Tigran Avanesov

SDN-RADAR: Network troubleshooting combining user experience and SDN capabilities

Software-defined deployments are growing into data center and enterprise network infrastructures. The typical promises of software-defined networks (SDN) are improved time for market, decreased risk and operational costs for services, flexibility and unified management. However, little is known and shared about how to actually manage an SDN network, especially in localising underperforming network paths (what we call “troubleshooting”). We describe a novel approach to ease large network troubleshooting by leveraging SDN features and incorporating distributed monitoring of network traffic. We suggest SDN-RADAR, a tool that can help network administrators understand which is the most likely faulty network link. To the best of our knowledge this is the first troubleshooting solution that combines user-side performance measurements with network data extracted from the SDN controller.

Cognition: A Tool for Reinforcing Security in Software Defined Networks

Security is one of the most important requirements for networks and serious concerns for network providers and users. Software Defined Networking offers to network managers new opportunities for deploying efficient security mechanisms. By means of applications and controller functionalities, SDN is able to provide a highly reactive network security monitoring, to perform comprehensive traffic analysis, and to enforce fine-grained dynamic access policies. In the present work, we show how such security mechanisms can be further enforced by applying cognitive functions at the SDN application plane. The proposed approach that finds its foundation into the control loops applied in Autonomic Managers Networks (AMNs), can efficiently enable secure and safe SDN scenarios.

Driving while using a smartphone-based mobility application: Evaluating the impact of three multi-choice user interfaces on visual-manual distraction

Innovative in-car applications provided on smartphones can deliver real-time alternative mobility choices and subsequently generate visual-manual demand. Prior studies have found that multi-touch gestures such as kinetic scrolling are problematic in this respect. In this study we evaluate three prototype tasks which can be found in common mobile interaction use-cases. In a repeated-measures design, 29 participants interacted with the prototypes in a car-following task within a driving simulator environment. Task completion, driving performance and eye gaze have been analysed. We found that the slider widget used in the filtering task was too demanding and led to poor performance, while kinetic scrolling generated a comparable amount of visual distraction despite it requiring a lower degree of finger pointing accuracy. We discuss how to improve continuous list browsing in a dual-task context.

Assessing in-vehicle information systems application in the car: a versatile tool and unified testing platform

In this paper we present the DriveLab IVIS testing platform which allows for the same experiments to be conducted both under simulator and real car conditions. Other key aspects of DriveLab is that it is highly modular (therefore allowing the exchange or integration of different components) and that it supports more than one driver. For example we show that the same IVIS devices and scenario can be used with two different 3D engines. The paper provides a technical overview and a brief example of use.

(Semi-) Pervasive Gaming Educational and Entertainment Facilities via Interactive Video-to-Video Communication over the Internet, for Museum Exhibits

Based upon the core concept of the LiveCity Project we focus on the specific City Cultural Experiences v2v Pilot, designed to allow for visitors at two defined locations to interact with one another in a joint experience and to get educational/entertainment benefits, originating directly from the museum content delivery. We discuss a set of semi-pervasive games (the so-called “Twin Cities” games) which are designed to bring people together at remotely twinned locations through the use of video-to-video communication and multi-touch interaction. We also present an early classification of video-to-video (v2v) interaction games that is designed to inform designers about the potential of such technologies. We classify them as: using video for awareness and communication, interacting with video and video as a game.

Network troubleshooting with SDN-RADAR

Despite increasing deployment of software-defined networks (SDN), little is yet known about how to actually manage such kind of networks. When service degradation (generically termed here “trouble”) happens, the first step is to localise under-performing network paths (“troubleshooting”). SDN-RADAR gives a novel approach to ease large network troubleshooting by leveraging SDN features and incorporating distributed monitoring of network traffic. The demo shows how the SDN-RADAR tool can help network administrators understand which is the most likely faulty network link.