Research Challenges
Designing Service Function Chains
Design novel service chains or mesh customized to your applications with specific performance requirements (e.g., latency, availability, packet loss,) and empowered with advanced network functions operating at any layer of the protocol stack.
Advanced Network/ Transport Protocols
Design and de develop novel communication protocols for network, transport or application layer. You can imagine combined cross-layer protocol (transport+network) protocol breaking the end-to-end principle [FlexNGIA] or any other protocol that fits better to your application. Protocols can be run on end-points but also on dedicated network functions within the network.
Resource Allocation
Design novel resource allocation and orchestration solutions ensuring efficient network slicing, energy efficiency, fault tolerance,monitoring and per-application resource adjustment .
Signaling
Put forward signaling schemes that allow instantiating service chain resources and ensuring performance requirements in an efficient and timely manner.
High-Performance Virtual Network Functions & Services
Design and develop different ultra-fast innovative network functions in an optimal
and efficient manner on software or on dedicated or programmable hardware using languages like P4
High-Precision Monitoring
& Measurements
Design not only traditional coarse-grained monitoring of high-level network services and traffic flows but also high-precision monitoring and measurement (e.g., at the scale of micro or milliseconds) at a fine-grained level (e.g., at the packet level).
SDN++
Broaden the concept of Software Defined Networking by providing protocols and languages that allow to configure and program the behavior of network functions (referred to as SDN++). Develop advanced languages to program the services and the advanced network functions incorporated within the network (e.g., transport, network or other application-level functions)
Pricing
Devise novel pricing scheme taking into account not only the amount of traffic steered through the chain but also the amount of computing and networking
resources allocated as well as their usage over time and the performance, availability and reliability of the offered service chains
Security and Privacy
Design novel solutions to ensure security, privacy and trustworthiness of the FlexNGIA architecture and particularly design efficient schemes to secure network functions, service chains, and the exchanged traffic.