Social Networks of Devices and Software Defined Networking as enabling factors for improving performance of group communications in 5G Internet of Things networks

This talk addresses an issues, deeply felt in next generation networks, concerning the management of group communications in scenarios characterized by the massive presence of Internet of Things devices acting as “prosumers” (consumer&producer) of services based on the exchange of huge data amounts. This will put a strain on existing networking primitives and their efficient management will be possible only if new paradigms are made available. Starting from this assumption, the talk will discuss the possibility of leveraging Social Networking and Software Defined Networking technologies and concepts towards the definition of a novel network primitive for the Internet of Things. The new primitive, called Sociocast, has the potential to enable trusted group-oriented communications, in-network publish&subscribe mechanisms, dynamic and selective firewalling, flexible data casting. During the talk a distributed architectural solution is presented, some performance results shown, and open research issues discussed.