Achieving End-to-End Connectivity in Global Multi-Domain Networks

Current trends on 5G network programmability evidence the need for end-to-end flexibility from the node and edge all the way to the cloud. Such multi-domain scenarios require realistic testbeds where different task-offloading algorithms, scheduling functions, and service orchestration techniques can be deployed and tested. While many of these research components can be often explored locally in small and isolated testbeds, new 5G demands are requesting for inter-operable platforms with a wider and a more global scope. The goal for these global platforms is that they can cope with multi-tier hierarchical architectures that are capable to face intense computational processes and heavy network traffic loads, while preserving dependability and keeping a low latency on the task executions and data transmission. In this paper we demonstrate a world-wide attempt to integrate different high-performance testing facilities, located in USA, Belgium, and The Netherlands, to enable experimentation on top of such large and complex architectures. In order to do this, we describe and deploy a multi-domain use case that can benefit from a global hierarchical infrastructure. Finally, we detail the performance characteristics of the deployment, discussing the experiences and technical challenges, and presenting the lessons learned we obtained when building and testing such experimental use case.