The Network Innovations Centre
(NIC) is one of three major research centres within the
Rince Institute (a PRTLI 1 funded national
centre for excellence in Information and Communications Technology (ICT)).
The mission of the Network Innovations Centre in RINCE is to contribute to
the emergence of the next generation of networks and network applications by
engaging in relevant research and promoting its findings.
Context
Ever-increasing consumer interest in novel services such as Voice over IP and
IPTV fuels the demand for next generation networks offering greater bandwidth as
well as better support for real-time services and user mobility, enhanced
reliability and integrated/converged network architectures. The development of
these networks is supported by continuing growth in computing power, increased
efficiency in the exploitation of radio spectrum, and advances in optical fibre
solutions, as well as ongoing developments of traditional network technologies.
Key Expertise
The centre staff has significant expertise in switching theory, routing
protocols, protocol implementation and network security, quality-oriented and
power-aware adaptive multimedia delivery, quality of experience aware adaptive
hypermedia systems, performance of wireless and mobile networks, numerical
modelling of electromagnetic wave scattering and radiation problems, hardware
description languages and low-power electronics.
Postgraduate and postdoctoral opportunities
Please contact the NIC Research Officer or the NIC Director for further information - contact us.
Key Projects
Currently our main research projects are funded by SFI Research Frontiers,
Enterprise Ireland Commercialisation Funds (Proof of Concept and Technology
Development), SFI Secondary Teacher Assistant Researchers (STARs) Programme, SFI
China-Ireland Science and Technology Collaboration Research Fund, DCU-CSC PhD
Scholarships and the IRCSET Embark Initiative (postgraduate and postdoctoral).
Current and recent projects include:
- E- Stream - Innovative Performance Management system for Heterogeneous Network Environments
- ECONET - low Energy COnsumption
NETworks FP7
(http://www.econet-project.eu)
- Cross-layer Power Saving Solutions for Multimedia Data Transmission in
Heterogeneous Wireless Environments
- Telecommunications Graduate Initiative (TGI)
(www.tgi.ie)
- Research on Radio Resource Management Technology in Heterogeneous Network
- Cooperative Communication and Resource Management in Cognitive Network
- Network Resource Management of Next Generation Networks
- High Performance Hardware Accelerators for Deep Packet Inspection with Low
Power Consumption
- Efficient Utilization of a Heterogeneous Collection of Computer Systems
- Agile Methodologies for the Development of Multimedia Based Interactive
e/m-Learning SystemsUser-Centric Access Network Selection Strategy
(UCANS)
- Quality-oriented adaptive cluster-based spectrum reuse for multimedia
streaming
- Best Route Selection based on Existing Road Traffic Conditions via Mobile
Ad-hoc Wireless Networks
- Efficient implementation of large-scale switching networks using a
multistage repackable topology
- Prioritised In-Home Adaptive Multimedia-based Service Delivery Scheme
- Prioritised Adaptive Multimedia Streaming Scheme
- Cost-effective Quality-oriented Delivery of Multimedia Content over
Heterogeneous Wireless Networks
- Efficient wide band analysis of electromagnetic and acoustic wave-scattering
problems
- Efficient integral equation techniques for modelling scattering from complex
perfectly conducting bodies
- Wireless Sensor Networks
- Modelling Ultra wide band communication systems with a 3D ray tracing
propagation tool
- Performance Optimisation of Components
- Automated Performance Analysis of EJB (Enterprise Java Beans) Application
Servers
- High Performance Low-Power Hardware Accelerators for Deep Packet Inspection
(DPI)
- Power Efficient Caches for High Performance Network Processors
- Low Power, Parallel Compiler Optimization for High Performance Network
Processors
- Performance Optimization Techniques for Caching Mechanism in Network
Processors
- Architecture and Compiler Optimization for Power Reduction in High
Performance Network Processors
- Energy Efficient Network Processor Design
- Architecture and Compiler Optimization for Power Reduction in High
Performance Network Processors
- Research on Optimized Processing in Network Processor Units for High-
performance Routers
Selected Academic Linkages
Dr. Koen Van Dongen, Delft University, The Netherlands
Prof. Alexandra Cristea, University of Warwick, UK
Dr. George Ghinea, Brunel University, UK
Dr. John Murphy, University College Dublin, Ireland
Dr. Liam Murphy, University College Dublin, Ireland
Dr. Cristina Hava Muntean, National College of Ireland, Ireland
Prof. Pascal Frossard, L’Ecole Politehnique Federale de Lausanne, Switzerland
Dr. Dan Pescaru, Politehnica University of Timisoara, Romania
Prof. Liu Bin, Tsinghua University, Beijing
Prof. Wojtiech Kabacinski, Technological University of Poznan, Poland
Selected Industrial Linkages
Recent collaborations have involved Ericsson, Eircom, Industria and Vilicom.
Educational/Outreach Programme
The staff from the Network Innovations Centre are involved in a wide range of
educational and outreach programmes including:
2nd Level:
-
SFI Secondary Teacher Assistant Researchers (STARs)
Programme
3rd Level:
- EE552: Broadband Networks - major focus is on QoS support
in networks (Dr. Martin Collier)
- EE562: Network Programming - addresses programming issues
across all network layers (Dr. Martin Collier and Dr. Gabriel-Miro Muntean)
- EE545: Data Network Protocols - reviews basic networking
and covers specialised topics in switching, wireless networking, optical
networking and queuing (Dr. Jennifer McManis)
- EE561: Wireless Networks - covers topics in mobile and
wireless networking (Dr. Jennifer McManis and Dr. Gabriel Muntean)
- EE558: Advanced RF Circuit Modelling – presents basic
concepts from physical layer modelling such as electromagnetic theory, plane
waves, reflection from planar boundaries as well as concepts from RF circuit
theory (Dr. Conor Brennan)
- EE540: HDL and High Level Logic Synthesis– Cover VHDL
hardware description language and synthesis algorithms (Dr. Xiaojun Wang)
Summer Internships:
Working in our research labs over the summer months allows undergraduate
students to gain research experience.
-
SFI UREKA project - Online Dublin Computer Science Summer School in
Ireland (ODCSSS). The theme for
ODCSSS 2009 "Technologies for bridging the digital-physical divide: sensing the
environment". Each ODCSSS student is engaged in a research project with a
faculty member and mentor which provides them an opportunity to experience
research. The selection of interns is highly competitive but we encourage anyone
interested in research who is eligible to apply. See the
ODCSSS
website for further details.
-
John Holland Scholars - The main aim of this scholarship
programme is to allow second and third year engineering students to gain some
experience in how a research project is carried out. Students selected under
this scholarship programme work closely with a member of academic staff (and
possibly their postgraduate students) or a post-doctoral researcher in agreeing
a research topic, designing a solution, and implementing that solution.
link
-
French Interns – Every year, we host a number of french
interns from a number of different universities in our labs at the
Network Innovations Centre.
Graduate Education:
-
MEng in Electronic Systems - Major in Network
Implementation This Major will prepare graduates for career
opportunities in the burgeoning fields of wireless networking, mesh networks,
peer-to-peer networking, sensor networks, GMPLS and their successor
technologies.
-
IRCSET PhD Scholarships
NIC hosts a number of PhD students funded by the IRCSET Embark
Initiative
Contacts:
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