Network Project
1) The DOMAIN covered by BESTCOM is that of « wired and wireless digital communication links and networks », and in particular consists of the following areas: traffic modelling and analysis, communication channels modelling and shaping, optimized algorithm design for transmission, reception, resource allocation, buffering and scheduling.
Recent paradigm shifts and new challenges call for a coordinated research effort in this domain. One can in particular mention relaying and cooperative communications; interference management/shaping in high bitrate communication systems or circuit boards subject to crosstalk or co-channel interference; cognition in networks; heterogeneity and burstiness of traffic sources and differentiation of quality of service (QoS) requirements. Moreover, new analysis and performance metrics should not only account for information rate, bit or packet error rates, packet loss and delay, but also fairness, priority, energy efficiency and complexity, as globally as possible.
2) The OBJECTIVES of BESTCOM are the following:
- To produce fundamental research results which are innovative at international level in the different areas of expertise of the network, and to generate novel multi-disciplinary research results by exploiting synergy between the diverse research teams;
- To organize the rapid dissemination of the new results generated by the partners, inside and outside the network;
- To offer excellent workshops, summer schools and supporting material for PhD students and postdocs of the network; to offer training sessions to the PhD students for writing and reviewing papers and making scientific presentations;
- To make available, to the whole network, research infrastructures acquired by the partners (such as channel sounder and software radio interface);
- To take a leading role in the organization of a number of well selected major scientific events and to organize an international BESTCOM conference;
3) The METHODOLOGY of the proposal consists
- In adopting a global and stochastic research approach of communication systems, taking into account (when appropriate and possible) the different areas covered by the proposal;
- In stating in analytic form the analysis, modelling and optimized design problems and challenges identified; particular attention will be paid to macro-modelling;
- In solving these problems and challenges by using and contributing to the following theoretical frameworks: communication theory, estimation and decision theory, stochastic electromagnetic field theory and queueing theory;
- In corroborating the obtained fundamental results by means of simulations and experiments when relevant.
4) The research activities are organized in WORKPACKAGES (WPs). Inside each WP, a number of key topics organized in subworkpackages (SWPs) are studied.
WP1 will be the workpackage where appropriate performance metrics and stochastic macro-models will progressively be conceived and built for state-of-the-art digital communication systems. These activities in WP1 will trigger the research actions addressed in WPs 2, 3 and 4. Based on the results obtained in these WPs, the metrics and the models will be updated, and the whole process is intended to be iterative between WP1 on the one hand, and WPs 2, 3 and 4 on the other hand.