Collaborative Research: FIND - On the Economic Viability of Network Architectures

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The Internet is a phenomenal success, but problems and weaknesses init have become apparent, and this has spurred a search for newtechnologies and network architectures. Although technical innovationwill remain fundamental to the Internet's evolution, the importance ofthis key infrastructure for society as a whole means that economicaspects will be critical in determining what innovations are adopted.This project, therefore, seeks to investigate -- both qualitativelyand quantitatively -- how economic factors mediate the eventualsuccess of new network architectures and technologies. Aspects ofinterest include quantifying the benefits of virtualization inenabling different levels of network integration; evaluating theeffect of a dominant incumbent (today's Internet) on emerging newarchitectures; and devising models for quantifying the value ofarchitectural flexibility and openness in facilitating technologyadoption and service creation in the presence of market uncertainties.The intellectual merit of the proposed research is in developing aneconomic framework for reasoning about network technologies,architecture alternatives and trade-offs. The goal is to inform thedesign of new network architectures by accounting for both theirtechnical dimensions, and the economic mechanisms that will mediatetheir success or failure. The broader impact of the project will bein helping select network solutions that are likely to succeed in themarket place. The project will also foster a multi-disciplinarycurriculum involving economics, business and engineering perspectives.This will both better prepare engineering students to succeed in aworld where understanding of economical forces is of paramountimportance, and promote interactions and collaboration amongengineering and business students.