1. Research Rationale.
The communications industry is an industry which rarely sleeps. Technological advances are
always being sought for new methods of transferring more data from point A to point B at ever
faster speeds.
The communications industry finds itself in a position where the expectations for data transfer
capability between devices is exceedingly high and finds itself having to cater for demands in-
creasing between 100% and 300% annually, depending on the industry sector.
Operators and regulators are faced with a number of competing technologies. Research into
these technologies and their assessment may assist in the progression of advancements.
What is Cloud Computing?
For many, Cloud is a concept that has been established for many years but
is now known under this new term. There are many established companies
providing Cloud services and the reliance on these services is on the in-
crease.
Cloud computing is a very broad term which has been associated with many
evolving application technologies and trends. Very broadly speaking, cloud
computing could fall into the below categories:
• Software and software licensing, i.e. running software remotely from
the “cloud”
• Processing, storing, sharing and distribution of files, documents and
media.
Industry commentators often liken cloud services to a company making use
of a courier company for distribution around the globe rather than setting up
and maintaining their own distribution network
Who uses Cloud?
A recent report by the study group OVUM showed that “63 per cent of Multi-
national Corporations (MNCs) in Asia-Pacific reported the uptake of at least
one of the cloud services categories; networking, communications, applica-
tions, corporate IT systems, as well as data management, security and back
-up.”
Two problems for the uptake of cloud services:
• companies are weary to invest as they did in the dot.com era as it is
difficult for any of the industry players to predict the uptake of the
individual services they are wanting to offer.
• standards have not yet been defined, no-one is sure of the route
cloud services will take.
People and corporations are concerned about their data, its protection and
its security.
Recently, one of the larger hosts of Cloud services, Amazon, under the
name EC2 experienced a major network outage, These sort of disruptions
highlight vulnerabilities for the providers of Cloud services but do very little
for the confidence of potential customers.
Charles J Edwards
Student ID: 20253662
May 2011
Supervisor: Alistair Kirkpatrick
CLOUD COMPUTING:
THE CHALLENGES FOR DATA NETWORKS
Predicted take-up of Cloud services (Ried & Kisker, 2011)
Future-Proofing data infrastructure
As was the case in the dot.com era, the internets’ infrastructure needs a large amount of
investment to keep pace with the current trend of expectation.
There are a number of projects either underway or being considered by operators , gov-
ernments and organisations. These include:
• Fibre Rollout– The UK government has ambitious plans to work with private enter-
prises such as Virgin Media and BT to radically upgrade the existing infrastructure
with fibre. China Telecom are striving towards expectations laid out in China’s “Five
-year plan” to provide fibre to 100million subscribers by the end of 2015.
• IPv6– Other than providing the internet with 2128
addresses, IPv6 brings along with it
additional features and it would inadvertently reduce background radiation on the
networks
• MPLS and QoS: Multiple Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) allows operators to
merge existing technologies, reducing the amount of conversion.
• The use of Integrated and differentiated services
• MODE-GAP project– part of the EU’s Seventh Frame-
work Programme. Its aim is to develop multi-mode ca-
pacity enhancement with PBG fibre and targets a 100
fold enhancement in the overall capacity of the broad-
band core networks. The project is set to run from Octo-
ber 2010 through to September 2014.
• Spectral Efficiency– Attaining improved spectrally effi-
cient modulation schemes and communications systems is imperative for wireless
communications. For many mobile phone operators their capacity limitations are
shifting towards spectrum limitations. Issuing operators with spectrum within the
Digital Dividend provides a balance of cost and coverage.
• LTE and IMT-advanced– Long Term Evolution is the successor to the current 3G
networks and the precursor to IMT-advanced ). IMT-advanced
will be an all IP network offering speeds of up to 1Gbit/s
with spectral efficiency reaching 15 bit/s/Hz
• Mobile network caching and application optimisation– There is
much room for optimisation in mobile phones and for intelligent
networks.
• Reconfigurable Radio Systems (RRS)- is further subdivided into two areas:
• Cognitive Radio/Dynamic Spectrum Access technology that is a radio or
system that senses, and is aware of, its operational environment, dynami-
cally and autonomously adjusting its radio operating parameters accord-
ingly by collaborating with surrounding wireless and locations information
services, making use of under-utilised spectrum spaces (White Spaces)
• Software Defined Radio– The number of radios in a mobile device is sky-
rocketing. The expected solution is that engineers will be able to design
software systems such that the components controlled by these systems
are tuneable over a wide range
• All Optical Networks (AON)- Fibre optic networks are a reality today. Advance-
ments such as in the MODE-GAP project are constantly being made but there is still
a large amount of Optical-Electrical-Optical conversion taking place. AON’s call for
devices in such networks to work solely in the time domain.
So what’s the problem?
One of the issues hampering investment in data networks is that while the operators
(both fixed and mobile) are expected to deploy ever faster networks to cope with the
consumer demand, they are finding their revenue falling.
In terms of bandwidth, cloud computing could be considered a blip when compared
to the size and scale of hungry content rich services such as Youtube, BBC iplayer,
Netflix and other IPTV entertainment solutions.
These services combined with businesses heading towards cloud solutions, de-
mands from educational institutions and government economic strategies place em-
phasis on the possible future expectations placed on the internet and data infrastruc-
tures.
The chart above is a representative snapshot of the London Internet Exchange (LINX) switches spanning a
period from 2005 to beginning 2010. [https://www.linx.net/pubtools/trafficstats.html (Ofcom, 2010) ]

