Abstract: A programmable spectrum switch located on a single node has a first radio access technology (RAT) interface communicating utilizing the licensed frequency spectrum; and a second RAT interface communicating utilizing the unlicensed frequency spectrum. A flow table may be maintained having a flow-matching rule and a corresponding forwarding action represented by a weight, wherein the flow-matching rule is specified by matching, fully or partially, one or more fields in a packet header to specific values, and wherein a specific weight value associated with the weight specifies one of the following: (a) what fraction of packets should be forwarded to the first RAT interface, (b) a code vector associated with a unique policy, (c) multicasting over both the first and second RAT interfaces, or (d) coded multicasting where packets of the matching flow are encoded together and forwarded in a round robin fashion via the first and second RAT interfaces.

Abstract: Disclosed within is a communication architecture for medium access control (MAC) layer virtualization, where the architecture is made up of: a MAC layer, a plurality of physical resource blocks (RBs) associated with the MAC layer, a plurality of virtual medium access control (vMAC) layers (each vMAC layer corresponding to a separate service group, where each service group programs its own scheduling logic in each vMAC instance), a plurality of virtual resource blocks (vRBs) associated with each vMAC layer (the vRBs filled with data packets according to the scheduling logic in each vMAC instance), where the MAC layer virtualizes the RBs as vRBs and assigns them to each vMAC layer.

Abstract: Disclosed within is a communication architecture for medium access control (MAC) layer virtualization, where the architecture is made up of: a physical MAC layer, a plurality of physical resource blocks (RBs) associated with the MAC layer, a plurality of virtual medium access control (vMAC) layers, where each vMAC layer corresponds to a separate service group, with each service group programming its own scheduling logic in each vMAC layer, and a plurality of virtual resource blocks (vRBs) associated with each vMAC layer, where the vRBs are filled with data packets according to the scheduling logic in each vMAC instance. The physical MAC layer virtualizes the RBs as vRBs and assigns them to each vMAC layer according to a service level agreement associated with each service group, and each vMAC maps traffic flows of subscribers associated with it onto the assigned vRBs.

Abstract: One or both end points of the communication and a network controller of a software defined network (SDN) agree on a definition of a traffic flow that varies as a function of time, where communicating end points vary one or more fields of the packet headers at the sender side before sending the flow packets to the network according to an agreed upon procedure with the network controller. The network controller dynamically updates the forwarding tables in forwarding elements such that whenever source node transitions into the next epoch, and thus alter the header fields, a corresponding forwarding rule is already installed onto the forwarding elements along the route of the packet towards the other end point of the communication, referred to as destination node.

Abstract: Disclosed within is a communication architecture for medium access control (MAC) layer virtualization, where the architecture is made up of: a physical MAC layer, a plurality of physical resource blocks (RBs) associated with the MAC layer, a plurality of virtual medium access control (vMAC) layers, where each vMAC layer corresponds to a separate service group, with each service group programming its own scheduling logic in each vMAC layer, and a plurality of virtual resource blocks (vRBs) associated with each vMAC layer, where the vRBs are filled with data packets according to the scheduling logic in each vMAC instance. The physical MAC layer virtualizes the RBs as vRBs and assigns them to each vMAC layer according to a service level agreement associated with each service group, and each vMAC maps traffic flows of subscribers associated with it onto the assigned vRBs.

Abstract: A hierarchy of controllers that are part of a communication network include: (1) a network controller at the top of the hierarchy having direct access to at least one subscription profile, ProfileUE, associated with at least one User Equipment (UE), (2) a radio access network (RAN) controller located at a level directly beneath the network controller receiving the subscription profile, Profile UE,, from the network controller, (3) a base station controller associated with a base station and located beneath the RAN controller in the hierarchy, (4) a UE controller associated with an UE located beneath the base station controller in the hierarchy.