Research

The Internet has steadily evolved over the past decades from a small homogeneous to a gigantic Internet of Things (IoT) interconnecting an extremely wide variety of machines (e.g., PCs, smart-phones, sensors/actuators, smart appliances, smart vehicles), and providing an extremely wide variety of services. As a consequence, humans are immersed in a highly connected and ubiquitous cyber-physical context, and as end-users of the network and its numerous services, their satisfaction has become the main focus. 

All these emerging IoT-related opportunities bring new requirements and consequently, new scientific and technological challenges to the edge of the Internet.

First, the densified deployment of heterogeneous low-end IoT devices (e.g. sensors, actuators, etc.) at the edge of the Internet requires to deal with (1) the accommodation of machines with extremely limited capabilities, with a primary focus on low power requirements while (2) allowing their seamless integration in interoperable systems (often using IP as a common factor).

Second, today’s pervasiveness of high-end IoT devices (e.g. smart handheld devices) distribute increasing capabilities (i.e., processing, storage, connectivity) at the edge of the network, and make our real life and virtual activities seamlessly merged together. In this domain, we need a better understanding of: (1) when, where, and for what the high-end IoT devices are used, (2) how the uses vary among individuals, and (3) how social norms and structure dictating individuals’ behavior influence the way they interact with network services and demand resources.

Building on an approach combining protocol design, data analytics, and experimental research, the research contributions of TRiBE aims at dealing with the requirements and challenges brought to the edge of the new Internet.

We propose thus a research program organised around three closely related axis:

• Technologies for accommodating low-end IoT devices
• Technologies for leveraging high-end IoT devices’ advents
• Articulating the IoT edge with the core of the network