Research Roadmap Driven by Network Benchmarking Lab (NBL): Deep Packet Inspection, Traffic Forensics, Embedded Benchmarking, 4G LTE, and Beyond

Abstract

Most researchers look for topics from the literature. But my research has been driven mostly by development which in turn has been driven by industrial projects or lab works. We spanned into the areas of cable TV networks, multi-hop cellular, Internet QoS, deep packet inspection, traffic forensics, embedded benchmarking, and LTE. 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 report my 20-year research as we celebrate the 70th birthday of my Ph.D. thesis advisor, Prof. Mario Gerla. Inspired by his persistent and profound impacts, I think this is merely a half-time report and look forward to another 20 years of research.