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Department of Computer Science and Technology

Date: 
Tuesday, 11 November, 2025 - 15:00 to 16:00
Speaker: 
Zhukun Wang (University of Oxford) / Noa Zilberman (University of Oxford)
Venue: 
SS03 William Gates Building

Talk 1.

NetFridgeS: Enabling Dynamic Frequency Scaling on Network Switches through Carbon-Aware Routing

Abstract: High performance network switches are designed to meet peak throughput demands, always operating at maximum clock frequency to avoid packet drops. However, real-world network traffic exhibits clear periodic patterns, leading to a waste of energy due to over-provisioning during non-peak hours. Dynamic frequency scaling, a popular energy saving mechanism,was not adopted by network switches due to differences in architecture from CPUs and the requirement not to drop packets. In this paper, we present NetFridgeS, enabling dynamic frequency scaling on high-performance network switches. NetFridgeS builds upon carbon-aware routing to forecast network utilization and adjust pipeline frequency. NetFridgeS is prototyped on FPGA using three distinct pipeline architectures, with sub-microsecond frequency switching times and minimal latency and resource overhead. By scaling down the frequency, NetFridgeS achieves an average energy saving of 77.74% at minimum throughput. In real network topologies, the combination of NetFridgeS and carbon aware routing results in up to a 22.11% reduction in overall energy consumption and a 27.76% reduction in carbon emissions compared with current network deployments.

Talk 2.

Title: The Small World Web of AI

Abstract: The rise of generative AI has transformed many fields, including networking. While generative AI is already used for network management and operation, little was done to fundamentally change the way we use the web. In this paper, we make the case for reimagining the web in the age of AI. With just minor changes to HTTP, we demonstrate that web content can be distributed as prompts turned into content on end user devices. This new small world web (SWW) of AI reduces storage demands and network load, and has the potential to improve Internet sustainability over time.

NOTE LOCATION/TIME - This is a double-header (two talks for the price of one)
Seminar series: 
Systems Research Group Seminar

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