NeTS:Small:The Packet-Scale Paradigm: Realizing End-to-end Congestion-control for Terabit Networks

Principal Investigator: Jasleen Sahni-Kaur
Funding Agency: National Science Foundation
Agency Number: CNS-1018596

Abstract
End-to-end data transfer rate requirements in the physics and astronomy communities are soon to approach the terabit-per-second regime. Unfortunately, the state-of-the-art in end-to-end transport protocols scales to at most a few gigabit-per-seconds of single-stream steady-state throughput. This project considers the novel paradigm of "packet-scale congestion-control", which can potentially improve scalability by several orders of magnitude. The paradigm, however, faces three fundamental issues that seriously challenge its promise to deliver in practice. This project addresses these risks by: (i) Developing formal queuing-theoretic models for the packet-scale paradigm and studying and addressing the impact of "noise" in end-to-end feedback. (ii) Conducting closed-loop analysis of interaction of the paradigm with network elements to study stability, fairness and burstiness in aggregated settings. (iii) Designing OS mechanisms that can ensure accurate inter-packet spacings and robustly deal with inaccuracies. This project is expected to lead to transformative innovation in both formal methods as well as end-host implementations that are likely to be key ingredients for future ultra-high-speed transport protocols. Such protocols will be significant enablers for distributed scientific computation by the High Energy Physics, Bio-informatics, and Radio-astronomy communities. Second, ultra-high speed protocols that can run without adverse effects on the shared public Internet will result in enormous infrastructural cost-savings. Third, the project will be an excellent source of undergraduate and graduate students trained in experimentation, measurements, and scientific analysis---skills that are invaluable for many federal, commercial and academic institutions. Fourth, through involvement of minorities, it will help broaden the diversity of the Computer-Science work force.