NeTS: Small: Optimal Delivery of Augmented Information Services Over Next-Generation Cloud Networks

将数据和服务从本地计算机转移到云端是过去几年信息技术的主要趋势之一。这一趋势颠覆了计算机行业，并带来了好处，例如，在更有效地使用计算资源(现在可以由不同用户共享)和集中式软件更新(提高安全性)方面。在一个相关的趋势中，视频等大多数信息现在存储在云中，并按需交付给用户，取代了DVD和DVD等本地存储方法。增强信息(AGI)服务是这一趋势的重要扩展，它结合了内容交付和计算，例如，当原始视频源数据在到达目的地的途中进行处理时，以创建增强现实、网真、实时监控或工业自动化。本项目研究如何在能源、成本或其他可能对消费者或提供商很重要的标准方面以最有效的方式进行这种联合通信和计算。远距离传输信息通常通过多跳，即从源经几个中间节点到达目的地。例如，信息可以从洛杉矶的来源经由丹佛、达拉斯、亚特兰大发送到纽约。必要的处理可以在这些节点中的任何一个节点上完成，或者可以以不同的关联成本分布在不同的节点上。由于处理可以使文件更大或更小(例如，代码转换功能)，这也对到下一个节点的通信成本有影响。这个项目调查了这类网络的基本性能限制，并开发了实用的算法，可以有效地进行处理资源的路由和分配。该项目的目标是：(I)开发一个通用的AGI服务模型，作为传统信息服务的推广；(Ii)对准静态情况下的AGI服务分配问题(AGI-SDP)进行形式化，其中信息的放置和资源的分配变化很慢，并为每个主要服务类别提供复杂性分类，并为不同类别的AGI-SDP设计快速近似算法；(Iii)开发动态调整AGI服务配置的公式和算法，以响应云网络条件和服务需求的未知变化；AGI模型涵盖的服务范围从网络服务(如5G网络切片)到自动化服务(如智能建筑、工业自动化、智能交通)，再到增强体验服务(如虚拟现实、沉浸式视频)，这些系统的高效设计因此对各种服务的经济性、生态化(节能)和用户体验具有重要影响。这种分布式系统的优化还增强了计算和通信基础设施对自然灾害和其他事件中断的稳健性。该项目包括一个强大的推广和教育计划，包括让本科生和研究生在项目合作者位于贝尔拉布的最先进的实验室进行实验。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Moving data and services from local computers into the cloud has been one of the major trends in information technology over the past years. This trend has upended the computer industry, and provides benefits, for example, in terms of more efficient use of computing resources (which can now be shared by different users) and centralized software updates (which increase security). In a related trend, most information such as video is now stored in the cloud, and delivered to the users on demand, replacing local storage methods such as DVDs and DVRs. Augmented information (AgI) services, an important extension of that trend, combine content delivery and computation, for example, when the original video source data are processed on their way to the destination to create augmented reality, telepresence, real-time surveillance, or industrial automation. This project investigates how such joint communication and computation can be done in the most efficient way in terms of energy, cost, or other criteria that might be important to the consumer or provider. Transmitting information over large distances is usually via multiple "hops", i.e., it goes from the source via several intermediate nodes to the destination. For example, the information could be routed from a source in Los Angeles via Denver, Dallas, Atlanta, to New York. The necessary processing could be done at any of those nodes, or might be distributed among different nodes with different associated costs. Since processing can make the files larger or smaller (e.g., transcoding functions), this also has an impact on the communication cost to the next nodes. This project investigates the fundamental performance limits of this type of network and develops practical algorithms that can do the routing and assignment of processing resources in an efficient way. The goals of the project are to: (i) develop a universal model for AgI services, as a generalization of traditional information services; (ii) formalize the AgI service distribution problem (AgI-SDP) for the quasi-static case, where placement of information and assignment of resources changes only slowly and provide a complexity classification for each major service class and design fast approximation algorithms for the AgI-SDP in its different categories; (iii) develop formulations and algorithms that dynamically adjust the configuration of AgI services in response to unknown changes in cloud network conditions and service demands; and (iv) validate the algorithms by experimentation on testbeds at Bell Labs.The services covered by the AgI model range from network services (e.g., 5G network slices) to automation services (e.g., smart buildings, industrial automation, smart transportation), to augmented experience services (e.g., virtual reality, immersive video), and efficient design of such systems thus has great impact on the economy, ecology (energy savings) and user experience of a wide variety of services. Optimization of such distributed systems also enhance the robustness of computation and communication infrastructure to disruptions from natural disasters and other events. The project includes a strong outreach and education program including having undergraduates and graduate students perform experiments at the project collaborator's state-of-the-art laboratory at Bell Labs.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.