CRII: NeTS: Configurable Optical Wireless Data Center Networks.

对高效数据中心网络(DCNS)的需求日益增长，以支持不断扩大的以数据为中心的应用产品组合，这些应用在支持企业、国家安全、物联网(IoT)和社交互动方面发挥着重要作用。如今，大规模的DCN对谷歌和亚马逊等公司、金融、通信和制造业等企业以及政府机构都至关重要，因此仔细设计DCN对于实现服务器资源的高效利用至关重要。目前的DCN使用固定电缆连接服务器，导致布线复杂性高，而且拓扑结构不灵活，难以在许多应用中高效地提供计算能力。本项目将探索光无线通信(OWC)技术在DCNS中的融合，利用无线技术的灵活性建立可配置的按需链路，从而同时解决负载热点和布线复杂性问题。除了推进这一领域的研究外，该项目还将提供在阿巴拉契亚州立大学计算机系建立网络研究轨道的机会，并将服务于不同的本科生和研究生群体的需求。该项目将探索高效、可配置的OWC DCN拓扑的设计空间。在DCNS中部署无线链路是具有挑战性的，因为高数据速率无线链路通常需要，最好是视距(LOS)、点对点通信。传统DCNS中使用的基于行的物理拓扑结构使得建立点对点无线链路成为无线DCN设计者面临的最大挑战之一。研究的重点将是使用图论和仿真来了解不同的设计参数如何影响DCN的性能，以及OWC和电缆连接的组合可能提供最佳性能。本项目取得的初步成果将为实现实用高效的OWC DCN提供指南针。将由PI和学生开发的DCN模拟工具以及该项目的结果将提供给研究社区。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。

There is an increasing demand for efficient Data Center Networks (DCNs) to support the ever-expanding portfolio of data-centric applications that have a major role in enabling businesses, national security, Internet-of-Things (IoT), and social interaction. With today’s massive DCNs critical to companies such as Google and Amazon, to businesses such as the financial, communications and manufacturing industries as well as to government organizations, careful design of the DCN is critical to achieve efficient use of the server resources. Current DCNs use fixed cables to connect servers, leading to high cabling complexity and an inflexible topology that makes it difficult to efficiently provide the computation power across many applications. This project will explore the integration of Optical Wireless Communication (OWC) technology in DCNs to utilize the flexibility of wireless technologies to establish configurable on-demand links, and thus solve load hotspot and cabling complexity problems simultaneously. In addition to advancing the research in this area, this project will provide the opportunity to establish a network research track in the Department of Computer Science at Appalachian State University and will serve the needs of the diverse body of undergraduate and graduate students.This project will explore the design space of efficient, configurable OWC DCN topologies. Deploying wireless links in DCNs is challenging since high data-rate wireless links usually require, preferably, Line-of-Sight (LOS), point-to-point communication. The row-based physical topology used in conventional DCNs makes establishing point-to-point wireless links one of the most significant challenges facing wireless DCN designers. The research will focus on using graph theory and simulation to understand how different design parameters influence the performance of the DCN, and what mix of OWC and cable connectivity may provide the best performance. The preliminary results obtained from this project will serve as the guiding compass to realize a practical and efficient OWC DCN. The DCN simulation tool that will be developed by the PI and students, along with the results from this project will be made available to the research community.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.