CIF: Small: Collaborative Research: On the Fundamental Nature of the Age of Updates

信息时代（AoI）作为一个新的概念、度量标准和工具出现在信息科学的广泛领域。AoI显然与信息论、信号处理和多种应用的许多方面有关。然而，到目前为止，这个概念的基本性质一直难以捉摸。本项目将研究AoI的所有三个方面，即其作为绩效指标的重要性，作为工具的有用性，更重要的是，它在探索构成我们对信息结构、因果信息处理和信息上下文（或语义）理解基础的理论的深刻方面和基本相互联系方面的潜力。特别是在后者中，传播过程的背景作为香农传播学说的一个定义明确且有用的延伸而出现。也就是说，通信不需要只是在B点再现在a点选择的消息，更重要的是要考虑通信是否出于某种目的而发生，例如用于计算、预测或监视。教育工作将包括在本科和研究生阶段开设课程。调查人员还将加强各自机构在招募女性和代表性不足的少数族裔方面的强大项目，以及让本科生参与研究。提出的工作旨在利用信息时代的新概念来发现信息理论和信号处理之间的关系，这是信息科学的两个主要支柱。它的基础核心是传播语境，即信号传播的目的和目标。这项研究将围绕三个重点领域进行：(i)该项目将探索接收到的更新的传输和年龄如何与信号的信息结构相关，并了解信息如何随时间而老化；（ii）通过将Nyquist的理论与因果信号重建联系起来，该项目将采用一种创新的方法来解决信号处理的传统问题；（iii）该项目将使用AoI作为处理多变环境（例如物联网和传感器网络）中的缓存和网络控制问题的工具。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The Age of Information (AoI) has emerged as a novel concept, metric, and tool in the broad area of Information Sciences. AoI is clearly connected to many aspects of Information Theory, Signal Processing, and multiple applications. However, the fundamental nature of this concept has been elusive so far. This project will investigate all three aspects of the AoI, namely its significance as a performance metric, its usefulness as a tool, and, more importantly, its potential to explore profound aspects of, and fundamental interconnections among, the theories that underlie our understanding of information structure, causal information processing, and the context (or semanteme) of information. Especially in the latter, the context of the communication process is emerging as a well-defined and useful extension of the Shannon doctrine of communication. Namely, communication needs not be just reproducing at point B a message selected at point A. Rather, it is important to consider whether communication occurs for a purpose, such as for computation, prediction, or monitoring. Educational efforts will include course development at both undergraduate and graduate levels. The investigators will also strengthen the strong programs of their Institutions in recruiting women and under-represented minorities, as well as the involvement of undergraduate students in research.The proposed work aims at using the new concept of Age of Information to discover the relationships between Information Theory and Signal Processing, which are two of the main pillars of Information Science. Its foundational core is the context of communication, namely on the purposes and goals of signal transmission. This research will be carried out around three thrust areas: (i) the project will explore how the transmission and the age of received updates relate to the information structure of a signal, and understand how information ages over time; (ii) the project will use an innovative approach to the traditional problems of signal processing by relating Nyquist's theory to causal signal reconstruction; (iii) the project will use AoI as a tool in handling the problem of caching and network control in volatile environments (e.g., internet of things and sensor networks).This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.