1 the importance of being earnest * nitin vaidya illinois center for wireless systems university of...

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The Importance of Being Earnest *

Nitin Vaidya

Illinois Center for Wireless SystemsUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

NSF Workshop, Reston, Virginia, August 27, 2007

* With apologies to Oscar Wilde

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Session Agenda

Current status: where we are now

Future expectations on wireless networking and research challenges

Desired technology advances/breakthroughfrom the physical layer

New advances needed from theoretical perspective

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Likely Outcomes

More funding

More theory

More practice

More cross-layer research

More targeted research programs

More of everything

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Likely Outcomes

More funding

More theory

More practice

More cross-layer research

More targeted research programs

More of everything

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The Vanishing Link

Diversity muddles the notion of a link

A

B

C

P

PB

f(PC)

PC

PD

A

B

D

C

B2

B1

B0

A

B

D

C

C2

C1

C0

CooperationSpatial

Channel[2005]

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Where doesPhy/Link

layer end ?

Layers All The Way Down

What shouldor shouldn’t

it do ?

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The Way Forward

Clearly, more attention to phy / theory desirable

“Cross-Layer” protocols… smarter everything

(antennas, radios, protocols, people)

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Net-X

Multi-Channel

Mesh

Theory to

Practice

A

B

C

D

EF

Fixed

Switchable

Insights onprotocol design

Multi-channelprotocol

Channel Abstraction Module

IP Stack

InterfaceDevice Driver

User Applications

ARP

InterfaceDevice Driver

OS improvementsSoftware architecture

Capacitybounds

channels

capaci

ty

Net-Xtestbed

Linux CSL

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The Way Forward

Clearly, more attention to phy / theory desirable

“Cross-Layer” protocols… smarter everything

(antennas, radios, protocols, people)

If we have known this for years,

why do protocols lag so far behind ?

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What Do We Really Lack ?

Funding ?

Manpower ?

Theory ?

Probably none of the above

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What Do We Really Lack ?

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What Do We Really Lack ?

Meaningful contact between

Practice Networking

Theory Comm

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One-Point AgendaFour

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Reduce the unknown unknowns

Increase phy content in CS/CE networking courses

– Awareness of phy necessary to ask better questions

– Phy community should help

Educate phy students about higher layer issues

1. Educate BetterOurselves & Next Generation

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Resist temptation to create new networking programs

•Partitioning of resources creates false demand

– Remove existing partitionsPossible to encourage research without these

– Examples: NOSS, FIND?

Encourage projects with PIs spanning different communities (phy-networks)

– Actively monitor/encourage real cooperation

2. Fewer Research Programs

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3. Fewer “Better” Conferences

Increase venues that encourage diversecommunity interactions(phy-networking , theory-applied)

•More Workshops, fewer “selective” conferences

•Co-located conferences

•Tutorials

Eliminate most (wireless) networking conferences

•Emulate Info Theory model ?

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4. Greater Industry/User Feedback

What are the industry-perceived long-term challenges ?

What do they need from us ?

– Invite them to these workshops!

Not everything needs to be dictated by industry, but practical insights can benefit academic research

– Problem formulations constrained by reality

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Summary

Wireless networking is non-trivial

Better-trained people key to better solutions

Enable cross-layer researchand eliminate artificial boundaries,politics notwithstanding

Be earnest about the goals !

We don’t want to be discussing this again in 2 years …

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Thanks!

nhv@uiuc.edu