Collaborative Research: IMR: MM-1A: Measuring Internet Access Networks Across Space and Time

该项目解决了在一段时间内以及跨不同地理区域测量互联网接入网络性能的挑战。这项任务一直是研究人员、互联网服务提供商和政策倡导者面临的长期挑战。在过去的十年中，研究人员在开发使用“速度测试”工具测量个人宽带互联网接入链路性能的技术方面取得了重大进展。不幸的是，从这些工具得到的现有数据集存在局限性，使得很难可靠地评估随时间和跨地域的互联网性能。为了应对这些挑战，该项目正在开发新的抽样方法和统计模型，以提供更全面和更具代表性的跨时间和空间的互联网性能视图。这项工作的一部分涉及创建新的互联网测量数据集，最终可以应用于网络研究和互联网政策中的一系列未决问题。该项目将创建的数据集最终将阐明对互联网基础设施的投资如何影响特定地区的性能，以及性能如何随着时间的推移而演变。鉴于联邦对宽带基础设施的投资，以及公众对弥合数字鸿沟的日益浓厚的兴趣，该项目的方法尤其及时和切合实际。从智力和学术的角度来看，该项目汇集了来自多个学科的专家，包括网络测量、统计学、可视化、社会学和公共政策。第一个挑战是了解如何使用单个优势点的性能指标来概括整个接入网络随时间推移的性能。第二个挑战涉及从宽带互联网接入网络中的有利位置使用空间相关的互联网测量，以得出关于地理区域内和跨地理区域的互联网性能的结论。该项目的更广泛影响在于对社区、课程开发和政策影响的拓展。这项研究背后的动机之一是调查互联网性能是否在一个城市内的不同地理位置和社区中均匀分布。对这一问题有一个全面的了解，对于解决互联网接入的公平问题至关重要。通过开发新的分析框架作为该项目的一部分，网络研究人员和普通公众最终将深入了解互联网性能的分布，并为旨在缩小数字鸿沟的努力做出贡献。该项目的网站https://internetequity.org/将成为共享与项目相关的资源的中央枢纽。该网站将发布数据、代码、结果、模拟器、模拟器和其他重复性和协作所必需的材料。项目团队致力于维护网站，以确保项目成果的持续访问，并促进该领域的持续研究和进步。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。

The project addresses the challenge of measuring the performance of Internet access networks over time, and across different geographic regions. This task has been a longstanding challenge for researchers, Internet service providers, and policy advocates. Over the past decade, researchers have made significant progress in developing techniques to measure the performance of individual broadband Internet access links using "speed test" tools. Unfortunately, the existing datasets derived from these tools have limitations that make it difficult to reliably assess Internet performance over time and across geographies.Towards addressing these challenges, this project is developing new sampling approaches and statistical models that will provide a more comprehensive and representative view of Internet performance across time and space. Part of this effort involves the creation of new Internet measurement datasets, which can ultimately be applied to a range of open questions in both networking research and Internet policy. The datasets the project will create will ultimately shed light on how investments in Internet infrastructure impact performance in specific regions and how performance evolves over time. Given federal investments in broadband infrastructure and the growing public interest in bridging the digital divide, the project's approach is particularly timely and relevant.From the standpoint of intellectual merit and scholarship, the project brings together experts from multiple disciplines, including network measurement, statistics, visualization, sociology, and public policy. The first challenge is to understand how performance metrics from a single vantage point can be used to generalize about the performance of an entire access network over time. The second challenge involves using spatially correlated Internet measurements from vantage points in broadband Internet access networks to draw conclusions about Internet performance within and across geographic regions.The broader impact of the project lies in outreach to community, curricular development, and policy impact. One of the motivations behind the research is to investigate whether Internet performance is equitably distributed acrossdifferent geographies and neighborhoods within a city. Achieving a comprehensive understanding of this question is critical for addressing questions of equity in Internet access. By developing new analysis frameworks as part of this project, networking researchers and the general public will ultimately gain insight into the distribution of Internet performance and contribute to efforts aimed at reducing the digital divide.The project website at https://internetequity.org/ will serve as a central hub for sharing project-related resources. The website will publish data, code, results, emulators, simulators, and other materials necessary for reproducibility and collaboration. The project team is committed to maintaining the website to ensure continued access to the project's outputs and facilitate ongoing research and advancements in the field.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.