I-Corps: Helping Users and ISPs Manage Home Networks with BISmark

Georgia Tech Research Corporation, Atlanta GA

Investigators

Abstract

Home networks are an unexplored frontier of modern communication networks. Despite the massive penetration of home networks, researchers and network operators have almost no understanding of how users configure and use them, how well they perform, and (perhaps most importantly) what types of new applications could be possible with home network infrastructure that enables easier management and more flexible application development. Many conventional network management problems become even more acute in the home, where typically unskilled or uninterested users find themselves with complex network management tasks. With the advent of the U.S. Ignite program on the heels of the national broadband initiative, the United States will see increasing penetration of high-speed connectivity into homes. Access Internet Service Providers will thus be faced with an increasingly large customer base with diverse expertise and expectations. Increasingly, these ISPs are looking to innovate in "Home Area Networks" with new applications to enable remote troubleshooting, backup and data management, remote health care, energy management, and so forth. All of these applications will require an underlying network infrastructure that is flexible, extensible, and easy to manage. If successful, the applications that the team proposes to develop will help both users and Internet service providers manage their home networks better.