Research Roadmap Driven by Network Benchmarking Lab (NBL): Deep Packet Inspection, Traffic Forensics, Embedded Benchmarking, Software Defined Networking and Beyond

Abstract

Most researchers look for topics from the literature. But our research derived mostly from development, in turn driven by industrial projects or product testing. We spanned into the areas of cable TV networks, multi-hop cellular, Internet QoS, deep packet inspection, traffic forensics, embedded benchmarking, and software defined networking. Among them, our multi-hop cellular work was the first along this line and has a high impact on both academia and industry, with over 600 citations and standardizations in WLAN mesh (IEEE 802.11s), WiMAX (IEEE 802.16j), Bluetooth (IEEE 802.15.5), and 3GPP LTE-advanced. Side products from our research include a startup (L7 Networks Inc., in 2002), a test lab (Network Benchmarking Lab, NBL, since 2002), and a textbook Computer Networks: An Open Source Approach (McGraw-Hill, 2011). It is a perfect time to have my 20-year half-time report as we celebrate the 70th birthday of my Ph.D. thesis advisor, Prof. Mario Gerla. This report could serve as a reference for researchers in developing their own roadmap.