Overview
The research on networked systems at Caltech takes a broad, interdisciplinary view on the topic. We focus not only on traditional communication networks and distributed systems (e.g., network protocol design, cloud computing, data centers, multi-agent systems), but also on the control and dynamics of networked systems in applications ranging from power/energy to economics to social contexts. Our work strives for rigor and relevance, and thus our faculty and students both do fundamental, mathematical work and build systems and prototypes. For example, Adam Wierman and Steven Low lead interdisciplinary efforts at Caltech that seek to make the networked systems that govern our world sustainable and resilient using tools from machine learning, optimization, control, and economics. Further, Babak Hassibi, Victoria Kostina, Adam Wierman and John Doyle develop new architectures and protocols for wired and wireless networks and distributed systems focused on improving performance, security, and sustainability, with a focus on characterizing the theoretical limits of the systems and designing algorithms to achieve those limits in practice. Another area of focus led by Soon-Jo Chung, Yisong Yue, and Eric Mazumdar is networked control in distributed systems, e.g., of robotic swarms and autonomous vehicles.