Subject: [Coin] Updated charter

From: Marie-Jose Montpetit <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 11 Feb 2019 21:20:09 -0500

Please find below our updated charter ahead of the meeting in Prague. I will update the wiki tomorrow am.

Thanks to everyone who contributed!

_____________________________________

The COIN research group (COINRG) will explore existing research and foster investigation of Compute in the Network and the resultant impact to the data plane. The goal is to investigate how to harness and to benefit from this emerging disruption to the Internet architecture to improve network and application performance as well as user experience. COIN will encourage scrutiny of research solutions that comprehend the re-imagining of the network to be a place where routing, compute, and storage blend.

 COIN will address both controlled environments such as DCN and the ongoing shift from data center (DC) toward edge computing and will debate whether this shift can be viewed as a cloud continuum. COIN specifically will focus on the evolution necessary for networking to move beyond packet interception as the basis of network computation. While existing DCs employ rudimentary languages for programming switch, richer programmability is required to support emerging workloads, such as edge network analytics, machine learning and deep learn. Such applications not only need access to more general-purpose languages, but also need to operate in conjunction with local and remote caches, dynamic control points, and data stewardship.

Orchestration of end-to-end resources between the DC network and the edge is another key topic to address in COIN. In particular, the RG will examine orchestration with increasingly heterogeneous distributed components and draw inspiration from current approaches (e.g., Kubernetes, Swarm) that are likely to need updating, extending, and/or simplifying in multi-domain network environments. COIN will closely follow research on distributed computing and information centric networking. Use-case-driven requirements, gathered from next-generation applications and services (e.g., video streaming, immersive AR/VR, autonomous/connected vehicles, industrial IoT), may lead to new architectures, which employ new ways to perform functional distribution and leverage co-design of layered approaches.

COIN will interact closely with the IETF transport area to ensure that it does not increase the friction between the end-to-end privacy and security of new transport protocols and the need for in-network computations. The SPUD efforts in the IETF already addressed some of these challenges and COIN intends to continue the dialog around evolving the end-to-end semantics of IETF transports protocols. COIN is aware that targeting the space of multi-party computations may impact or be impacted by crypto/security properties. COIN will foster discussion on what should (or should not) be exposed across network layers, including parameters that might enable QoS/QoE, orchestration dynamics, and seamless mobility.

In order to achieve its goals, COIN will expose and advance research on distributed, decentralized networks and resources required by DC, edge and ambient computing. COIN will investigate the implications of increased heterogeneity and limitations that arise if/when DC and edge computing employ a common architecture, programmable networks and API and interchangeable functionality in the Internet. COIN assumes that to improve Internet performance, the network, compute and storage resources must work jointly in close partnership throughout the network, while servicing data-intensive distributed applications.

 Scope

(1)    Solutions to use programmable network devices, languages and abstractions to implement network functions for improved Internet performance.

(2)    Use case driven requirements analysis: the cloud continuum from the data center to edge networks and beyond including in-network computing using programmable switches. Identify the potential benefits to these networks from in-network functionality, including but not limited to compute, cache, manage, control, etc.

(3)    Novel architectures, data-plane abstractions and new network protocol designs to efficiently federate decentralized computing resources, across the infrastructure regardless of where in the network the compute is placed (the DC, the core, the edge, and even in the end-user devices).

(4)  Transport protocols, privacy and security mechanisms required or enabled by in-network compute.

________________________________________

Marie-Jose Montpetit, Ph.D.
[email-masked]
[email-masked]
+1-781-526-2661
@SocialTVMIT

---

From: Marie-Jose Montpetit <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 15 Feb 2019 14:04:48 -0500

See below in bold. Updating the wiki today. See you all in Prague!

mjm

> On Feb 11, 2019, at 9:20 PM, Marie-Jose Montpetit <[email-masked]> wrote:
> 
> Orchestration of end-to-end resources between the DC network and the edge is another key topic to address in COIN. In particular, the RG will examine orchestration with increasingly heterogeneous distributed components and draw inspiration from current approaches (e.g., Kubernetes, Swarm) that are likely to need updating, extending, and/or simplifying in multi-domain network environments.COIN will pay close attention to work in DINRG and ICNRG in particular and will work carefully to keep a focused scope. Use-case-driven requirements, gathered from next-generation applications and services (e.g., video streaming, immersive AR/VR, autonomous/connected vehicles, industrial IoT), may lead to new architectures, which employ new ways to perform functional distribution and leverage co-design of layered approaches.
> 
> [email-masked] <mailto:[email-masked]>
> [email-masked] <mailto:[email-masked]>
> +1-781-526-2661
> @SocialTVMIT
> 
> 
>

---

From: "David R. Oran" <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 16 Feb 2019 09:23:01 -0500

Thanks for the updated charter.

