Distributed E-Laboratories in Distance Learning and Training: Results and Open Issues

Franco Davoli, Erskine Visiting Fellow

Wed Jul 28 15:10:00 NZST 2004 in Room 031, MSCS

Abstract

Access to sophisticated and costly laboratory equipment through networking facilities with Quality of Service (QoS) is an attractive option for all users (e.g., SMEs) that cannot afford the expenses of acquisition and maintenance of such facilities for limited use. The possibility to complement education and training with real laboratory experiments opens up a new dimension in traditional distance learning paradigms. Moreover, owing to the diffusion of QoS broadband networks and GRID computing structures, it is not only possible to conceive access to the equipment of a single laboratory at a time, but rather to have a configurable set of instrumentation in different locations, working cooperatively to build up a real distributed laboratory. The presentation will address the main aspects related with these particular applications, their relation to GRID computing, and the structures already developed in Italy with the MIUR-funded LABNET project, which led to the development of a National Laboratory devoted to them in Naples.

Biography

Franco Davoli is a professor of Telecommunication Networks at the University of Genoa, Italy, at the Department of Communications, Computer and Systems Science (DIST). He is also with the Italian National Consortium for Telecommunications (CNIT), an independent association joining 33 Italian universities. On behalf of CNIT, he leads the National Multimedia Telecommunications Laboratory in Naples. His current research interests are in control and resource allocation problems in heterogeneous, wired and wireless, multiservice networks, satellite networking, and multimedia communications and services, including distance learning and tele-measurements.