Dynamic Queue Utilization Based MAC for multi-hop Ad Hoc networks

The end-to-end throughput in single flow multi-hop Ad Hoc networks decays rapidly with path length. Along the path, the success rate of delivering packets towards the destination decreases due to higher contention, interference, limited buffer size and limited shared bandwidth constraints. In such environments the queues fill up faster in nodes closer to the source than in the nodes nearer the destination. In order to reduce buffer overflow and improve throughput for a saturated network, this paper introduces a new MAC protocol named Dynamic Queue Utilization Based Medium Access Control (DQUB-MAC). The protocol aims to prioritise access to the channel for queues with higher utilization and helps in achieving higher throughput by rapidly draining packets towards the destination. The proposed MAC enhances the performance of an end-to-end data flow by up to 30% for a six hop transmission in a chain topology and is demonstrated to remain competitive for other network topologies and for a variety of packet sizes

Random Access Game and Medium Access Control Design

Motivated partially by a control-theoretic viewpoint, we propose a game-theoretic model, called random access game, for contention control. We characterize Nash equilibria of random access games, study their dynamics, and propose distributed algorithms (strategy evolutions) to achieve Nash equilibria. This provides a general analytical framework that is capable of modeling a large class of system-wide quality-of-service (QoS) models via the specification of per-node utility functions, in which system-wide fairness or service differentiation can be achieved in a distributed manner as long as each node executes a contention resolution algorithm that is designed to achieve the Nash equilibrium. We thus propose a novel medium access method derived from carrier sense multiple access/collision avoidance (CSMA/CA) according to distributed strategy update mechanism achieving the Nash equilibrium of random access game. We present a concrete medium access method that adapts to a continuous contention measure called conditional collision probability, stabilizes the network into a steady state that achieves optimal throughput with targeted fairness (or service differentiation), and can decouple contention control from handling failed transmissions. In addition to guiding medium access control design, the random access game model also provides an analytical framework to understand equilibrium and dynamic properties of different medium access protocols

Quality of service differentiation for multimedia delivery in wireless LANs

Delivering multimedia content to heterogeneous devices over a variable networking environment while maintaining high quality levels involves many technical challenges. The research reported in this thesis presents a solution for Quality of Service (QoS)-based service differentiation when delivering multimedia content over the wireless LANs. This thesis has three major contributions outlined below: 1. A Model-based Bandwidth Estimation algorithm (MBE), which estimates the available bandwidth based on novel TCP and UDP throughput models over IEEE 802.11 WLANs. MBE has been modelled, implemented, and tested through simulations and real life testing. In comparison with other bandwidth estimation techniques, MBE shows better performance in terms of error rate, overhead, and loss. 2. An intelligent Prioritized Adaptive Scheme (iPAS), which provides QoS service differentiation for multimedia delivery in wireless networks. iPAS assigns dynamic priorities to various streams and determines their bandwidth share by employing a probabilistic approach-which makes use of stereotypes. The total bandwidth to be allocated is estimated using MBE. The priority level of individual stream is variable and dependent on stream-related characteristics and delivery QoS parameters. iPAS can be deployed seamlessly over the original IEEE 802.11 protocols and can be included in the IEEE 802.21 framework in order to optimize the control signal communication. iPAS has been modelled, implemented, and evaluated via simulations. The results demonstrate that iPAS achieves better performance than the equal channel access mechanism over IEEE 802.11 DCF and a service differentiation scheme on top of IEEE 802.11e EDCA, in terms of fairness, throughput, delay, loss, and estimated PSNR. Additionally, both objective and subjective video quality assessment have been performed using a prototype system. 3. A QoS-based Downlink/Uplink Fairness Scheme, which uses the stereotypes-based structure to balance the QoS parameters (i.e. throughput, delay, and loss) between downlink and uplink VoIP traffic. The proposed scheme has been modelled and tested through simulations. The results show that, in comparison with other downlink/uplink fairness-oriented solutions, the proposed scheme performs better in terms of VoIP capacity and fairness level between downlink and uplink traffic

