ZTE Communications ›› 2010, Vol. 8 ›› Issue (2): 21-25.

• Special Topic • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Future Architecture and Mechanisms of the Self-Managing Internet

Li Yühong, Cheng Shiduan   

  1. State Key Laboratory of Networking and Switching Technology, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Beijing 100876, P. R. China
  • Online:2010-06-25 Published:2020-02-27
  • About author:Li Yühong received her doctoral degree from the Technical University of Braunschweig, Germany. She is an associate professor at the Institute of Networking Technology, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications (BUPT). She has led and participated in many projects funded by the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China ("863" Program), National Natural Science Foundation of China, Sixth Framework Programme (FP6) of the EU, Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) of the EU, and national and international enterprises. She has published over 50 articles, 30 of which are indexed by Science Citation Index (SCI) and Engineering Index (EI). Her research interests include Internet architecture, self-organizing network technology, and wireless mobile network technology and applications.

    Cheng Shiduan is a professor and doctoral advisor at the State Key Laboratory of Networking and Switching Technology, BUPT. She has been involved in communications and computer network research and development for many years. She was formerly the leader of the Networking and Switching Expert Group of the National "863" Communication Subjects, and director of the State Key Laboratory of Networking and Switching Technology, BUPT (1992-1999). Cheng Shiduan is now a council member of the Beijing Institute of Communications (BIC), and a commissioner of the China Communications Standards Association. Her current research interests include new-generation Internet architecture, and performance optimization technology.
  • Supported by:
    This work was funded by EFIPSANS under Grant No. INFSO-ICT-215549, National Basic Research Program of China (“973”Program) under Grant No. 2009CB320504, National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant No. 60672086, and Sino-Swedish Strategic Cooperative Program on Next Generation Networks under Grant No. 2008DFA12110.

Abstract: This article introduces the architecture and mechanisms of the self-managing future Internet currently being developed by the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) project EFIPSANS. In this architecture, network functions are divided into four planes: decision, dissemination, discovery, and data. Decision Elements (DEs), managed entities, and other information collecting entities at different planes comprise control loops of four layers: the protocol layer, the function layer, the node layer, and the network layer. DEs and their related control loops contribute to network self-management and self-maintenance. This greatly reduces the need for intervention in the network, thus reducing costs and improving user experience. The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) has now established a new Industry Specification Group to standardize the self-managing Internet.