SDN-based Energy-aware Management for Campus Networks

Supervisor: Dr Vindya Wijeratne

Research group(s): Networks

Given that the vast majority of Internet energy consumption is associated with access networks, the focus of this research is the “green campus”. In a campus environment, a diverse portfolio of equipment is owned by a single organisation. The goal is to explore the extent to which coordinated cross-layer mechanisms can reduce energy usage whilst ensuring the organisation itself is the key beneficiary. Possible mechanisms to save energy include adaptive packet-scheduling, the use of rate adaptation and device mode-switching such as Sleep-On-Idle, with some wireless access points changing to an adhoc relay mode to enable them to switch off their wired network interface cards. Building on previous research, we will examine the trade-off between responsiveness, energy consumption and QoE impact within the organisation. Our direct links with Juniper Networks will enable the use of the Junosphere cloud environment and its supporting SDK to evaluate the performance of proposed mechanisms. It is expected this research will lead to the creation of energy-efficient next generation devices and architectures incorporating feasible state-of-the-art mechanisms.