TUTORIAL SESSION

Biologically–Inspired Communication and Networking

Assc. Prof. Mohamed Hamdi
Engineering School of Communication (Sup'Com), Tunisia
mmh@supcom.rnu.tn

Duration

3 hours

Abstract

Bio-inspired networking and communication protocols and algorithms are devised by considering biology as source of inspiration, and by adapting behaviors, laws, and dynamics governing biological systems. While the literature related to biologically-inspired computing is abundant, the focusing on the application of biological concepts in networking is still in infancy. In this tutorial, we address the applicability of biological mechanisms and techniques in various communication fields. Particularly, we explore the mechanisms and the challenges in embedded communication systems with primary focus on recent applications of bio-inspired techniques in communication networks. Nonetheless, the results that have been reached so far show that this area is very promising.

Objectives

The tutorial is at the graduate school level and is accessible to postgraduate level. It is intended to introduce the tutees to the biologically-inspired concepts that are being intensively used by the scientific community in the computer science and communication networks fields.
The content of the tutorial is structured as follows:
1. Social insects and insect colony: The use of insect mobility models to solve optimization
algorithms will be illustrated.
2. Epidemic worm spreading: Stochastic models for the propagation of digital worms will be
investigated.
3. Artificial immune systems: Security and protection systems that mimic natural immunity
systems will be described.
4. Cognitive networks: This new concept, which is becoming very popular in the context of
wireless networks and radio communications, will be studied.
5. Homeostatic communication systems: The use of homeostasis in self-organizing ad hoc and
sensor networks will be addressed.
6. Firefly synchronization: This nonlinear model for microcontroller design will be illustrated
and discussed.

Timeline

Time allocations for the major course topics
1. Overview on biologically-inspired schemes (30 minutes)
2. Social insects and insect colony (30 minutes)
3. Epidemic worm spreading (30 minutes)
4. Artificial immune systems (30 minutes)
5. Cognitive networks (30 minutes)
6. Homeostatic communication systems (30 minutes)
7. Firefly synchronization (30 minutes)

Background Knowledge Expected of the Participants

The level of presentation assumes that the attendees have a background knowledge in computer science and communication network architectures. More precisely, the key pre-requisites relate to algorithms and data structures, network protocols, and communication architectures.

Qualifications of the Instructor(s)

Dr. Mohamed Hamdi (PhD, habilitation) co-authored more than 80 scientific publications published in international journals and conferences. He has also chaired and co-chaired international conferences and special issues in international conferences including the ‘Trust, Security, and Privacy’ symposium in the IEEE IWCMC 2012 conference and for the special issue on ‘Web Services in Multimedia Communication’ for the journal on Advances in Multimedia. He presented multiple tutorials and invited speeches in international conferences such as the GEOSS Forum (Globecom 2011). In addition, Dr. Hamdi has been invited at the ITU World Telecom conference to serve as a panellist in a forum on the security of social networks. He also passed prestigious professional certifications including the CISSP and the CISCO Security certifications. He is conducting research activities in the areas of wireless sensor networks, risk management, algebraic modeling, relational specifications, intrusion detection, and network forensics.