Communication activities with related EU research projects and presentations in targeted academic and industrial audiences:
- H2020 MARSAL project ( https://www.marsalproject.eu/ ): ICCS research team (under the supervision of Prof. Manos Varvarigos) is responsible for the design of resource allocation algorithms for a converged mobile-wireless network infrastructure. As a result, MAESTRO used the background knowledge of MARSAL towards defining the MAESTRO architecture in WP1. MAESTRO emphasizes more on the joint allocation of networking, computing and storage resources across the whole converged network infrastructure. Hence, MAESTRO’s research results have been communicated back to the MARSAL consortium.
- H2020 SERRANO project (https://ict-serrano.eu/): ICCS research team (under the supervision of Prof. Manos Varvarigos) is the coordinator of SERRANO project leading the research activities that are related with the computing/storage resources’ allocation across edge-cloud continuum. MAESTRO project used the SERRANO’s background knowledge related with the advanced network telemetry mechanisms facilitating thus a dynamic resource allocation process. MAESTRO’s research results on how the beyond 5G network architecture can facilitate a vast number of cloud-native applications and the latters’ execution across edge-cloud continuum are communicated back to the SERRANO consortium.
- KDT JU CLEVER project (https://www.cleverproject.eu/): ICCS research team (under the supervision of Prof. Manos Varvarigos) develops auction-based resource allocation algorithms for the IoT-edge-cloud continuum. MAESTRO project uses the CLEVER’s research ideas on how sparse IoT resources can be integrated in the decision making process. MAESTRO’s results (cf. paper #4 above) have been presented in EdgeAI 2023 conference ( https://edge-ai-tech.eu/conference-homepage/) that took place in Athens on 17-19 October 2023. MAESTRO’s research members had the opportunity to communicate novel ideas to AI experts and discuss how novel AI/ML techniques can enhance state-of-the-art optimization models and algorithms. Moreover, MAESTRO’s results regarding the E2E network slice resource provisioning are communicated back to the CLEVER consortium to help the integration of auction-based resource allocation algorithms into the CLEVER’s AI-driven use cases.
- HEU ALLEGRO project (https://www.allegro-he.eu/): The ICCS research team, under the supervision of Prof. Manos Varvarigos, is tasked with defining the architecture, network softwarization, and AI-driven control mechanisms within the ALLEGRO project. ALLEGRO aims to design, prototype, and demonstrate a novel end-to-end solution for next-generation optical networks by integrating packet-optical transport architectures that address four key pillars for future telecommunication systems: (i) Ultra-high capacity from access to the core, (ii) Significant reduction in power consumption and operational costs, (iii) Autonomous network control management leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning for ultra-high-capacity multi-domain optical systems, (iv) Secure and reliable optical transmission. MAESTRO builds upon ALLEGRO’s advancements in AI/ML techniques to enhance state-of-the-art resource provisioning algorithms. In turn, MAESTRO’s research outcomes on intelligent resource provisioning and E2E slice orchestration are communicated back to the ALLEGRO consortium, facilitating the integration of AI-driven resource management mechanisms into ALLEGRO’s next-generation optical network solutions.
- EMPOWER-6G project (Marie Curie Initial Training Network) (https://www.empower6g.eu/): ICCS research team (under the supervision of Prof. Manos Varvarigos) participates in this new Marie Curie ITN project that started in October 2023. ICCS has recruited a fully-funded PhD student, who works on research ideas closely related with MAESTRO’s results (i.e. ML techniques in 6G networks). ICCS is also collaborating with NVIDIA (one of the largest industrial players at an international scale), who has recruited another PhD student to work on a similar research thread.
- HEU EMPYREAN project (https://empyrean-horizon.eu/): ICCS research team (under the supervision of Prof. Manos Varvarigos) is the coordinator of EMPYREAN project leading the research activities that are related with a novel hyper-distributed computing paradigm, based on federations of collaborative and heterogeneous IoT devices and resources (e.g., on RISC-V) across different providers and networks. MAESTRO’s results are fed into EMPYREAN project towards developing AI-driven resource allocation algorithms across the IoT-edge-cloud continuum. MAESTRO’s demonstrators and respective testbed will be used as a basis for the testing and experimentation with the three EMPYREAN ML-driven use cases and respective hyper-distributed ML applications.
Academic/training activities:
- Prof. Manos Varvarigos teaches several BSc/MSc courses at National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) (https://www.ece.ntua.gr/en/staff/193), namely: i) Communication Networks, ii) Optical Communication Networks, iii) Mobile and Personal Communication Networks, iv) Advanced Mobile Computing Technologies, and v) Multimedia Technology. MAESTRO’s novel architectural concepts have been integrated in all the above-mentioned courses giving the opportunity to NTUA students to get familiar with cross-cutting technologies. Moreover, several students are pursuing their BSc/MSc/PhD thesis in research topics closely related to MAESTRO and are thus interacting with MAESTRO’s research team members.
- Prof. Manos Varvarigos presented MAESTRO’s project results in an IEEE event called “Workshop on current trends and future prospects in the research area of Information Technology and Computers”, which took place at the University of Patras on 12/06/2024 ( https://www.ieee.gr/events/invitation-to-presenters-in-theworkshops-for-diffusion-of-research-results ). Prof. Varvarigos discussed with several other professors and research labs throughout Greece regarding potential national research collaborations in the field of joint fiber-wireless resource allocation in 6G networks.
- PhD students Georgios Kontos and Michail Filippou participated in IEEE NextGCOM training school held in Litochoro (Greece) on 28-30 August 2024. They both prepared and presented a detailed, high-quality Poster that highlighted the general scope and vision of MAESTRO, along with low-level information about specific MAESTRO-related projects that they were directly involved in. Through their active participation in the conference’s sessions and associated social events, they acquired valuable insights about the state-of-the-art technologies and methodologies in beyond 5G networks. Their participation and engagement with fellow attendees facilitated the dissemination of the project’s objectives and outcomes and sparked interest among researchers in relevant fields. Link: https://nextgcom.iee.ihu.gr/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR3EvwkT1KVieRaAoEUNaKHhUJYmUTSYN5Y3JONnYpcraMDOQPabu_ jGHQ_aem_bGxZn0KZL5UkdC70GsOB1Q