While I agree with the scope and the general areas of focus, my writing 
background and a certain degree of pedantic tendencies made me allergic 
to how some of the charter is written. Instead of writing a lot of 
comments (and justifying individual changes) I took a shot at a 
re-write. I imagine one could grab pieces of this, start with it as new 
base, or just ignore me as not really making anything better.

Anyway, here goes:

———

The COIN research group (COINRG) provides a forum for the presentation, 
discussion, and analysis of research addressing to what extent, and how, 
computing and networking technologies can be merged. The scope includes 
architectures, protocols, and implementations that encompass both of 
these technology areas. The primary goals are to improve network and 
application performance, agility, security, and privacy by better 
integration. COIN will foster research into solutions that measurably 
improve the internet by blending how routing/forwarding, packet 
processing, computing, and storage are realized. Work involving both 
classic “control plane” and “data plane” technologies are in 
scope.

COIN will address a wide variety of system scales, ranging from large 
data center networks (DCN) to small edge computing and networking 
complexes. Of particular interest is work that explores this continuum 
and addresses how cloud computing languages and tools might evolve (or 
not) to encompass the full range of scale, deployment, and physical 
realization.

A major focus will also be on bridging the current divide between the 
way server computing complexes are programmed and how switches and other 
smart networking devices such as NICs are programmed. While current 
state-of-the art in programmability via P4 and other languages/systems 
has resulted in improved functionality in switches, richer 
programmability is likely needed to support important workloads, such as 
edge network analytics, machine learning, and data fusion for 
cyber-physical systems. Such applications not only need access to more 
general-purpose languages and underlying operating system facilities, 
but also need to accommodate local and remote caches, dynamic control 
points, and various forms of data stewardship. The multiple “touch 
points” and attendant data transformations raise important research 
issues in security, privacy and data provenance, as a simple 
“end-to-end” two party model of communication does not capture the 
richness of the systems people envision. Research concerning how the 
existing layering of protocols is affected by these considerations is 
also in scope. COIN will foster discussion on what should (or should 
not) be exposed across layers and APIs, including parameters that might 
affect QoS/QoE, orchestration dynamics, and mobility.

The ability to deploy, manage and evolve a system with both data center 
and edge components brings new challenges to how complex applications 
are orchestrated, both individually and in mutual competition for 
resources. The RG hopes to foster work on orchestration of 
multi-datacenter and edge resources through both proposals to extend 
existing approaches (e.g., Kubernetes, Swarm) as well as via novel 
approaches. Special attention will be paid to use-case-driven 
requirements gathered from next-generation applications and services 
(e.g., video streaming, immersive AR/VR, autonomous/connected vehicles, 
industrial IoT). In doing so, COIN expects to closely follow and 
coordinate with the evolving research in distributed computing and 
information-centric networking.

[Note 1: I didn’t get the relevance of the SPUD work and am confused 
by where this would directly “increase frictions between the 
end-to-end privacy and security of new transport protocols and the need 
for in-network computations”. Maybe this is because some folks might 
come to COIN with wrong-headed ideas about doing in-network computation 
via middle-box packet interception techniques?… therefore I left that 
material out and instead talked about the privacy/security implications 
of the work on existing protocols at multiple layers]

[Note 2: I found the last paragraph repetitive, so I left it out too]

Scope:

(1) Improvements to the programmability of network devices in order to 
bring more of the richness of distributed computing technologies to 
in-network devices.

(2) Use case driven requirements analysis: examine cloud computing as a 
continuum from the data center to edge networks and beyond incorporating 
the use of programmable switches and NICs. Identify the potential 
benefits to these networks by employing in-network functionality, 
including but not limited to compute, cache, manage, control, etc.

