Telecommunications > Networks > Networking


http://antlab.elet.polimi.it/
http://bonsai.dei.polimi.it/

Focus

The Networking Group is active on a wide range of research activities on the design, planning, optimization and evaluation of wireless and wired networks. The team has a solid background on queuing theory, optimization models and algorithms, game theory, and discrete-event simulation. Implementation and prototyping of advanced network technologies is also a key activity of the group carried out in the two experimental laboratories.

The ANTLab (Advanced Network Technologies Laboratory) focuses on three broad application areas:
  • Wireless Internet. Design, radio planning, configuration and management of 3G/4G, WiFi, MESH, ad-hoc, and cognitive networks. Design of MAC, routing, power control, scheduling, mobility, network selection, and security algorithms.
  • Internet of Things. Design and planning of Sensor Networks, Middleware Development and application to Health-care Support.
  • Internet of Energy. Models and Methods for “greening” the Internet, Domestic Energy Consumption Monitoring and Control Through Sensor Networks, Communication Networks for the Smart Grid.

The BONSAI (Broadband Optical Networks, Security, Advanced Internet) laboratory focuses on these application areas:
  • Broadband networks. Multilayer design of resilient broadband networks based on electronic or optical technologies and high speed packet switching systems.
  • Network design. Optimization techniques for designing and dimensioning optical networks, routing in multidomain networks, design of carrier-grade packet networks.
  • Switching. Architectures for optical packet-switching fabrics with new optical devices, application of network-switching theory to the design of optical crossconnects for circuit-switched communications and performance analysis.
  • Multimedia Internet. Design and evaluation of resource reservation procedures and traffic control algorithms for provisioning of end-to-end Quality of Service guarantees to traffic flows in the intserv, diffserv, and MPLS scenarios. Design of advanced transport layer procedures to make TCP robust against radio outages. Control and management of fractal traffic, content-based routing in overlay and p2p networks, coordination of underlay and overlay routing.
  • Network traffic analysis and modelling. Stochastic models for network traffic. Methods for network traffic analysis. Design and evaluation of techniques for classification of encrypted, obfuscated, and tunneled Internet traffic.

Most relevant research achievements


The group has a long tradition of research on the Internet Technology. Prof. Fratta was involved in the ARPAnet project (with prof. Kleinrock) and AlohaNET (with prof. Abramson); prof. Decina developed packet voice technology at Bell Labs and, as IEEE ComSoc president, fostered research on the Internet technology. The group collaborates with the main telecommunications companies (Alcatel-Lucent, Nokia-Siemens, Telecom Italia, Vodafone) and with some of the top universities in Europe, US, and Canada.

The group has internationally recognized experience on optimization models and algorithms for radio planning of wireless networks (2G/3G/4G, WLAN and MESH networks) and radio resource management. It made fundamental contributions to the theory of wireless ad hoc networks and developed practical solutions, which led to a spin-off company on wireless MESH networks. It designed error control mechanisms and retransmission protocols for error control in presence of time-correlated errors.

In the field of broadband networks, the group studied novel architectures based on Arrayed Waveguide Gratings and MicroRing Resonator devices for all-optical packet switches; developed models for optical path losses and flexible bandwidth allocation for architectures based on 2D-MEMS components in optical circuit switching; proposed design algorithms with protected static/dynamic connections with different kinds of topologies, protections, and routing strategies; made contributions to game-theoretic approaches for the design and optimization of broadband networks.

In the context of multimedia Internet, the group developed a traffic shaping mechanism to minimize the capacity needed to match the SLA negotiated with customers; developed an online path-routing mechanism capable of minimizing the probability of rejecting future requests; proposed an adaptive packet marking policy to avoid mismatch between traffic conditioning procedures (in particular Assured Forwarding traffic differentiation) and TCP congestion avoidance and control mechanisms.