Wireless network fixes itself

US researchers are to develop software to reconfigure autonomous networks in the wake of an unexpected problem or system error.

To help out, the Boston University researchers, Prof Christos Cassandras, Associate Prof Ioannis Paschalidis and Computer Science Prof Azer Bestavros, have been awarded a four-year, $2m Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation (EFRI) grant from the US National Science Foundation.

The grant, Cassandras said, will enable the researchers to develop software that will allow a network to reset itself after an unexpected technical problem or sudden changes in operating conditions.The main test bed for the research will be OpenAir Boston, a private, non-profit organisation that will oversee the impending wireless network over the city of Boston.

‘The goal is to develop a network that has the ability to automatically reconfigure itself,’ said Cassandras, the project’s principal investigator. ‘If a transceiver breaks down, a battery runs out or something fails because of weather, the network will have the capability to reconfigure itself and continue supporting its mission without anyone physically having to correct the problem.’