Already today, the Internet serves more nodes than there are neurons in the human brain. Many nodes are getting increasingly powerful and smarter than ever; yet a myriad of dumb ‘things’ is populating our digital ecosystem too. By the year 2020 the number of interconnected ‘things’ will grow by a factor of a thousand, but how many of the estimated one trillion things will be dumb? Will it still make sense to build rudimentary sensor systems, losing out on the potential of computational inference? Recent developments in computational intelligence suggest a number of viable methods for the realization of smart sensor systems, staying within the capabilities of inexpensive sensors. Imagine what more could be achieved if we could build nature-like sensor networks. Can we build autonomic sensors that, just the human autonomous system, can self-adjust across a broad range of extreme conditions? Can we mimic self-learning processes to realize adaptive sensor systems? In this talk I explore the fascinating world of cognitive sensor networks.

1. Can sensor networks stay dumb?
Prof. Antonio Liotta
Eindhoven University of Technology
http://bit.ly/autonomic_networks
http://nl.linkedin.com/in/liotta
https://twitter.com/#!/a_liotta
www.slideshare.net/ucaclio

2. Three questions about smart networks
• How did networks become what they are?
• How can we connect a trillion things?
• Which are the most promising directions in future
communications?
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3. Advances in communication networks:
What is the first ‘decent’ network switch?
The ‘human’ switch
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4. Advances in communication networks:
The perfectly engineered Telecommunications Management Network
Architecture:
• Layering
• Abstraction
• Insulation
• Deterministic
Strategy
• Sophisticated
• Dimensioned
• Specialized
• Standardized
Human switch
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5. Advances in communication networks:
A perfectly simple network
Diverse global services
TMN Architecture:
• Layering
General-purpose • Abstraction
transport • Insulation
• Deterministic
Strategy
• Simple
• Over-dimensioned
• General-purpose
• Open
Diverse physical transmission media
Human switch
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6. Advances in communication networks:
The (unsuccessfully) re-engineered IP
Diverse global services
TCP/IP
TMN Architecture:
QoS, DiffServ, MPLS, … • Layering
• Abstraction
• Insulation
• Deterministic
Strategy
• Complex
Diverse physical transmission media • Dimensioned
• General-purpose
QoS-enabled • Standardized
IP has failed!
Human switch
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7. Advances in communication networks:
New direction: keep the network simple, push complexity to the edges
Re-engineered IP
TCP/IP
TMN Architecture:
• Layering
• Abstraction
• Insulation
• Deterministic
Strategy
• Ultra-Complex
• Over-dimensioned
• General-purpose
• Open
Human switch
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8. Next ??? Handling complex/diverse
communication requirements
Re-engineered
IP WoT
TCP/IP
TMN Architecture:
• Layering
• Abstraction
• Insulation
• Deterministic
Strategy
• Ultra-Complex
• Over-dimensioned
• General-purpose
We can no longer tackle • Open
complexity via complexity
Human switch
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9. Next ??? Handling complex/diverse
communication requirements
Re-engineered
IP WoT
TCP/IP
TMN Architecture:
• Layering
• Abstraction
• Cross-layer data
fusion
• Context-driven
Strategy
• Smart
• Evolutionary
• General-purpose
• Open
Human switch
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10. Today: data fusion happening only at the edges.
Tomorrow: to turn data into usable knowledge we’ll move it across layers
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11. Today: dumb, brute-force networks, data hub
Tomorrow: smart networks at the center of data fusion
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12. Such network meets the definition of “complexity” set
by “complexity theory”
• Properties of whole can’t be
inferred from properties of
individual parts
• Individual components
interact nonlinearly, leading to
emergent behavior
• Constantly evolves and
unfolds over time
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13. Today: networks can’t catch up with complexity /diversity / dynamics
Smart networks: autonomic, learning, cognitive networks
Nature-like features
Hidden patterns
Emergent behavior
Self-regulation
Learning
Biological
models
Machine learning
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14. The anatomy of a smart node
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15. Today: communication protocols assume that infinite energy is available
Tomorrow: communication networks will integrate with energy networks
1trillion, each ~100 mWatt transmission power 100, each 1 Gigawatt supply
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16. Take-home messages
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17. Thank you !
More about my work http://bit.ly/autonomic_networks
In the press http://bit.ly/press_articles
My slidecasts http://www.slideshare.net/ucaclio
“All of YouTube through “Cognitive “Networks for
a 40-year-old funnel” Interconnections” pervasive services”
http://bit.ly/Volkskrant-EN http://bit.ly/booklet-antonio http://bit.ly/pervasive-networks
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