EECS Researchers Win Best Paper Award at International Workshop

EECS Associate Professor James P.G. Sterbenz and graduate students Dongsheng Zhang, Santosh Ajith Gogi, Dan Broyles, and Egemen Çetinkaya received the Best Paper Award at the International Workshop on Reliable Networks Design and Modeling (RNDM'12) earlier this month in St. Petersburg, Russia.  

Their paper, "Modelling Attacks and Challenges to Wireless Networks," explores how mobile ad-hoc networks (MANETs) respond to attacks and challenges to normal operations. MANETs are built spontaneously as wireless devices connect and form improvised networks. These self-organizing and self-optimizing networks do not require fixed infrastructure, making them ideal for military operations, disaster recovery missions, and networking in remote environments.  

EECS researchers have created the Wireless Challenge Simulation Module (WCSM) to evaluate network performance and dependability. They have modeled a wide range of challenges to multiple network components, from malicious attacks that target specific critical nodes to large-scale disasters that disable an area of the network. By better understanding network vulnerabilities, researchers will build more robust and resilient networks.   

A second EECS paper, "Topology Connectivity Analysis of Internet Infrastructure Using Graph Spectra," placed in the top 10 as well. Çetinkaya, graduate student Mohammed Alenazi, alumnus Justin Rohrer (Ph.D. EE ’11) and Dr. Sterbenz presented their analysis of the evolution of communication networks across the continental United States. With 90 percent of Americans living within five miles of the National Highway System (NHS), the physical fiber network closely follows the NHS. The interconnectedness of critical infrastructures must be considered when designing and modeling future networks.  

“I'm delighted that our students are doing outstanding work, which is receiving international recognition for our ResiliNets research group, ITTC [Information and Telecommunication Technology Center], EECS, and KU”, said Dr. Sterbenz, who served on the RNDM’12 steering and technical program committees.  

Both papers will be published in a special issue of Springer's Telecommunication Systems.