2. This story can fit 150-
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cludes thousands of clip
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ter. There are also sev-
eral tools you can use to
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bols.
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ness. Sales figures or
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Some newsletters in-
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umn, a book review, a
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ees or top customers or
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This story can fit 100-
150 words.
The subject matter that
appears in newsletters is
virtually endless. You
can include stories that
focus on current tech-
nologies or innovations
in your field.
You may also want to
note business or eco-
nomic trends, or make
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tomers or clients.
“To catch the
reader's
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place an
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sentence or
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Page 2 NEWSLETTER TITLE
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graphic.
Caption describing picture or
graphic.

3. This story can fit 150-
200 words.
One benefit of using your
newsletter as a promo-
tional tool is that you can
reuse content from other
marketing materials,
such as press releases,
market studies, and re-
ports.
While your main goal of
distributing a newsletter
might be to sell your
product or service, the
key to a successful
newsletter is making it
useful to your readers.
A great way to add use-
ful content to your news-
letter is to develop and
write your own articles,
or include a calendar of
upcoming events or a
special offer that pro-
motes a new product.
You can also research
articles or find “filler”
articles by accessing the
World Wide Web. You
can write about a variety
of topics but try to keep
your articles short.
Much of the content you
put in your newsletter
can also be used for
your Web site. Microsoft
Publisher offers a simple
way to convert your
newsletter to a Web pub-
lication. So, when you’re
finished writing your
newsletter, convert it to a
Web site and post it.
context.
Microsoft Publisher in-
cludes thousands of clip
art images from which
you can choose and
import into your newslet-
ter. There are also sev-
eral tools you can use to
draw shapes and sym-
bols.
Once you have chosen
an image, place it close
to the article. Be sure to
This story can fit 75-125
words.
Selecting pictures or
graphics is an important
part of adding content to
your newsletter.
Think about your article
and ask yourself if the
picture supports or en-
hances the message
you’re trying to convey.
Avoid selecting images
that appear to be out of
place the caption of the
image near the image.
Inside Story Headline
Inside Story Headline
Inside Story Headline
If the newsletter is dis-
tributed internally, you
might comment upon
new procedures or im-
provements to the busi-
ness. Sales figures or
earnings will show how
your business is grow-
ing.
Some newsletters in-
clude a column that is
updated every issue, for
instance, an advice col-
umn, a book review, a
letter from the president,
or an editorial. You can
also profile new employ-
ees or top customers or
vendors.
This story can fit 100-
150 words.
The subject matter that
appears in newsletters is
virtually endless. You
can include stories that
focus on current tech-
nologies or innovations
in your field.
You may also want to
note business or eco-
nomic trends, or make
predictions for your cus-
tomers or clients.
“To catch the
reader's
attention, place
an interesting
sentence or
quote from the
story here.”
Page 3VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1
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or graphic.
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or graphic.

4. This would be a good place to insert a short para-
graph about your organization. It might include the
purpose of the organization, its mission, founding
date, and a brief history. You could also include a
brief list of the types of products, services, or pro-
grams your organization offers, the geographic
area covered (for example, western U.S. or Euro-
pean markets), and a profile of the types of cus-
tomers or members served.
It would also be useful to include a contact name
for readers who want more information about the
organization.
BUSINESS NAME
Your business tag line here.
Primary Business Address
Your Address Line 2
Your Address Line 3
Your Address Line 4
Phone: 555-555-5555
Fax: 555-555-5555
E-mail:
Organization
We’re on the Web!
example.com
the attention of readers. You
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created for your organization.
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You can also use this space to
remind readers to mark their
calendars for a regular event,
such as a breakfast meeting for
vendors every third Tuesday of
the month, or a biannual charity
auction.
If space is available, this is a
good place to insert a clip art
image or some other graphic.
Back Page Story Headline