Research challenges towards the Future Internet

The convergence of computer-communication networks towards an all-IP integrated network has transformed Internet in a commercial commodity that has stimulated an un-precedent offer of novel communication services that are pushing the Internet architecture and protocols well beyond their original design. This calls for extraordinary research efforts at all levels of the protocol stack to address the challenges of existing and future networked applications and services in terms of scalability, mobility, flexibility, security, etc. In this article we focus on some hot research areas and discuss the research issues that need to be tackled for addressing the multiple challenges of the Future Internet. Far from being a comprehensive analysis of all the challenges faced by the Future Internet, this article tries to call the attention of Computer Communications readers to new and promising research areas, identified by members of the journal editorial board to stimulate further research activities in these areas. The survey of these research areas is then complemented with a brief review of the on-going activities in the other important research areas towards the Future Internet.