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Computer Networks and Pervasive Systems

Research lines:

  • Wireless and Sensor Networks
  • Networks  of Resource Constrained Devices
  • Streaming Applications over Wireless
  • Network Coding
  • Self-* Protocols and Systems

 

Members:
Roberto Beraldi, Alberto Marchetti Spaccamela (leader), Leonardo Querzoni, Andrea Vitaletti.

PhD students:
Lorenzo Bergamini, Ugo Colesanti, Luca Filipponi.

The miniaturization of electronic devices and the advancements in telecommunications, make it possible the realization of ubiquitous pervasive systems, i.e. systems in which information processing has been thoroughly and transparently integrated into everyday objects and activities. These systems are composed of heterogeneous tiny artefacts such as wireless sensor nodes, RFID and NFC tags and readers, mobile phones etc. Such devices are often constrained in their computational and energy resources and are organized in large networks that do not rely on wired infrastructures.
 
The realization of such systems requires new solutions in the design of algorithms and protocols for wireless ad hoc networks connecting large numbers of device. Such networks might be very large and operate in a highly dynamic environment: sensor nodes move, enter and exit the system and are prone to faults, while communication links are often noisy and unreliable. As a consequence, adopted solutions should be simple, efficient, and robust; in particular, since energy is usually provided by batteries, energy efficiency must always be considered as a primary goal. The scale and nature of pervasive systems requires networks able to react to unexpected events and to operate beyond the complete understanding and control of the
designer and of the user. In fact, these systems should achieve an appropriate level of self-organization and integration to adapt to continuously changing environments and to cope with unforeseen faults.

Our research focuses on the design, analysis, experimentation and implementation of algorithms and protocols for networks of tiny artefacts.
One specific topic of interest is the study of advanced adaptive routing algorithms in ad hoc wireless networks that are efficient and reduce the energy requirements at wireless nodes. 
We are also interested in solving complex communications primitives such as service discovery and event-based data diffusion, with the final goal of characterizing sensors networks as a data storage and retrieval. In the future we plan to address security and privacy issues of such networks. In fact the limited available resources requires new techniques and algorithms.
We complement our research with experimental work that is based on simulations (using network simulators such as NS2, OMNET++ and Shawn), and on test-beds (e.g. we run a permanent test-bed of wireless sensor network to monitor the ancient roman remains at the basement of DIS). We are also interested in experimenting our ideas on smart mobile phones, such as the IPhone, in the context of augmented reality and fully decentralized recommendations.


Projects
Progetto FIRB Italia Israele, Sapienza- Technion Haifa

July 2007 - July 2009 – MIUR FIRB



PANORAMA: Coordinated Action on Pervasive Adaptation

February 2008- January 2011 - EU FP7 - Coordinated action



FRONTS:  Foundations of Adaptive Networked Societies of Tiny Artefacts

February 2008 - January 2011  -   EU FP7 - IP



AEOLUS: Algorithmic principles for building overlay computers

September 2006 - February 2010  -   EU FP6

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