
VoIP Voice over IP
VPI Virtual Path Identifier
VPN Virtual Private Network
WDM Wavelength Division Multiplexing
WAN Wide Area Network
WFQ Weighted Fair Queuing
WWW World Wide Web
YT Yemen Telecom
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Appendix B
YemenNet Services
According to YemenNet website (Services - YemenNet), YemenNet Services were
summarized as follows:
1- Internet Leased Line Service:
This Service provided to connect companies and banks to Internet; and is recognized as
Leased Line Internet. This service features, through IP/MPLS, highly quality communication and
provides speeds up to 50 Mbps.
Features:
Fixed cost.
Same Download/Upload.
Unlimited around-the-clock usage.
Confidential data transition.
Around-the-clock technical support.
Permanent and dedicated communication. Internet will be available directly through the
local network. No need for telephone.
Ensure safe remote access to your own network from any location.
Provides high speed communication up to 50 mbps.
These prices for the government and commercial sectors, for operators please visit our
offices or contact us to get the service prices.
Table B-1: Internet Leased Line Service Fees
Speed Installation fees($)
Monthly subscription
fees($)
256 Kb/s 200.00 300
512 Kb/s 200.00 550
1 Mb/s 200.00 900
2 Mb/s 200.00 1500
4 Mb/s 200.00 2960
6 Mb/s 200.00 4500
8 Mb/s 200.00 6000
10 Mb/s 200.00 8000
12 Mb/s 200.00 9200
14 Mb/s 200.00 11300
16 Mb/s 200.00 12900
18 Mb/s 200.00 14400
20 Mb/s 400.00 16000
22 Mb/s 400.00 17500
24 Mb/s 400.00 19000
26 Mb/s 400.00 20500
28 Mb/s 400.00 21950
30 Mb/s 400.00 23400
40 Mb/s 400.00 31000
50 Mb/s 400.00 38550
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2- Data Transmission Service( My Private Developed Network Service):
It is provided to connect companies and banks to its branches across the country, and
recognized as Any-to-Any. This service provides communication without having to come back to
the headquarter. This is considered as an advantage; it reduces the pressure of traffic on the
headquarter and facilitates communication between the customers points.
Benefits:
Intranet VPN: Ability to connect all distant locations of intranets.
Any-to-Any communication: Able to create an effective mechanism to provide communication
network to branches with each other without referring to the headquarter.
Security: This is provided through creating special virtual network connection through MPLS
of YemenNet.
Flexibility: Simple to re-define the topology of customers network.
Able to develop: Structure of MPLS of YemenNet can be adapted easily with the growth and
complexity of the volume of customer.
Quality of Service: Supports different classification of a guaranteed service depending on
requirements of customer.
Availability and Credibility: With the conviction of YemenNet to provide this service to its
customers in all times. MPLS has been provided with the best technologies to ensure its
permanent availability for customers.
Features:
- Secure and private connection
- Ethernet connection that supports the speeds of bandwidth between 256 kbps to 50 mbps.
- Flexibility in configuring the network according to the requirements of a customer.
- Able to develop to meet the future growth of the customer business.
- Support different types of applications like data, voice and multimedia.
Service Fees:
This service is provided with different speeds starting from 256 kbps to 50 Mb/s.
List of prices of this service is as follows:
Table B-2: Private Developed Network Service Fees
Monthly Subscription($) Access Charges($) Speed
100 200 256 kbps
170 200 512 kbps
185 200 1 Mbps
240 200 2 Mbps
470 200 4 Mbps
710 200 6 Mbps
940 200 8 Mbps
1170 200 10 Mbps
1400 200 12 Mbps
1600 200 14 Mbps
1850 200 16 Mbps
2070 200 18 Mbps
2290 200 20 Mbps
2500 400 22 Mbps
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2720 400 24 Mbps
2930 400 26 Mbps
3140 400 28 Mbps
3350 400 30Mbps
4440 400 40 Mbps
5550 400 50 Mbps
3- My Fast Network Service:
It is provided to connect companies and banks with its branches across
the country. It is recognized as Point-to-Point. It provides connection service
backup at speeds that start at 128 kbps. The rate of service differs according to
where this is provided- local (within the same city) or national (within cities) and
the selected speed by the customer.
Benefits:
Point-to-Point Connection: Ability to create connection between a point-
to-point and it is distinguished with efficiency.
Secure and Privacy: It provides with establishing virtual network for
connection between a point and another through MPLS of "YemenNet":
Scalability: You can upgrade the bandwidth so easily to adapt with
expansion on your network. Quality of Service: Virtual Leased Line
provides benefits of real time which included meeting the requirements
of your needs like easy and accurate operation of voice, video and data.
Availability & Reliability: These features support the multiple options
on MPLS of "YemenNet".
Features:
Able to create an effective mechanism that provides communication
from point to point between two locations.
Easy to upgrade the bandwidth when necessary. Several options of
bandwidth that starts from 256 Kbps and reaches 50 Mbps.
Fees will not be based on distance and will be on the basis of the
location of your offices across Yemen.
Support different applications like data, voice and Multimedia.
