CAREER: A Robust Protocol Stack for Diverse Wireless Edge Networks

今天互联网的增长和价值是由各种无线边缘网络推动的，包括家庭和公共场所的WiFi接入点、工作场所的无线局域网(WLAN)、蜂窝数据服务(如3G)、多跳无线网状网、无线传感器网络、移动自组织网络(MANET)和延迟容忍网络(DTN)。这种多样性对传统网络协议提出了根本挑战，这些协议在高度波动的损耗、延迟和拓扑特征下很脆弱，并且在易中断的环境中完全崩溃。多样性增加了管理复杂性？网络管理员必须从数量惊人的协议选项中进行选择，而调整到一个环境的优化必须在不同的环境中重新设计-扼杀了创新和互连不同无线边缘网络的长期价值。本提案的目标是设计、分析和实施一个简单的网络协议堆栈，以确保跨不同无线边缘网络的强大性能。关键的洞察力是将不确定性作为一流的设计考虑因素。我们采用了一种不同寻常的方法：不是试图使原本连接良好的环境中的协议对间歇性波动或中断具有健壮性，而是针对设计空间中的极点-始终分区的网络或DTN-进行设计，并根据这些见解进行工作，以确保协议即使在连接良好的网状网络中也具有稳健的性能。

The growth and value of the Internet today are fueled by a variety of wireless edge networks including WiFi access points in homes and public places, wireless local area networks (WLANs) in workplaces, cellular data services such as 3G, multi-hop wireless mesh networks, wireless sensor networks, mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs), and delay-tolerant networks (DTNs). This diversity poses fundamental challenges to traditional network protocols that are fragile under highly fluctuating loss, delay, and topology characteristics, and completely break down in disruption-prone environments. The diversity increases management complexity?a network administrator must pick from an intimidating number of protocol options and optimizations tuned to one environment have to be re-engineered in a different environment?stifling innovation and the long-term value of interconnecting diverse wireless edge networks. The goal of this proposal is to architect, analyze, and implement a simple network protocol stack that ensures robust performance across diverse wireless edge networks. The key insight is to incorporate uncertainty as a first-class design concern. We adopt an unusual approach: instead of trying to make protocols in otherwise well-connected environments robust to intermittent fluctuations or disruptions, we design for an extreme point in the design space?an always-partitioned network or a DTN?and work back from those insights to ensure robust performance of protocols even in well-connected mesh networks.