Presence and IntComm WG

[Ben Teitelbaum <>]

PICers,

I just finished reading through the IRTF E2E group's report [1]
envisioning a future of communications and discussing what sort of
research program might be needed to get us there.  I was struck by how
much overlap there was with the PIC working group's agenda.  Of the
ten key research areas identified, numbers 2, 3, and 9 are:

2. Technology at the edge--an access infrastructure for next
   generation devices.

   In 10 years, there should be a ubiquitous, low cost, open
   infrastructure suited for communication with low-cost computing
   devices such as sensors and controllers.

3. A universal system for location  

   In 10 years, there should be a ubiquitous, open infrastructure that
   allows any properly equipped device to determine its location, both
   inside and outside, to a suitable level of precision.

9. Giving everything a presence in cyberspace 

   In 10 years, any physical object should be able to tag itself in a
   way that links it to relevant information and functions in
   cyberspace. A context of scanners and online viewers will allow
   users to see this information in a convenient and interactive
   manner.

The esteemed authors also plug power-management and software radios
and conclude by stating that "to validate and demonstrate any of these
visions, it will be necessary to build some sort of prototype,
testbed, or experimental infrastructure."

Clearly, we must be doing something right!

-- ben


1. David D. Clark, Craig Partridge, Robert T. Braden (chair), Bruce
   Davie Sally Floyd, Van Jacobson, Dina Katabi, Greg Minshall,
   K.K. Ramakrishnan, Timothy Roscoe, Ion Stoica, John Wroclawski and
   Lixia Zhang, "Making the World (of Communications) a Different
   Place", http://www.ir.bbn.com/~craig/e2e-vision.pdf

-- 
Ben Teitelbaum   http://people.internet2.edu/~ben/