Nowadays the classical telecommunication networks and the Internet converged towards an integrated infrastructure, merging voice and data transmissions. This enabled the emergence of new services, mixing different media on top of the Internet, and leading to the explosion of the traffic to be transmitted in the networks and the number of applications and services carried over these networks.

Internet is transforming our world on various aspects: information diffusion, knowledge sharing, people communication and socialization as well as economical exchanges etc. Because of Internet universality, today’s networks are facing various challenges for their future evolutions: scalability, complexity, heterogeneity, trust ability, new business models.

• Scalability with the exponential traffic increase impacting on both access and core networks
• Increasing number of interconnected devices and objects: smartphones, tablets, sensors, things, etc.
• Increasing network complexity with emerging network technologies: X-ADSL, optical fibre, wireless, Ethernet, IP, MPLS, etc.
• Increasing complexity because of new services requiring specific QoS: data transfer, web, video streaming, voice, interactive video, gaming, e-commerce, etc.
• Associated increase of the energy consumption of the Internet for all its components
• Trust ability and security questions with the increasing complexity of the networks amount of data to be transported
• Business unbalancing with the entrance of new players

Activities

To answer the challenges for future networks, the Internet Technologies and Architectures Research Action Line aims at conducting activities covering the following spearhead topics:

Multi-service networks

• Traffic & Application management
• Network/Service integration
• Content/Information-Centric Networking
• Sensor Networks, Internet of Things

Efficient networking

• Multi-technology cooperation, integration & convergence
• Network Virtualization
• Autonomic Networking, Self-Management, Self-Mechanisms, Ad-hoc networks
• Green Networks & Networking

Usable networks

• Network security
• Network robustness and trust ability
• Business aspects & models associated to the new technologies and architectures

Expected Results

The Internet Technologies and Architectures Research Action Line conducts activities that are spanning all the network segments, from local to core networks, for both wireless and wired technologies. A particular emphasis is made on the creation and sharing of large European test beds in order to experiment and validate innovative solutions for Internet technologies and architecture. Fundamental networking leading to innovation is also in the scope of the Research Action Line.