This $139,095 National Science Foundation project grant supports research into designing principles for a future-proof Internet control plane. Funded under the NSF's Computer and Information Science and Engineering program (CFDA 47.070), the award supports a collaborative research effort between the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
The project aims to address challenges in evolving Internet control protocols to meet growing demands on the network. Key areas of focus include enhancing evolvability and resource awareness in protocols, defining interfaces for coordination across heterogeneous control planes, and developing a novel control plane architecture. Outcomes will include tools for large-scale networking experiments across testbeds and engagement activities to discuss control plane design with the research community. The one-year project period runs from October 1, 2021 to August 31, 2022.