Session Date/Time: 20 Mar 2025 02:30

irtfopen

Summary

This meeting of the IRTF Open session included updates from the IETF Chair, presentations by the Applied Networking Research Prize (ANRP) winners on using large language models for network configuration and secure collaborative path control, and a summary of the new research group on sustainability and the internet (sustain-prg). Housekeeping items, diversity travel grants, and the Applied Networking Research Workshop (AANRW) were also discussed.

Key Discussion Points

IRTF Overview and Updates: The IETF Chair provided an overview of the IRTF's role in research, highlighting that it does not set standards. Research group meetings were also highlighted.
ANRP Presentations:
- NetConvival: Can LLMs Facilitate Network Configuration? (Zhang Jai Wang): Explored the use of large language models (LLMs) for network configuration tasks, including translation from natural language to formal specifications, code adaptation, and low-level configuration generation. Accuracy, cost, and reliability challenges were discussed in detail.
- Tango: Collaborative Route Control Across the Public Internet (Henry Birch Lee): Presented a system for edges to collaborate on optimizing edge-to-edge routing on the internet. The system used a novel routing protocol to expose path diversity in the core of the internet, and it measured the performance of different paths to put traffic on the best route.
Sustain-PRG Summary: Ali Rezaki provided an overview of the new research group focused on the sustainability of networks, including its charter, vision, and early focus areas. The importance of interdisciplinary approaches, lifecycle considerations, and the impact of network architecture on sustainability outcomes was emphasized.
Community Input and Engagement: Speakers welcomed questions, feedback, and participation in respective groups.

Decisions and Action Items

Action Item: Attendees interested in the sustain-prg are encouraged to subscribe to the mailing list.
Action Item: Attendees interested in the IRTF Diversity travel grants for the next IETF meeting in Madrid should submit their applications by March 21.

Next Steps

The IRTF will continue to monitor Meetecho issues and work towards solutions for future meetings.
The ANRP committee will proceed with the selection process for future awards.
The sustain-prg will continue to develop research questions and build a community around sustainability in networking.