NSF Award
0099137
Next generation high-speed networks are expected to support exciting new applications involv-<br/>ing multi-media traffic, such as video-conferencing, tele-medicine, video-on-demand, and web<br/>TV, in addition to countless other yet-to-be-conceived network applications. The viability and<br/>the continuing success of these networks will depend crucially upon their ability to offer high<br/>performance with regard to latency, delay variation, and bandwidths they can provide to these<br/>myriad of applications. Customers will demand high-quality multimedia services, and not be<br/>satisfied with the kind of high-latency, variable delay that is characteristic of the current Inter-<br/>net. The various performance requirements from the users and the sheer size of these networks<br/>make it imperative that we properly understand at a fundamental level how to design, engi-<br/>neer, and control these networks, and develop appropriate methodologies. It is also essential<br/>that these tools be evaluated in terms of complexity and accuracy using experimentation (i.e.,<br/>testbed) and simulation.<br/> To address the challenges described above, we propose to develop an innovative approach<br/>that harnesses the power of combined measurement and analysis to create design and control<br/>tools for next generation networks. We plan to elaborate on the approach in the context of:<br/>performance evaluation (i.e., QoS estimation), and QoS-sensitivity estimation.<br/> These issues form the foundation required to solve key network design and control problems.<br/>Building upon our approach|combining analysis with measurements|we will then focus on<br/>on a variety of problems that have to be addressed in order for networks to support QoS:<br/> admission control, congestion control,<br/> QoS-based routing, and<br/> network design and dimensioning.<br/>Our proposed solutions to the above problems will be supported and refined by extensive<br/>empirical studies on our experimental platform. This platform is capable of supporting a<br/>variety of network technologies and traffic characteristics.<br/> Our research team has been at the forefront of the development of important results in traffic<br/>analysis, network design, and control, and is committed to creating the necessary synergy for<br/>addressing the key problems outlined above. Our team already has a significantly productive<br/>track record in previous collaborative efforts.<br/> We are planning to address a set of problems that are critically important for deploying<br/>next generation networks with the capability of offering high bandwidth and stringent QoS to<br/>users. Creating a future broadband network that is exible, efficient, robust, and controllable<br/>is essential to the viability of our economy and to the different communities within it. Hence, if<br/>our research is successful, it will have a significant impact on the delivery of services necessary<br/>to meet the diverse needs of education, business, and entertainment.