(3) Novel architectures, data-plane abstractions, and new network 
protocol designs to efficiently federate decentralized computing 
resources across the infrastructure regardless of where in the network 
the compute is placed (the DC, the core, the edge, and even in the 
end-user devices).

(4)  Privacy and security mechanisms required or enabled by in-network 
compute and their effect on various protocol layers.

———

On 11 Feb 2019, at 21:20, Marie-Jose Montpetit wrote:

> The COIN research group (COINRG) will explore existing research and 
> foster investigation of Compute in the Network and the resultant 
> impact to the data plane. The goal is to investigate how to harness 
> and to benefit from this emerging disruption to the Internet 
> architecture to improve network and application performance as well as 
> user experience. COIN will encourage scrutiny of research solutions 
> that comprehend the re-imagining of the network to be a place where 
> routing, compute, and storage blend.
>
>  COIN will address both controlled environments such as DCN and the 
> ongoing shift from data center (DC) toward edge computing and will 
> debate whether this shift can be viewed as a cloud continuum. COIN 
> specifically will focus on the evolution necessary for networking to 
> move beyond packet interception as the basis of network computation. 
> While existing DCs employ rudimentary languages for programming 
> switch, richer programmability is required to support emerging 
> workloads, such as edge network analytics, machine learning and deep 
> learn. Such applications not only need access to more general-purpose 
> languages, but also need to operate in conjunction with local and 
> remote caches, dynamic control points, and data stewardship.
>
>
> Orchestration of end-to-end resources between the DC network and the 
> edge is another key topic to address in COIN. In particular, the RG 
> will examine orchestration with increasingly heterogeneous distributed 
> components and draw inspiration from current approaches (e.g., 
> Kubernetes, Swarm) that are likely to need updating, extending, and/or 
> simplifying in multi-domain network environments. COIN will closely 
> follow research on distributed computing and information centric 
> networking. Use-case-driven requirements, gathered from 
> next-generation applications and services (e.g., video streaming, 
> immersive AR/VR, autonomous/connected vehicles, industrial IoT), may 
> lead to new architectures, which employ new ways to perform functional 
> distribution and leverage co-design of layered approaches.
>
> COIN will interact closely with the IETF transport area to ensure that 
> it does not increase the friction between the end-to-end privacy and 
> security of new transport protocols and the need for in-network 
> computations. The SPUD efforts in the IETF already addressed some of 
> these challenges and COIN intends to continue the dialog around 
> evolving the end-to-end semantics of IETF transports protocols. COIN 
> is aware that targeting the space of multi-party computations may 
> impact or be impacted by crypto/security properties. COIN will foster 
> discussion on what should (or should not) be exposed across network 
> layers, including parameters that might enable QoS/QoE, orchestration 
> dynamics, and seamless mobility.
>
>
> In order to achieve its goals, COIN will expose and advance research 
> on distributed, decentralized networks and resources required by DC, 
> edge and ambient computing. COIN will investigate the implications of 
> increased heterogeneity and limitations that arise if/when DC and edge 
> computing employ a common architecture, programmable networks and API 
> and interchangeable functionality in the Internet. COIN assumes that 
> to improve Internet performance, the network, compute and storage 
> resources must work jointly in close partnership throughout the 
> network, while servicing data-intensive distributed applications.
>
>
>  Scope
>
>
> (1)    Solutions to use programmable network devices, languages and 
> abstractions to implement network functions for improved Internet 
> performance.
>
> (2)    Use case driven requirements analysis: the cloud continuum from 
> the data center to edge networks and beyond including in-network 
> computing using programmable switches. Identify the potential benefits 
> to these networks from in-network functionality, including but not 
> limited to compute, cache, manage, control, etc.
>
> (3)    Novel architectures, data-plane abstractions and new network 
> protocol designs to efficiently federate decentralized computing 
> resources, across the infrastructure regardless of where in the 
> network the compute is placed (the DC, the core, the edge, and even in 
> the end-user devices).
>

DaveO

---

From: Marie-Jose Montpetit <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 16 Feb 2019 09:25:33 -0500