One Ethernet interface for services.
Table B-3: My Fast Network Service Fees
Monthly
Fees Between
Cities $
Monthly
Fees Within City $
Access
Charges $
Speed
110 70 200 128 Kbps
195 130 200 256 Kbps
255 195 200 512 Kbps
290 230 200 1 Mbps
390 240 200 2 Mbps
700 480 200 4 Mbps
1.050 710 200 6 Mbps
1.400 946 200 8 Mbps
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1.750 1.170 200 10 Mbps
2.100 1.400 200 12 Mbps
2.450 1.630 200 14 Mbps
2.800 1.850 200 16 Mbps
3.100 2.100 200 18 Mbps
3.450 2.290 200 20 Mbps
3.750 2.500 400 22 Mbps
4.100 2.700 400 24 Mbps
4.400 2.900 400 26 Mbps
4.700 3.140 400 28 Mbps
5.000 3.440 400 30 Mbps
6.600 4.440 400 40 Mbps
8.300 5.520 400 50 Mbps
4- Static IP
Static IP is used as an additional service, for users of Golden Subscription, ADSL, or the
Leased Line. Many companies and corporation request this service to reach its system and
networks directly through the internet and to connect its branches through internet. A fixed IP is
reserved or a group of IPs in Subnet, as requested by the company.
Table B-4: Static IP Fees
S Package
Number of
IP Addresses
Cost Per IP
Address
1 First 1 80$
2 Second 2 80$
3 Third 6 70$
4 Fourth 14 60$
5- Advertising Via E-mail
A service enables you to transmit advertising messages to all registered emails in
YemenNet. The formula of the advertisement should be submitted in CD to the General
Administration of Data Network and Internet to go through it. After approval the advertisement
will be sent to the "YemenNet" subscribers e-mails for once.
Table B-5: Advertising Via E-mail Fees
S Type of Advertisement Price
1 Service 200$
2 Commercial 300$
6- Frame Relay Service:
"YemenNet" Frame Relay Service, a packet switching protocol service for WAN
connectivity, eliminates the need for companies to build, maintain and operate private networks.
Local Area Networks (LANs) are now common in most office environments and it is becoming
more and more essential to share information between these LANs.
The service provides an Access Link from your premises using point-to point-virtual
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circuits. The service is then managed over "YemenNet" Frame Relay Public Network. Frame
Relay can be used locally or nationally.
Features:
A single technical standard for all your communication needs.
Ability to assign available bandwidth on demand.
Table B-6: Frame Relay Service Fees
Speed Kb/s
Monthly
Fees Within City $
Monthly
Fees Between Cities
$
Access
Charges $
64 60 100 400
128 120 200 400
256 160 240 400
384 200 280 400
512 240 320 400
1024 280 360 400
2048 320 400 400
7- Webhosting Service:
If you wish to achieve effective communication with your customers and your data will
be visible on internet, they should be stored on PC or Server connected with the Internet.
"YemenNet" leases a dedicated capacity on its own 24-hour servers, seven days per week. You
can download information on the server with the latest instruments.
This package features the following:
Suits users needs of medium category
Appropriate and limited prices
Medium webhosting capacity
Advanced administration instruments that suits the different applications
Table B-7: Professional Package
Details Business Enterprise Ultimate
Annual fees 250 350 450
Capacity 3 GB 5GB 10GB
Open Emails 75 150 350
Sub Domain Names 20 30 Unlimited
Database Volume 250 M 500 M 1000 M
Monthly Web Traffic
Bandwidth
Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited
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Free Added Services
control panel
FTP
POP3 Support
Windows OS
MS SQL Server
ASP.Net
PHP
MYSQL
Linux OS
MYSQL
Golden Technical Support
Table B-8: Non Free Extra Services
Upgrade Account 100$
Add Domain 20$
Broadcast Email 200$
8- Domain Name Service
If you wish to achieve effective communication with your customers and your data is
visible on internet, they should be stored on PC or Server connected with the Internet.
"YemenNet" leases a dedicated capacity on its own 24-hour servers, seven days per week. You
can download information on the server with the latest instruments.
"YemenNet" Provide these service backup in packages and plans suits your needs as
follows:
www.YourDomain.com.ye
www.YourDomain.net.ye
www.YourDomain.org.ye
www.YourDomain.info.ye
www.YourDomain.gov.ye
www.YourDomain.edu.ye
Table B-9 : This package features the following:
Domain name Annual subscription fees
Name.com.ye 40 $
Name.gov.ye 40 $
Name.net.ye 40 $
Name.ye 70 $
9- ADSL(Super Yemen Net) Golden Subscription
High speed internet service that aims at large-scale users of internet, for example
(companies and Internet Cafes). Consumption is calculated upon the renewal validity date
whatever the volume of downloaded data is (Unlimited download).
