CIF21 DIBBs: EI: Integrated Platform for Applied Network Data Analysis (PANDA)

University Of California-San Diego, La Jolla CA

Investigators

Abstract

As the Internet, and society's dependence on it, have grown, the structure and dynamics of the network, and how it relates to the political economy in which it is embedded, are gathering increasing attention by researchers, operators and policy makers. This project offers a new platform and supporting tools for collecting, analyzing, querying, and interpreting measurements of the Internet ecosystem. It directly supports the NSF goal of providing robust, secure cyberinfrastructure to accelerate research, education, and new capabilities in data-intensive science and engineering. Broader impacts of this project include increased public awareness of Internet structure, dynamics, performance, and evolution, which informs discussions of critical issues in current and future large-scale networking. This Platform for Applied Network Data Analysis (PANDA) integrates existing research infrastructure measurement and analysis components previously developed by the Center for Applied Internet Data Analysis, and enables new scientific directions, experiments, and data products for a wide range of research activities.   The design of PANDA emphasizes efficient indexing and processing of terabyte archives, advanced visualization tools to show geographic and economic aspects of Internet structure, and detailed interpretation of displayed results.  The project actively engages collaborators from four targeted disciplines: networking, security, economics, and public policy.  Activities include workshops to establish and stimulate multi-disciplinary collaborations, development of online video tutorials targeting non-networking experts and classroom-focused materials, an annotated bibliography and discussion forum, and a strategic advisory board. This award is supported jointly by both the Data and Networking programs within the Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure.