How the Science of Complex Systems Can Inspire Future Classical and Quantum Networks

Content

Speaker

Dr. Nicola Marchetti

Abstract

It is expected that future mobile networks will be ultra-large-scale, highly dynamic, and complex systems, encompassing a massive number of heterogeneous devices. However, the architecture of the current wireless networks (for example, 5G or IoT) is often fixed, and the optimization tasks are defined to cope with specific and identified challenges and services. Hence, the prevailing manual and predetermined optimization and configuration tasks are no longer appropriate for future networks. Furthermore, we are increasingly dealing with new kinds of networks—like networks of drones, the Internet of Everything, intelligent transportation systems—which bring in several new challenges related to network responsiveness and scalability. We are working on resolving such issues by proposing a framework inspired by theories and tools borrowed from complex systems science, focusing on the impact of network topology on the system's (i) information representation and transfer, (ii) robustness, and (iii) self-synchronisation capabilities.

As quantum networks are emerging as a means of providing true connectivity between quantum computers, in terms of decision-making, it is crucial to exploit game theory for addressing challenges like entanglement distribution and access, routing, topology extraction and inference for quantum networks. We compare quantum game theoretical strategies with classical ones, by showing the quantum advantages in terms of link fidelity improvement and latency decrease in communication.

Bio

Dr. Nicola Marchetti is Associate Professor in Wireless Communications at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, where he is the Head of the EE Engineering department. He is an IEEE Communications Society Distinguished Lecturer, an IEEE Senior Member, and a Fellow of Trinity College. He received the PhD in Wireless Communications from Aalborg University, Denmark in 2007, the MSc in Electronic Engineering from University of Ferrara, Italy in 2003, and the MSc in Mathematics from Aalborg University in 2010. He has authored more than 190 journals and conference papers, 2 books and 9 book chapters, holds 4 patents, and received 4 best paper awards. His research interests span Complex Networks, Mathematics for Communications & Computing, Network Resource Allocation, and Signal Processing for Communications. He serves as Technical Editor for IEEE Network and IEEE Wireless Communications, and has served as an Associate Editor for the IEEE Internet of Things Journal and the EURASIP Journal on Wireless Communications and Networking.