Controlling the Future Internet

Abstract:
The current implementation of the Internet relies heavily on Internet Protocol (IP). IP is currently employed to provide inter-networking among heterogeneous access networks. Despite its success, today's Internet implementation has several limitations, some of which include the overloading of the IP address to simultaneously indicate network location and node identity, and the absence of a trustworthy environment for users to communicate. We propose an architecture that addresses this problem and abstracts the functions of the network from the physical network and relies on the use of persistent identifiers (PI) to communicate with every entity on the network.. This is accomplished using software agents that implement the different functions of the network (routing, DNS resolution, storage, etc.) and by viewing the hardware nodes as resource providers to be used by the agents for the completion of their tasks. The agents are then allowed to move autonomously among the nodes of the network in search of nodes that increase the efficiency and effectiveness of their task completion. This then creates a distributed resource allocation problem that we formulate and solve in this talk using a hybrid systems framework and randomized algorithms. Speaker:
Chaouki T. Abdallah obtained his MS and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1982, and 1988 respectively. He joined the Electrical and Computer Engineering department at the University of New Mexico where he is currently professor, and chair. Professor Abdallah conducts research and teaches courses in the general area of systems theory with focus on control, communications, and computing systems. His research has been funded by national funding agencies (NSF, AFOSR, NRL), national laboratories (SNL, LANL), and by various companies (Boeing, HP). He has also been active in designing and implementing various international graduate programs with Latin American and European countries. He was a co-founder in 1990 of the ISTEC consortium, which currently includes more than 150 universities in the US, Spain, and Latin America. He has co-authored 4 books, and more than 200 peer-reviewed papers. His IEEE professional service credits include being the program chair for IEEE Conference on Decision & Control, Hawaii, 2003, and the general chair for the IEEE Conference on Decision & Control, in 2008. Professor Abdallah is a senior member of IEEE and a recipient of the IEEE Millennium medal.Host: Petros Ioannou, ioannou@usc.edu, ext 04452

Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248

Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Shane Goodoff