RAPID: Measuring the Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Broadband Access Networks to Inform Robust Network Design

Computer and Information Science and Engineering - This project is to study the effects of the shifts in Internet traffic resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic on the broadband Internet access infrastructure. Specifically, the project investigates how traffic volumes are changing as a result of changes in daily patterns of life, as well as how those shifts in traffic volume affect network utilization, network performance, and application performance. These questions have become increasingly critical during the COVID-19 pandemic, as large fractions of the population have come to depend on reliable Internet access that performs well for a variety of applications, from video conferencing to remote learning and healthcare. It is important to understand how various policies involving isolation, distancing, and closing of schools, libraries and services are affecting the usage patterns on the Internet, right at the time when the entire society is coming to rely on the network more than ever.

This project will involve an unprecedented coordination of data about network traffic load under crisis, through granular measurements, propriety data sharing agreements, as well as extensive baseline data spanning over ten years. This project aims to study two fundamental research questions: (1) What is the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on network traffic patterns on broadband access networks? and (2) How well do (and will) the infrastructure and applications sustain these changes in traffic patterns? To study these questions, the project plans to take a multi-faceted approach, exploring issues including access performance and interconnect capacity when using critical applications when the network is under strain.

This measurement study will shed light on the extent to which the existing Internet infrastructure can sustain exogenous shocks that dramatically shift the location, nature, and scale of network traffic and help identify vulnerabilities. Insights into the state of broadband Internet performance will yield important insights about how broader government policies to close schools and rely on remote e-learning may affect the broader population. Understanding the increased strain on the Internet on other application areas in medicine and public health, including patient compliance and remote caregiving, may lead to improved design of the Internet for such application areas. The project's activities will be posted to https://cdac.uchicago.edu/broadband.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.