Thanks Dave! I will let a few days for the list to respond and see if we can all agree to a common version. I think we all see what research is targeted and necessary, it’s a question of wording it :)

mjm

> On Feb 16, 2019, at 9:23 AM, David R. Oran <[email-masked]> wrote:
> 
> While I agree with the scope and the general areas of focus, my writing background and a certain degree of pedantic tendencies made me allergic to how some of the charter is written. Instead of writing a lot of comments (and justifying individual changes) I took a shot at a re-write. I imagine one could grab pieces of this, start with it as new base, or just ignore me as not really making anything better.
> 
> Anyway, here goes:
> 
> ———
> 
> The COIN research group (COINRG) provides a forum for the presentation, discussion, and analysis of research addressing to what extent, and how, computing and networking technologies can be merged. The scope includes architectures, protocols, and implementations that encompass both of these technology areas. The primary goals are to improve network and application performance, agility, security, and privacy by better integration. COIN will foster research into solutions that measurably improve the internet by blending how routing/forwarding, packet processing, computing, and storage are realized. Work involving both classic “control plane” and “data plane” technologies are in scope.
> 
> COIN will address a wide variety of system scales, ranging from large data center networks (DCN) to small edge computing and networking complexes. Of particular interest is work that explores this continuum and addresses how cloud computing languages and tools might evolve (or not) to encompass the full range of scale, deployment, and physical realization.
> 
> A major focus will also be on bridging the current divide between the way server computing complexes are programmed and how switches and other smart networking devices such as NICs are programmed. While current state-of-the art in programmability via P4 and other languages/systems has resulted in improved functionality in switches, richer programmability is likely needed to support important workloads, such as edge network analytics, machine learning, and data fusion for cyber-physical systems. Such applications not only need access to more general-purpose languages and underlying operating system facilities, but also need to accommodate local and remote caches, dynamic control points, and various forms of data stewardship. The multiple “touch points” and attendant data transformations raise important research issues in security, privacy and data provenance, as a simple “end-to-end” two party model of communication does not capture the richness of the systems people envision. Research concerning how the existing layering of protocols is affected by these considerations is also in scope. COIN will foster discussion on what should (or should not) be exposed across layers and APIs, including parameters that might affect QoS/QoE, orchestration dynamics, and mobility.
> 
> The ability to deploy, manage and evolve a system with both data center and edge components brings new challenges to how complex applications are orchestrated, both individually and in mutual competition for resources. The RG hopes to foster work on orchestration of multi-datacenter and edge resources through both proposals to extend existing approaches (e.g., Kubernetes, Swarm) as well as via novel approaches. Special attention will be paid to use-case-driven requirements gathered from next-generation applications and services (e.g., video streaming, immersive AR/VR, autonomous/connected vehicles, industrial IoT). In doing so, COIN expects to closely follow and coordinate with the evolving research in distributed computing and information-centric networking.
> 
> [Note 1: I didn’t get the relevance of the SPUD work and am confused by where this would directly “increase frictions between the end-to-end privacy and security of new transport protocols and the need for in-network computations”. Maybe this is because some folks might come to COIN with wrong-headed ideas about doing in-network computation via middle-box packet interception techniques?… therefore I left that material out and instead talked about the privacy/security implications of the work on existing protocols at multiple layers]
> 
> (1) Improvements to the programmability of network devices in order to bring more of the richness of distributed computing technologies to in-network devices.
> 
> (2) Use case driven requirements analysis: examine cloud computing as a continuum from the data center to edge networks and beyond incorporating the use of programmable switches and NICs. Identify the potential benefits to these networks by employing in-network functionality, including but not limited to compute, cache, manage, control, etc.
> 
> (3) Novel architectures, data-plane abstractions, and new network protocol designs to efficiently federate decentralized computing resources across the infrastructure regardless of where in the network the compute is placed (the DC, the core, the edge, and even in the end-user devices).
> 
> (4)  Privacy and security mechanisms required or enabled by in-network compute and their effect on various protocol layers.
> 
> 
> ———
> 
> -- 
> Coin mailing list
> [email-masked]
> https://www.irtf.org/mailman/listinfo/coin