RINGS: LARA: Layering for Active Resiliency and Awareness in Next-generation Wireless Networks

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Wireless networks are an essential societal infrastructure, much like power, water, and transportation systems. With the growing incidence of natural and human-induced disruptions, it has become critical that network service is resilient to unforeseen disruptive events. The state of the art in wireless network design does not directly provision for large-scale disruptive events such as a weather event disabling base-stations. In other words, the wireless networks of today play a small role in ensuring its own resiliency. Our research advances the national infrastructure, prosperity and welfare by providing a novel resiliency paradigm for Next Generation networks. In particular, the specific aim of this research is to design a new generation of wireless networks that stay vigilant by sensing both the internal system state and the external environment. The inclusion of sensing into a future physical layer will be a cornerstone of realizing next generation (such as 6G) wireless networks. Joint sensing and communication will enable high performance allocation of limited resources and create the ability for the network to reason about itself and its environment. We assert that such a paradigm needs to adopt the following design principles: First and foremost, resilient systems assume that unforeseen disruptions can and will occur. Second, the systems are smart in their vigilance by actively managing the resources to form a world-view that enables active preparedness and resilience. Third, armed with active vigilance, resilient systems are in a constant state of preparedness, continually adapting their view of the world by counterfactually reasoning about the system’s future. This project will facilitate the translation of academic research through an active and sustained engagement with industry on this future network design. The proposed work will yield software, open data sharing and research leveraging the PIs’ extensive track-record of open-source experiments. The PIs will expand the existing educational and outreach programs to increase participation from under-represented groups in Electrical & Computer Engineering at their institutions. These programs focus on all levels of education and engagement, from faculty to post-doctoral researchers, graduate students and undergraduates. In particular, we will take a data-driven approach to widening participation of underrepresented groups in flagship conferences of the field as well as the annual Information Theory and Applications workshop which is held annually at University of California San Diego.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.