A fair access mechanism based on TXOP in IEEE 802.11e wireless networks

IEEE 802.11e is an extension of IEEE 802.11 that provides Quality of Service (QoS) for the applications with different service requirements. This standard makes use of several parameters such as contention window; inter frame space time and transmission opportunity to create service differentiation in the network. Transmission opportunity (TXOP), that is the focus point of this paper, is the time interval, during which a station is allowed to transmit packets without any contention. As the fixed amounts of TXOPs are allocated to different stations, unfairness appears in the network. And when users with different data rates exist, IEEE 802.11e WLANs face the lack of fairness in the network. Because the higher data rate stations transfer more data than the lower rate ones. Several mechanisms have been proposed to solve this problem by generating new TXOPs adaptive to the network's traffic condition. In this paper, some proposed mechanisms are evaluated and according to their evaluated strengths and weaknesses, a new mechanism is proposed for TXOP determination in IEEE 802.11e wireless networks. Our new algorithm considers data rate, channel error rate and data packet lengths to calculate adaptive TXOPs for the stations. The simulation results show that the proposed algorithm leads to better fairness and also higher throughput and lower delays in the network.

Radio Resource Management for Wireless Mesh Networks Supporting Heterogeneous Traffic

Wireless mesh networking has emerged as a promising technology for future broadband wireless access, providing a viable and economical solution for both peer-to-peer applications and Internet access. The success of wireless mesh networks (WMNs) is highly contingent on effective radio resource management. In conventional wireless networks, system throughput is usually a common performance metric. However, next-generation broadband wireless access networks including WMNs are anticipated to support multimedia traffic (e.g., voice, video, and data traffic). With heterogeneous traffic, quality-of-service (QoS) provisioning and fairness support are also imperative. Recently, wireless mesh networking for suburban/rural residential areas has been attracting a plethora of attentions from industry and academia. With austere suburban and rural networking environments, multi-hop communications with decentralized resource allocation are preferred. In WMNs without powerful centralized control, simple yet effective resource allocation approaches are desired for the sake of system performance melioration. In this dissertation, we conduct a comprehensive research study on the topic of radio resource management for WMNs supporting multimedia traffic. In specific, this dissertation is intended to shed light on how to effectively and efficiently manage a WMN for suburban/rural residential areas, provide users with high-speed wireless access, support the QoS of multimedia applications, and improve spectrum utilization by means of novel radio resource allocation. As such, five important resource allocation problems for WMNs are addressed, and our research accomplishments are briefly outlined as follows: Firstly, we propose a novel node clustering algorithm with effective subcarrier allocation for WMNs. The proposed node clustering algorithm is QoS-aware, and the subcarrier allocation is optimality-driven and can be performed in a decentralized manner. Simulation results show that, compared to a conventional conflict-graph approach, our proposed approach effectively fosters frequency reuse, thereby improving system performance; Secondly, we propose three approaches for joint power-frequency-time resource allocation. Simulation results show that all of the proposed approaches are effective in provisioning packet-level QoS over their conventional resource allocation counterparts. Our proposed approaches are of low complexity, leading to preferred candidates for practical implementation; Thirdly, to further enhance system performance, we propose two low-complexity node cooperative resource allocation approaches for WMNs with partner selection/allocation. Simulation results show that, with beneficial node cooperation, both proposed approaches are promising in supporting QoS and elevating system throughput over their non-cooperative counterparts; Fourthly, to further utilize the temporarily available radio spectrum, we propose a simple channel sensing order for unlicensed secondary users. By sensing the channels according to the descending order of their achievable rates, we prove that a secondary user should stop at the first sensed free channel for the sake of optimality; and Lastly, we derive a unified optimization framework to effectively attain different degrees of performance tradeoff between throughput and fairness with QoS support. By introducing a bargaining floor, the optimal tradeoff curve between system throughput and fairness can be obtained by solving the proposed optimization problem iteratively