Project description
FET pro-actives
Map to make the internet more efficient
Slow connection speeds, web pages failing to load and e-mails going astray are the perennial frustrations of internet users. There could be even greater headaches in the future unless better methods of managing network traffic are developed.
The EVERGROW project laid the foundations for solving such big challenges facing the internet and other networks, helping to ensure people can communicate and share knowledge not just today, but also in ten to 20 years from now.
Bigger networks, more problems
As the internet and other communications networks expand they also grow in complexity. Researchers agree that, at some point in the future, processes that are currently carried out manually – such as network management, provisioning and repair – will have to be automated if traffic is to continue to flow reliably.
Better methods for directing network traffic to its destination will also be needed to handle the increased load as more and more people get online. The more widespread use of bandwidth-intensive services, such as streaming video and file-sharing, further compounds the problem.
The EVERGROW team developed a tool to create the essential resource for getting traffic between two connections on the internet as fast and smoothly as possible – a map.
Volunteers provide the data
Known as DIMES, the tool consists of a software program that thousands of volunteers in 108 countries are currently running on more than 17,000 computers. DIMES is similar in spirit to well-known SETI@Home project, created by the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), in which citizens worldwide volunteer their computer downtime to help process radio scans from space in the hope these yield signs of extraterrestrial life.
However, instead of analysing the heavens, DIMES analyses the internet. The software agent runs unobtrusively in the background when the internet user is online. It takes measurements of their connection speed and monitors the path of traffic in their area, including connections between different nodes of the network, such as the servers of Internet Service Providers (ISPs).
Combined, the information creates a topographical map of the internet that researchers can use to identify better ways of routing and managing traffic. In return for their help, volunteers receive maps of how the internet looks from their home or office, while in the future they will receive personalised ‘internet weather reports’.
The internet is like a jellyfish
The EVERGROW researchers’ findings have led them to conclude that the internet is shaped like a jellyfish in which the mantle represents the well-connected parts of the internet, the brain is the nucleus of key nodes and the tendrils are the least connected areas.
When internet users request information via their browsers from a distant website, the data typically starts from a node in a tendril, travels along to a node in the nucleus, and then travels out to the node where the relevant information is held.
A more efficient path for internet routing, and one that is less prone to bottlenecks, could be created by sending the information via nodes in the outer mantle, thus avoiding the more congested nucleus.
Such insights could prove invaluable in the future to keeping traffic flowing on the internet.
The vision of EVERGROW -- ever-growing global networks, their provisioning, repair and unique functions -- is to invent methods and systems, and build infrastructure for measurement, mock-up and analysis of network traffic, topology and logical structure, so that we can start now to address the opportunities presented by the Internet of 2025. In 2025 the world's data networks and communications facilities will not only connect us with all the world's knowledge, but will mediate much business, consumer and scholarly activity. We know a great deal about the mechanics of dealing with this complexity, its critical tools and its difficulties. In particular we realize that what are now highly manual processes must all be automated and distributed. Our task in EVERGROW is to lift our understanding of these problems and processe to the highest level possible, so that their management can flow from fundamental, scientific principles. The EVERGROW consortium believes that complex systems research will give us these principles. EVERGROW is organized in five Subprojects. SP1 covers measurement and modelling of internet topology and traffic. SP2 will provide an infrastructure support for the project. SP3 will build self-healing services. SP4 is complex systems research. SP5 is market mechanisms. EVERGROW is coordinated with the other three IPs in the complex systems research proactive initiative.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences computer and information sciences internet
- natural sciences mathematics pure mathematics topology
- engineering and technology electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering information engineering telecommunications telecommunications networks data networks
You need to log in or register to use this function
We are sorry... an unexpected error occurred during execution.
You need to be authenticated. Your session might have expired.
Thank you for your feedback. You will soon receive an email to confirm the submission. If you have selected to be notified about the reporting status, you will also be contacted when the reporting status will change.
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
FP6-2002-IST-1
See other projects for this call
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Coordinator
164 29 Kista
Sweden
See on map
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.
Participants (28)
1348 LOUVAIN LA NEUVE
See on map
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.
Participation ended
1130 BRUXELLES
See on map
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.
6041 Charleroi
See on map
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.
1015 LAUSANNE
See on map
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.
39106 Magdeburg
See on map
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.
1165 KOBENHAVN
See on map
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.
GIZA
See on map
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.
31006 Pamplona
See on map
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.
28933 Mostoles
See on map
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.
91405 ORSAY CEDEX
See on map
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.
75794 PARIS
See on map
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.
92130 ISSY LES MOULINEAUX
See on map
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.
75230 Paris
See on map
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.
73132 CHANIA
See on map
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.
1014 BUDAPEST
See on map
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.
Participation ended
67021 TEL AVIV
See on map
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.
Participation ended
7610001 Rehovot
See on map
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.
91904 JERUSALEM
See on map
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.
69978 Tel Aviv
See on map
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.
34100 TRIESTE
See on map
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.
00185 Roma
See on map
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.
10126 Torino
See on map
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.
Participation ended
16152 GENOVA
See on map
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.
164 80 Stockholm
See on map
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.
123 86 FARSTA
See on map
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.
100 44 STOCKHOLM
See on map
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.
B4 7ET Birmingham
See on map
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.
OX1 2JD Oxford
See on map
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.