[Moderator's note: the Secure Routing focus may be of
interest to some
readers. --Perry]
************************************************************
***********
Announcing DIMACS 2007-2010 Special Focus on
Algorithmic Foundations of the Internet
http
://dimacs.rutgers.edu/SpecialYears/2007_AFI/
************************************************************
***********
The Internet has an ever-expanding role in our daily lives;
yet, it is
arguably one of the most fragile components of our nation's
critical
infrastructure. The Internet was designed as a research
network
without the expectation that it would eventually be used
for
everything from banking, commerce, and telecommunications to
the
remote management of power networks. The scale and
heterogeneity of
the Internet have far surpassed all expectations, and the
Internet is
responding by showing signs of strain. Moreover, new
applications
heighten the need for security and network management
capabilities,
neither of which were major goals in the original design of
Internet
protocols.
DIMACS is hosting a 3-year special focus devoted to the
study of
algorithms and protocols for large-scale networks. The focus
is
scheduled to start in August 2007 and continue through July
2010. The
special focus aims to enhance our understanding of the
limitations of
today's protocols, as well as the gains that new designs
could
achieve. This is an emerging cross-disciplinary area that
requires
expertise from several fields including networking, theory
of
computing, computer and communications security, and game
theory. Research collaborations spanning these communities
are crucial
to making progress on the most challenging problems, and
enabling
these collaborations is a major goal of this special focus.
As the Internet continues to grow, more and more
business-critical
functions rely on its availability. One can easily envision
a future
in which the vast majority of communications traffic,
including
telephone, television, radio, business data, and government
data, will
rely on an Internet infrastructure that is available and
secure. For
the Internet to meet these challenges, we need a much
deeper
understanding of the properties of our existing protocols
and the
fundamental tradeoffs that should guide the design of the
future
Internet. Providing a strong algorithmic foundation for the
Internet
is especially timely, as the research community embarks on
an
ambitious rethinking of the Internet architecture.
There are many algorithms and protocols used in the Internet
and its
applications. Some adequately serve their desired purposes,
while
others need improvement. However, there is a disconnect
between the
methodology and results of algorithms research and the
methodology and
results used to guide the adoption of Internet protocol
standards. On
the one hand, traditional distributed-algorithms research
does not
adequately model the Internet's design goals, including
autonomy,
scalability, and privacy. On the other hand,
protocol-adoption
standards far too often rely on experimentation and testing
by vendors
and select customers, not on formal analysis. Protocols are
often
tweaked to add customer functionality without scrutinizing
the
resulting behavior in worst-case situations or proving any
kind of
correctness or security properties. Furthermore, these
worst-case
situations occur more often than expected, due to both the
sheer size
of the network and the fact that malicious agents can use
security
flaws to take control of significant parts of the Internet.
This special focus seeks to bridge the gap between
networking research
focused on the existing artifacts - the protocols and
mechanisms
underlying today's Internet - and the new work that needs to
be done
to lay a solid foundation for the design of a future
Internet. Research focusing on today's network emphasizes
characterization, primarily through measurement and
prototyping, of
existing protocols and mechanisms, in order to improve our
understanding of the Internet and guide incremental changes
to the
system. Although algorithmic models have played a role in
this work,
the details of today's protocols and mechanisms often defy
attempts to
impose rigorous models "after the fact." The
future Internet needs to
be more secure, be easier to manage, and take greater
advantage of new
underlying technologies, such as sensor networks, wireless
networks,
and optical switching. This argues for the design of new
protocols and
mechanisms with their key properties in mind from the
outset. An
algorithmic mindset is an extremely important ingredient in
this line
of research.
This special focus is guided by a deep understanding of the
current
Internet but allows for the possibility of radical change
where it is
warranted. The focus seeks to analyze and design protocols,
algorithms, and architectures for a future Internet that is
based on
sound mathematical and computational foundations, ensuring
scalability, security, and manageability.
This special focus is particularly timely given NSF's and
the
computing research community's interest in developing the
protocols
and associated experimental infrastructure for the
Internet's next
generation. A special focus on algorithmic foundations of
the Internet
is especially timely in light of NSF's FIND (Future INternet
Design)
and GENI (Global Environment for Network Innovations)
initiatives. The
FIND program encourages the research community to take a
clean
slate approach to the design of a future Internet, without
the
constraints of backwards compatibility with the current
protocols. FIND provides a unique opportunity to create a
new network
architecture built on a solid conceptual foundation. In
addition,
deeper understanding of the limitations of the existing
protocols and
of the fundamental trade-offs between different design goals
can focus
researchers' attention on the most promising directions for
a new
Internet architecture.
This special focus aims to facilitate research in this area
through
the broad participation from both the networking and
theoretical
computer science communities. In addition to encouraging
collaborations between the two communities, focus activities
can
educate the participants and the larger community about the
current
research challenges and known results in the two areas. The
special
focus workshops and working groups target the "sweet
spots" where the
crucial challenges for designing the future Internet (e.g.,
security,
network management, layer-2 technologies, and economic
incentives)
have rich connections to algorithms research (e.g.,
cryptography,
formal analysis, game theory and mechanism design, and
streaming
algorithms).
The research ideas enabled by this DIMACS activity can lead
to new
protocols and architectures that can be evaluated on GENI.
Focus
workshops are encouraged to include presentations on the
GENI facility
in order to encourage experimentation on GENI and explore
how to put
the key design principles of GENI such as virtualization on
a strong
theoretical footing.
Opportunities to Participate
The Special Focus includes:
Workshops: A variety of workshops and mini-workshops are
being planned, including:
Internet Tomography
Pervasive Networks, Systems and Applications
Internet Privacy
Wireless and Delay-Tolerant Networks
Data Structures and Algorithms for Large-Scale Networked
Systems
Internet Economics and Game Theory
Adversarial and Non-Adversarial Online Algorithms and
Mechanism Design for the Internet
Working Groups: Three interdisciplinary research working
groups,
one initiated during each year of the special focus, form
the "spine" of the special focus:
Year 1: Secure Internet Routing
Year 2: Designing Networks for Manageability
Year 3: Data Structures and Algorithms for Network Data
Tutorial: The special focus begins with a tutorial on
"Next Generation Networks" that
provides background knowledge to those who wish to
participate in the special focus or
just get an introduction to some of the fundamental issues
in the field.
Seminar Series: There will be a mix of research talks and
practitioner presentations.
Visitor Programs: Applications for research and graduate
student
visits to the center are invited. Some funds are available
for travel and local support.
Postdoctoral Positions: There is a possibility postdoctoral
positions
will be offered in this area.
Graduate Student Support: Funds are set aside for graduate
students
interested in attending workshops. Students interested in
visiting
DIMACS during the special focus are encouraged to apply to
the special focus organizers.
Publication: We anticipate that a variety of publications,
including AMS-DIMACS volumes,
technical reports, abstracts and notes on the WWW, and
DIMACS modules
will result from the special focus.
For more information :
http
://dimacs.rutgers.edu/SpecialYears/2007_AFI/
DIMACS Center/CoRE Building/4th Floor
Rutgers University
96 Frelinghuysen Road
Piscataway, NJ 08854-8018
(732) 445-5930
------------------------------------------------------------
---------
The Cryptography Mailing List
Unsubscribe by sending "unsubscribe cryptography"
to majordomo metzdowd.com
|