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Table B-10 : ADSL(Super Yemen Net) Golden Subscription Fees
S Details Cost
1 Service Access Charge 5000 YR
2 Speed increase Fees Free
3 Speed Decrease Fees 2000 YR
4 Service Transfer Fees 3.500 YR
S Connection Speed Monthly Fees
1 256 kb/s 6,750 YR
2 512 kb/s 10,500YR
3 1 Mb/s 13,500 YR
4 2 Mb/s 16,500 YR
5 4 Mb/s 28,000 YR
10- ADSL (Super Yemen Net) Silver Subscription
High speed service that is dedicated for limited internet usage for example (homes,
SOHO). Consumption is calculated according to the balance of units (volume of downloaded
data), either downloading or uploading of files, browsing or chatting (Limited download).
Table B-11: ADSL Fees (Home Users)
S Details Cost
1 Service Access Charges 3.000 YR
2 Speed Increase Fees Free
3 Speed Decrease Fees 2000 YR
4 Service Transfer Fees 3.500 YR
Table B-12: ADSL Fees and Data Traffic Volume (Home Users)
Connection Speed Data Traffic Volume Monthly Fees
256 kb/s 9 G 2250 YR
512 kb/s 12 G 3000 YR
1 Mb/s 18G 4500 YR
2 Mb/s 25 G 6750 YR
4 Mb/s 40 G 11250 YR
11- Dial up internet
Normal-speed internet service made through connecting your service provider
YemenNet. You can have access to the Internet Network, through dialing up the No. 122,
using User name and Password, provided to you by Yemen net. The rate is 1.5YR/minute.
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Appendix C
PTCs Approval Sheet
This letter is approved by Director General of PTC (Public Telecommunication
Corporation in Yemen Telecom) and listed the six engineers that the researcher is number five in
the list.
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Appendix D
Curriculum Vitae
Abdulrahman Mohammed Abutaleb
Home Address: Nogom zone, Sana'a City,
Yemen Republic
Cell Phone Number: +967-777-011-890
Email: abutaleb@yemen.net.ye
Gender: Male
Date of Birth: July 20, 1973
Place of Birth: Sana'a City, Yemen
Age: 40
Religion: Muslim
Citizenship: Yemeni
Civil Status: Married and have daughter and son
Height: 187 cm.
Weight: 80 kg.
Language: Arabic, English
Current location: Aljuraf,AP st. , Sana'a City
Desktop support and computer management
Troubleshooting
Networking
Basic Programming language include:
HTML PHP
Java C++
Reliable and hardworking thorough in completing projects
Responsible, capable and hardworking
Self-motivated, knows what it take to get the job completed
Enjoy my work and consistently greet customers with a smile
Communication Engineer (Data Network Engineer).
Date of the designation for the work in Public Telecommunication Corporation(PTC)
in June 2000.(At Transmission section +Data Network & Internet Administration)
After taking training in program preparation for the new engineers (October 12, 1999
to June 28, 2000) in Transmissions and Microwave communications at General -
Telecommunication Institute (GTI).
Data Network Administrator in 2005, Technical Committee member in 2008.
IP/MPLS Project Coordinator in March 2009.
I. PERSONAL INFORMATION
II. HIGHLIGHTS OF QUALIFICATION
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Fast Lerner, honest, reliable, productive
High Education Taiz University - Yemen & TU Delft University -
Netherlands Support in 2010 with Preparing Master's degree in
IT & M.
College Education: University of Sana'a - Yemen
Bachelor's degree of Electrical Engineering (Electronics and
Communications) in 1998 with grade of 3.05.
In 1999, teaching for one year in my Faculty of Engineering.
Secondary School Education: Omer Almukhtar (1989-1991)
Preparatory: Amar Bin Yasser (1986-1988)
Elementary: Ammar Bin Yasser (1980-1985)
Having special training courses in Egypt in the following:
- In Sugar And Integrated Industries (Alhaomdiah) (Summer 1997)
- El Nasr Automotive Manufacturing Co. (nasco) (Summer 1998)
and so on.
Training course in SDH transmission at GTI (November 4, 2000 to
November 15, 2000).
Training course in Introduction to data Network and Internet in GTI
(November 6, 2001 to November 18, 2001).
Training course in CCNA, ATM and Frame Relay Technology in Egypt
(December 6, 2001 to December 22, 2001).
Training course in CCNP in Malaysia and Philippine (January 9, 2004 to
February 15, 2004).
Training course in Internet (ADSL) in Belgium (January 29, 2005 to
February 14, 2005).
Training course in MTCP Program (CDMA, Satellite system and computing
systems) in Malaysia (September 3, 2005 to October 15, 2005).
Training course in Datacom Course (IP/MPLS Technology) in Huawei
University, Shenzhen, China (February 4, 2009 to March 10, 2009).
Training course in ITEC Program (Broadband Technologies and Future
Trends) in CETTM Institute, Mumbai, India (October 17, 2011 to December
9, 2011).
III. EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND
IV. SKILL(S), INTEREST(S), AND ACCOMPLISHMENT(S)
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Training course in advance Datacom Course to test some features in
IP/MPLS Technology in Huawei R&D, Beijing, China (December 27, 2012
to January 10, 2013).
I hereby certify that the information above is true and correct to the best of my
knowledge and have been made in good faith.
Abdulrahman M. Abutaleb
The Applicant

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