Collaborative Research: NeTS-NBD: Increasing the Energy Efficiency of the Internet with a Focus on Edge Devices

这项提议通过关注主要且经常被忽视的能源消耗边缘设备，解决了提高互联网能源效率的日益迫切的需求。劳伦斯伯克利国家实验室(LBNL)的研究表明，仅在美国，互联网就消耗了约74太瓦时/年的电力(约合60亿美元)，其中24太瓦时/年可通过充分利用台式计算机的电源管理节省32%，台式计算机是目前互联网上最常见的边缘设备。不幸的是，由于现有协议和体系结构的限制，联网的台式计算机通常在频繁且通常较长的空闲期间保持通电。作为网络设备，由于它们需要在没有警告的情况下响应各种类型的网络事务，因此它们被阻止以节能的方式运行。NSF目前正在资助项目，以研究第一级局域网交换机、服务器集群和超级计算机的能源使用减少，但严重缺乏降低互联网能源消费者最大部分-边缘设备的能源消耗的研究。解决这一挑战的主要调查人员(PI)的方法是调查和开发一组新的协议和子系统基础设施的研究概念，以及基于流量和系统约束有效控制它们的算法，以便桌面和其他边缘设备可以在相对空闲期间休眠，同时通过集成到系统中的低功耗硬件代理来维护网络连接。此外，PI的方法还承诺通过在活动期间减少网络相关资源的消耗来进一步提高能源效率，在活动期间，性能正常下降是可以接受的，这实际上是以速度换取能源。除了台式计算机之外，这种方法还将为各种新兴的有线和无线边缘设备，如电视机顶盒、网络电器、遥控器等带来类似的解决方案。该方法中的新颖概念包括：(1)在台式计算机的网络接口和/或第一级局域网交换机内进行协议代理，以减少边缘设备的系统资源的次要使用，从而允许充分利用系统功率管理；(2)允许仅在现有应用和协议需要时透明地且仅在需要时才唤醒受电源管理的设备的“智能”唤醒方法，以及用于未来网络应用的新的电源管理通知语义；(3)通过以不同的数据速率(例如，仅在需要时才以1或10 Gb/S，否则以10或100Mb/S)动态地操作链路，在以太网中自适应链路速率以折衷性能(或Qos)以实现能效；以及(4)针对固定或可重新配置的分级硬件功能的体系结构，通过将硬件资源自适应地在空间或时间上分配给具有功率、性能和功能扩展的网络事务来实现节能操作。PI将基于包括代理、智能唤醒、自适应链路速率和重新配置在内的自适应功能级别，为边缘设备构建和评估高级以太网接口的原型。他们将制作使用新语义的软件应用程序原型，用于网络中的电源管理通知。他们将把研究成果传播给标准组织、政府机构和/或行业。PI将设计和评估适用于IEEE 802.3考虑的自适应链路速率的快速自动协商机制。他们还希望在影响未来EPA能源之星台式计算机和其他边缘设备(如潜在的电视机顶盒)的规范方面发挥关键作用。该项目将在南佛罗里达大学和佛罗里达大学之间的合作伙伴关系中进行。四名研究生将得到支持，其中一名可能来自代表性不足的人群。智力价值：拟议的工作在智力上是有价值的，因为它是为全球互联网实现能源节约的第一项重大努力，因为它的主导因素是网络连接的边缘设备。本研究将把网络边缘设备能效的重要性定义为一个经济和环境问题，并导致电源管理和网络应用、协议和架构的集成设计。更广泛的影响：这项工作的更广泛的影响有三个方面。首先是该项目完成后几年内对社会的影响，使美国和国外的能源成本大幅降低，并通过降低运营成本支持互联网扩展到发展中国家。如果基于该提案中的新想法，能够在网络边缘设备中启用现有的电源管理功能，则美国每年将节省数亿至数十亿美元。PIS拥有现有的关系，使他们能够与LBNL、EPA和行业密切合作，传播研究成果并实现预期的能源节约。第二个更广泛的影响是对教育过程的影响，无论是直接参与这一项目的研究生，还是将从这项研究创建和分享的材料中受益的许多大学生。最后，通过NSF REU和RET方案，将扩大到K-12和代表性不足的人口。

This proposal addresses the increasingly critical need to improve the energy efficiency of the Internet by focusing on the primary and often neglected energy consumer, edge devices. Studies by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) show that about 74 TWh/yr of electricity (which is approximately $6 billion per year) is consumed by the Internet in the USA alone, of which 24 TWh/yr or 32% could be saved with full use of power management on desktop computers, currently the most common of edge devices on the Internet. Unfortunately, due to limits of existing protocols and architectures, networked desktop computers typically remain powered-up during frequent and often lengthy periods of idleness. As network devices, they are prevented from operating in an energy-efficient manner due to their need to respond to network transactions of various types without warning. The NSF is currently funding projects to investigate energy-use reduction in first-level LAN switches, server clusters, and supercomputers, but severely lacking is research to reduce energy consumption of the largest portion of Internet energy consumers, the edge devices.The principal investigators'(PIs) approach to addressing this challenge is to investigate and exploit a synergistic set of novel research concepts for protocol and subsystem infrastructure, and algorithms for effectively controlling them based on traffic and system constraints, so that desktop and other edge devices can be put to sleep during periods of relative idleness while network connectivity is maintained by a low-power hardware proxy integrated into the system. Moreover, the PIs' approach also promises to provide additional increases in energy efficiency by reducing consumption of network-related resources during active periods where graceful degradation of performance is acceptable, in effect trading off speed for energy. In addition to desktop computers, this approach will lead to similar solutions for a wide variety of emerging wired and wireless edge devices such as television