How MIMO cross-layer design enables QoS while detecting non-cooperative nodes in wireless multi-hop networks

In Journal of Network and Computer Applications (JNCA). DOI: 10.1016/j.jnca.2014.07.011International audienceWireless Multi-hop Networks (WMNs) are based on the cooperation between nodes. The non-cooperative (selfish) nodes can affect the quality of services (QoS) delivered by the network. The solutions proposed in literature are based on the monitoring mechanism to detect non-cooperative nodes. However, the monitoring mechanism has to tackle a significant false alarm rate. The origin of these issues is mainly related to the interferences and the costs of the monitoring mechanism. In WMNs based on Single-Input Single-Output (SISO) technology, the interferences at the monitor (detector) node can affect the assessment and the accuracy of the monitor node's observation. In this paper, we use Multi-Input and Multi-Output (MIMO) technology to tackle these drawbacks and to perform the monitoring mechanism without affecting the QoS. We propose a new MAC protocol based on the well-known SPACE-MAC protocol, named MIMODog. The collision at the monitor node can be avoided by tuning the antennas' weights. Therefore, the signal coming from other nodes than the monitored one can be nullified. Thus, this solution allows an important improvement of the accuracy of the monitor node's observation. Moreover, we propose a monitoring capacity analysis using graph theory particularly Conflict Graph (CG), and asymptotic study. We illustrate that the capacity consumed in the case of MIMODog is costly compared to SPACE-MAC, but the accuracy of the observation is better. We demonstrate that the number of monitor nodes is $\Theta(\frac{M}{\sqrt{n\ln n}})$ for a MIMO network with randomly located nodes n, each equipped with M antennas. Indeed, numerical results nlnn illustrate that by using MIMODog, the network can have a constant improvement M on an asymptotic number of monitor nodes compared to SISO 802.11 DCF MAC

Interference Mitigation in Multi-Hop Wireless Networks with Advanced Physical-Layer Techniques

In my dissertation, we focus on the wireless network coexistence problem with advanced physical-layer techniques. For the first part, we study the problem of Wireless Body Area Networks (WBAN)s coexisting with cross-technology interference (CTI). WBANs face the RF cross-technology interference (CTI) from non-protocol-compliant wireless devices. Werst experimentally characterize the adverse effect on BAN caused by the CTI sources. Then we formulate a joint routing and power control (JRPC) problem, which aims at minimizing energy consumption while satisfying node reachability and delay constraints. We reformulate our problem into a mixed integer linear programing problem (MILP) and then derive the optimal results. A practical JRPC protocol is then proposed. For the second part, we study the coexistence of heterogeneous multi-hop networks with wireless MIMO. We propose a new paradigm, called cooperative interference mitigation (CIM), which makes it possible for disparate networks to cooperatively mitigate the interference to/from each other to enhance everyone\u27s performance. We establish two tractable models to characterize the CIM behaviors of both networks by using full IC (FIC) and receiver-side IC (RIC) only. We propose two bi-criteria optimization problems aiming at maximizing both networks\u27 throughput, while cooperatively canceling the interference between them based on our two models. In the third and fourth parts, we study the coexistence problem with MIMO from a different point of view: the incentive of cooperation. We propose a novel two-round game framework, based on which we derive two networks\u27 equilibrium strategies and the corresponding closed-form utilities. We then extend our game-theoretical analysis to a general multi-hop case, specifically the coexistence problem between primary network and multi-hop secondary network in the cognitive radio networks domain. In the final part, we study the benefits brought by reconfigurable antennas (RA). We systematically exploit the pattern diversity and fast reconfigurability of RAs to enhance the throughput of MWNs. Werst propose a novel link-layer model that captures the dynamic relations between antenna pattern, link coverage and interference. Based on our model, a throughput optimization framework is proposed by jointly considering pattern selection and link scheduling, which is formulated as a mixed integer non-linear programming problem

Signal-Aligned Network Coding in K-User MIMO Interference Channels with Limited Receiver Cooperation

In this paper, we propose a signal-aligned network coding (SNC) scheme for K-user time-varying multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) interference channels with limited receiver cooperation. We assume that the receivers are connected to a central processor via wired cooperation links with individual limited capacities. Our SNC scheme determines the precoding matrices of the transmitters so that the transmitted signals are aligned at each receiver. The aligned signals are then decoded into noiseless integer combinations of messages, also known as network-coded messages, by physical-layer network coding. The key idea of our scheme is to ensure that independent integer combinations of messages can be decoded at the receivers. Hence the central processor can recover the original messages of the transmitters by solving the linearly independent equations. We prove that our SNC scheme achieves full degrees of freedom (DoF) by utilizing signal alignment and physical-layer network coding. Simulation results show that our SNC scheme outperforms the compute-and-forward scheme in the finite SNR regime of the two-user and the three-user cases. The performance improvement of our SNC scheme mainly comes from efficient utilization of the signal subspaces for conveying independent linear equations of messages to the central processor.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures, submitted to the IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technolog