Recent widespread of small electronic devices with a low capacity microprocessor and wireless communication capabilities integrated, has given place to the emergence of new communication scenarios, mainly characterized by their heterogeneity and ubiquity. As an example, in the near future, it will be very common for users to access and control electrical appliances or high performance sensors in remote locations just by using their mobile phone or PDA. However, for these environments to achieve the expected success they must probe to be secure and reliable. The security algorithms and mechanisms used to date are meant for powerful workstations and not suitable for small devices with specific constraints regarding energy and processing power. Therefore, in this paper we present a lightweight authentication and authorization solution based on the Kerberos symmetric key protocol, and we propose an extension of its functionalities in order to add authorization support.

Together with the IMO’s future navigation system implementation strategy, the e-navigation, wireless access technologies are proliferating on the maritime scenario, covering last mile communications. In the near future, we foresee that communication technologies will coexist and will be available in overlapping areas through the maritime last mile. Therefore, in order to enhace ship-shore communications, always best-connected procedures and an efficient mobility management protocol is required to satisfy maritime context peculiarities such as safety and security. In this article we analyze the most suitable mobility management protocol in terms of security and handover efficiency and propose a novel architecture that integrates the HIP protocol and always-best-connected procedures to best achieve maritime context specifications.

Today, collaboration is considered a way to improve efficiency and quality of work and this concept is spreading quickly over the technological world, giving place to the creation of ubiquitous and distributed collaborative environments where the different high level services are composed from more basic modules. A typical example of this kind of environments are the NGCWEs (Next Generation Collaborative Working Environments), which are mainly characterized by the utilization of heterogeneous and low capacity mobile devices. In this paper we take into account all the special features that characterize NGCWEs in order to propose a security model which best fits their requirements. With this aim, we have developed a solution based on symmetric cryptography, and we have introduced the concept of a centralized authorization server, in order to minimize the load that the security solution imposes over the final systems.

Today, collaboration is considered a way of improving efficiency and quality of work. This concept is spreading quickly over the technological world, resulting in the organisation of ubiquitous and distributed collaborative environments, which try to provide high-level services based on the interaction among different basic modules. A typical example of this kind of environments are the NGCWEs (Next Generation Collaborative Working Environments). Such working environments try to integrate the experiences of the workers into the system, for which they make use of sensors and low capacity mobile devices. In this paper we take into account all the special features that characterize NGCWEs in order to propose a security model which best fits their requirements. Therefore, we have developed a solution based on symmetric cryptography, and we have introduced the concept of a centralized authorization server, minimizing the load the security solution imposes over the final systems.

Since the appearance of Next Generation Networks (NGN), access and aggregation networks (even core networks) have suffered significant improvements and architectural evolutions. The idea of network convergence, something in which providers are very interested, is closely related with these deployments, as the same network must be capable of transporting all the existent telecommunication services (voice, video and data). This paper introduces an architectural model which is based on Broadband Forum technical recommendations for Multi-Service (TR-058), and makes use bridging technology in all the nodes. In this model, Carrier-Class Ethernet has been selected as transport technology in order to achieve convergence in provider networks. Then, a radically new approach for network convergence is presented, Bridging Virtualization. This approach introduces the concept of instances to differentiate service requests. Finally, a secure alternative to the instantiation of multiple services is presented (EAPOL-in-EAPOL).

Network convergence is one of the main challenges of NGN, and Carrier-Grade Ethernet is a very promising choice to achieve this as the transport technology of future network architectures. CGE consists of a group of technologies standardized by the IEEE, such as PB (802.1ad), PBB (802.1ah) or PBB-TE (802.1Qay). Commercial products sometimes take a long time to be available and are close platforms. Moreover, research entities have founding limitations to obtain those resources. Therefore, a new set of tools are proposed to overcome these restrictions and achieve a complete network scheme based on CGE technologies. The Click Project has been used as the basic element for this development. Firstly, new basic elements have been defined as Click modules to emulate CGE behaviours. Then, tap devices (Layer 2 virtual network devices) have been used to virtualize the network connections between elements. Finally, the virtual bridges are built with both resources. A new GUI has also been developed to make scenario composition lighter. Network definition is carried out on a graphical basis, and then the elements run as Click processes. The network can be split up in several machines, since taps can be changed by real interfaces. Input/output traffic can be from/to real devices (merging both real and virtual worlds), and traffic can be sniffed from every virtual device. As a final contribution, a new approach for network convergence based on Bridging Virtualization is presented, in which every network element can act simultaneously as PB, PBB or PBB-TE (or any new definition).

Broadband service delivery has experienced a great evolution due to significant technological advances, which have favored the appearance of new business models. In this context, multi-play services denote the provisioning of several broadband services over a single broadband connection. In current deployments, there are a concrete number of services available (the same for all the customers), and bandwidth is pre-allocated by each service. This paper proposes a new approach that addresses this topic in a generic way. The new architecture does not impose any restrictions and handles the multi-service delivery with independence of the number of services. The new multi-play approach makes use of Carrier-Grade Ethernet to achieve network convergence, which means that the same network resources are used to carry all the broadband services. Carrier-Grade Ethernet is an umbrella term for a group of initiatives and standards that try to overcome the restrictions of Ethernet as carrier transport technology. Some of these standards such as Provider Bridges, Provider Backbone Bridges, PBB-Traffic Engineering, or Shortest Path Bridging are introduced. Finally, this paper proposes a built-in security scheme, which controls the admission to the network by preventing unauthorized users from accessing services. This approach is based on a modified version of IEEE 802.1X which permits the simultaneous establishment of multiple authentication processes, one per each service that the customer requests.

Advances of diverse wireless access technologies are defining the trends of future wireless networks, named Next Generation Wireless Networks (NGWN), where several access technologies will coexist and devices will be equipped with different network interfaces, in order to take advantage of each access technology. In NGWN communication maintenance is a concept willing to reach. Therefore, strategies to tackle mobility and multihoming issues are required. In this paper we propose an extension of HIP in order to cover challenges that end to end mobility presents in NGWN. Our approach consists on sending access technology related information before handover execution occurs, in order to optimize handover process. Moreover, the extension tackles QoS issues by sending application requirements as well as restrictions or improvements affecting its performance in the new access technology.