Networked Systems
Research lines:
- Control of Networks, Control over Networks
- Control under Communication Constraints
- Modeling, Filtering, and Optimal Control of Communication Networks
- Remote Control
Members:
Stefano Battilotti ,Carlo Bruni, Francesco Delli Priscoli (leader), Claudio De Persis, Alberto Isidori.
PhD Students:
Andrea Fiaschetti, Laura Fogliati, Guido Oddi, Laura Pimpinella, Filippo Rodriguez, Marco Veroli.
Post Docs:
Marco Castrucci, Alessandro Di Giorgio, Silvano Mignanti, Antonio Pietrabissa, Vincenzo Suraci.
The networked systems area has developed, in the last 10 years, even thanks to the successful participation in 25 major advanced research projects mainly financed by the European Union, and carried on together with the major European ICT players.
The research activities mainly deal with the design, simulation, and implementation of a technology independent "convergence layer" allowing the interoperation among heterogeneous networks (most of the activities concern telecommunication networks, but even large industrial networks, robotic networks, energy networks and transport networks are being considered), as well as the efficient and flexible handling of network resources and services/contents. Such a convergence layer, on the basis of the sensing of appropriate heterogeneous information (which can be subject to errors and could be limited) and its conversion and aggregation in homogeneous metadata, includes advanced control algorithms (methodologies such as bounded optimal control, predictive control and robust control are used) taking decisions concerning the management of the network resources, as well as the management of network contents/services; robustness of the controllers to uncertainties, as well as to delays and loss of information is a key issue of such control algorithms. These decisions are properly actuated in the network.
The networked systems area is supporting a Future Internet vision in which the convergence layer becomes a sort of "embedded mind" of the network; in this vision all network control tasks are gradually moved in such convergence layer allowing cross-layering, cross-network optimization. According to this vision, the present control layering stack, becomes a sort of star with the above-mentioned embedded mind being the center of the star.
Such a convergence layer is distributed among appropriate network entities (each one availing of a portion of the whole input information): thus, enhancement of distributed control algorithms is essential.
The networked systems area plans to apply these concepts, in addition to telecommunication networks, to large-scale industrial networks, robotic networks, energy networks, and transport networks.
Projects:
Integrated Multiservice Architectures for Next Generation Services
July 2004 - June 2007 - Celtic IMAGES project
Satellite-based communication systems using IPv6
January 2006 - December 2007 - European Union IST SATSIX Project
Next Generation Peer-to-Peer Content Delivery Platform
January 2008 - December 2011 - European Union ICT P2P-Next
M3CAST -- Multicast Multimedia Mobile Services
March 2005 - February 2009 MUR Project
APICE -- Algorithms for Integrated Planning and Wireless network Control
January 2007 - June 2009 - MUR Project
Stability analysis and implementation of networked systems governed by Kuramoto oscillators
(2 consecutive projects), September 2008-August 2010
The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
Projects managed by CRAT:
Consortium for the Research in Automation and Telecommunications
Partners: Sapienza, Elsag-Datamat, Thales-Aleniaspace, Space Engineering
WiMAX Extension to Isolated Research Data networks
June 2006-May 2008 - European Union IST WEIRD Project
Home Gigabit Access
January 2008 - December 2010 - European Union ICT OMEGA Project
Tool for Systemic Risk Analysis and Secure Mediation of Data Exchanged across Linked CI Information Infrastructures
September 2008 - February 2011 - European Union ICT MICIE Project
Project managed by Aalborg University (DK):
P3C -- Plug and Play Process Control Project
September 2006 - August 2011 - Danish Research Council for Technology and Production Sciences