| NSF Org: |
CNS Division Of Computer and Network Systems |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | August 10, 2022 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | August 10, 2022 |
| Award Number: | 2224687 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Deepankar Medhi
dmedhi@nsf.gov (703)292-2935 CNS Division Of Computer and Network Systems CSE Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering |
| Start Date: | October 1, 2022 |
| End Date: | September 30, 2024 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $100,000.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $100,000.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
3227 CHEADLE HALL SANTA BARBARA CA US 93106-0001 (805)893-4188 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
3227 CHEADLE HALL SANTA BARBARA CA US 93106-0001 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): |
Information Technology Researc, Networking Technology and Syst |
| Primary Program Source: |
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| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.070 |
ABSTRACT
Today's society relies heavily on various Internet-based services for work, education, health care, and entertainment, and the quality of access (or last-mile) network dictates the quality of experience for these services. The quality of access networks in the US varies across different regions, communities, and demographics, contributing to digital inequities. Policymakers are interested in bridging this gap; to do so, they require understanding the state of access quality. This collaborative project will explore the design and deployment strategies for a new network measurement and analytics platform that enables policymakers to assess access networks' quality at scale.
This collaborative planning project will bring together researchers from the University of California Santa Barbara and the University of Chicago to explore the feasibility of a programmable and scalable data-collection platform, demonstrate the value of closed-loop data collection with specific use-cases, and evaluate different scaling strategies using the data collected from its residential deployments in Chicago. Additionally, this project will organize a workshop inviting different stakeholders from industry, government, and academia to identify scaling strategies, new features, and concrete use cases for the proposed platform.
The proposed platform can answer questions ranging from the state of the Internet performance and infrastructure in specific neighborhoods to the Internet speeds and performance characteristics required to support special/new applications (e.g., video conferencing, telehealth, etc.). Such capabilities will empower policymakers and other stakeholders, such as networking researchers, network operators, and end users. It is envisioned that the open-source tools, methods, and data will become the standard that these organizations rely on to both assess the nature of problems in Internet access networks, as well as to assess the effectiveness of various policy interventions, programs, and infrastructure investments, and so forth. Project website: https://pinetrics.cs.ucsb.edu/
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
Overview
This project aimed to develop a scalable and programmable network measurement platform to assess broadband quality in last-mile networks. By enabling high-fidelity, continuous network monitoring, the project sought to bridge the gap between measured and experienced network quality, ultimately informing policymakers, researchers, and industry stakeholders. Over the course of the award, the project made significant contributions in developing netReplica, organizing workshops, and advancing discussions on broadband equity and digital infrastructure.
Key Outcomes and Intellectual Merit
Development of netReplica
One of the most significant technical contributions of this project was the design and implementation of netReplica, a high-fidelity network emulation framework. netReplica builds upon existing data-collection platforms, such as PINOT and netUnicorn, while extending their capabilities to programmatically emulate a wide range of realistic network conditions for data collection. The data collected using this framework facilitates development of performant and generaliable learning models critical for realizing high-fidelity broadband quality assessments at scale.
Key features of netReplica include:
- Traffic Emulation: Integrates LibreQoS, an industry-scale traffic shaping tool, to model diverse network conditions.
- High-Fidelity Congestion Modeling: Supports burstiness, frequency, intensity, and intermittency of network traffic to accurately reflect real-world congestion scenarios.
- Scalability and Automation: Facilitates large-scale deployment with minimal computational and bandwidth overhead.
The development of netReplica marks a major advancement in network measurement, allowing researchers to collect labeled datasets for a range of learning problems and enabling closed-loop broadband quality assessments.
Workshops and Stakeholder Engagement
The project played a key role in facilitating interdisciplinary collaboration through workshops that brought together researchers, policymakers, and industry leaders.
- Berkeley Workshop (2023): Organized the "Bridging the Divide" workshop in collaboration with Measurement Lab and the Berkeley Center for Law & Technology. This event engaged 55+ stakeholders, including FCC, NTIA, city governments, and researchers, to address broadband data gaps and explore policy-driven solutions.
- Workshop Report: Published a comprehensive workshop report, detailing key challenges in broadband measurement and policy gaps in existing datasets. This report is publicly available to support ongoing research and policy discussions.
- Follow-Up Meetings: The project team continued engagement through discussions at ACM SIGCOMM 2023, the Marconi Society’s Broadband Mapping Coalition, and upcoming initiatives to refine broadband quality assessment methodologies.
Broader Impacts
This project has significant implications for broadband policy, digital equity, and network measurement research:
- Advancing Digital Inclusion: The project examined how NextG networks can address the digital divide by providing equitable internet access, especially in underserved areas.
- Influencing Broadband Policy: Findings from this project have been shared with policymakers, civil society groups, and government agencies, contributing to discussions on improving FCC broadband maps and subsidy programs.
- Training and Education: The project provided hands-on research opportunities to graduate students at UCSB, mentoring students in network measurement, AI-driven modeling, and broadband equity research. The team is also working on integrating netReplica’s dataset into university courses on network measurement.
- (Potential) Tech Transfer: The methodologies developed in this project align with industry interests, including Google, Ookla, Cloudflare, and Amazon, and are expected to influence ML-driven broadband quality assessment frameworks in the future.
Conclusion and Future Directions
This project successfully developed a programmable, closed-loop measurement platform that enhances broadband quality assessments. Through the creation of netReplica, engagement with stakeholders, and contributions to broadband policy discussions, the project has laid a foundation for long-term improvements in network measurement and digital equity research.
Moving forward, the insights and tools developed in this project will continue to inform research, policy decisions, and industry practices, ensuring that broadband networks are more reliable, transparent, and accessible for all users.
Last Modified: 02/19/2025
Modified by: Arpit Gupta
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