set-top boxes, network appliances, remote cameras, etc.The novel concepts in the proposed approach include: (1) protocol proxying in the network interface of a desktop computer and/or within a first-level LAN switch to reduce minor use of system resources of the edge device and thus allow system power management to be fully exploited; (2) "smart" wake-up methods to allow power-managed devices to be awoken transparently and only when needed by existing applications and protocols, along with new power-management notification semantics for future network applications; (3) adaptive link rate in Ethernet to trade-off performance (or QoS) for energy efficiency by dynamically operating links at varying data rates (e.g., 1 or 10 Gb/s only when needed, and otherwise at 10 or 100 Mb/s); and (4) architectures for fixed or reconfigurable levels of staged hardware functionality to realize energy-efficient operation via adaptive spatial or temporal assignment of hardware resources to network transactions with power, performance, and functionality scaling.The proposed methodology to achieve these energy savings is measurement, modeling, and prototyping of new software and hardware. The PIs will build and evaluate a prototype of an advanced Ethernet interface for edge devices based on adaptive levels of functionality including proxying, smart wake-up, adaptive link rate, and reconfiguration. They will prototype software applications that use new semantics for power management notification across a network. They will disseminate the research outcomes to standards groups, government agencies, and/or industry. The PIs will design and evaluate a fast autonegotiation mechanism for adaptive link rate suitable for consideration by the IEEE 802.3. They also expect to play a key role in influencing future EPA Energy Star specifications for desktop computers and other edge devices (such as, potentially, television set-top boxes). This project will be conducted in a collaborative partnership between the University of South Florida and the University of Florida. Four graduate students will be supported of which one may be targeted to be from an underrepresented population group.Intellectual merit: The work proposed is intellectually meritorious in that it is the first significant effort to achieve energy savings for the global Internet in terms of its dominant factor, the network-connected edge devices. This research will define the importance of energy efficiency of network edge devices as an economic and environmental issue and result in the integrated design of power management and network applications, protocols, and architectures. Broader impact: The broader impact of this work is threefold. First is the impact upon society within a few years of completion of this project, enabling significant reductions in energy costs here in the USA and abroad, and supporting the expansion of the Internet into the developing world by reducing operating costs. Savings in the hundreds of millions to billions of dollars per year in the USA will be achieved if existing power management capabilities can be enabled in network edge devices based on the new ideas in this proposal. The PIs have existing relationships to allow them to work closely with LBNL, EPA, and industry to disseminate research outcomes and achieve the expected energy savings. The second broader impact is on the educational process, both in terms of the graduate students directly involved in this project as well as the many university students that will benefit from the materials that will be created and shared from this research. Finally, through the NSF REU and RET programs, outreach will be made to K-12 and underrepresented populations.