Mobile Ad Hoc Networks

Guiding readers through the basics of these rapidly emerging networks to more advanced concepts and future expectations, Mobile Ad hoc Networks: Current Status and Future Trends identifies and examines the most pressing research issues in Mobile Ad hoc Networks (MANETs). Containing the contributions of leading researchers, industry professionals, and academics, this forward-looking reference provides an authoritative perspective of the state of the art in MANETs. The book includes surveys of recent publications that investigate key areas of interest such as limited resources and the mobility of mobile nodes. It considers routing, multicast, energy, security, channel assignment, and ensuring quality of service. Also suitable as a text for graduate students, the book is organized into three sections: Fundamentals of MANET Modeling and Simulation—Describes how MANETs operate and perform through simulations and models Communication Protocols of MANETs—Presents cutting-edge research on key issues, including MAC layer issues and routing in high mobility Future Networks Inspired By MANETs—Tackles open research issues and emerging trends Illustrating the role MANETs are likely to play in future networks, this book supplies the foundation and insight you will need to make your own contributions to the field. It includes coverage of routing protocols, modeling and simulations tools, intelligent optimization techniques to multicriteria routing, security issues in FHAMIPv6, connecting moving smart objects to the Internet, underwater sensor networks, wireless mesh network architecture and protocols, adaptive routing provision using Bayesian inference, and adaptive flow control in transport layer using genetic algorithms

Places, People and Health: A socio-geographical perspective on wellbeing of mothers and their children in deprived neighbourhoods of Malta

This study explores socio-geographical processes influencing health and wellbeing in deprived Maltese neighbourhoods, contributing new knowledge on how these compare with those reported in research on Anglo-American cultures. This qualitative research obtained data from three deprived neighbourhoods in Malta through in-depth interviews with 31 mothers (of diverse marital status) and their children. Some of these families were followed across a period of time thus obtaining longitudinal data. The research employed a grounded theory approach, and constant comparative approach was used to explore how social processes differed across neighbourhoods. Familial and neighbourhood ties, networks and other aspects of social capital emerge as highly significant, and often beneficial for health and wellbeing. However, divisive processes in these social networks also had negative impacts, less often reported in other research. This thesis emphasises that there is a strong connection between material neighbourhood factors and social relations, as the physical built environment, housing conditions, service provision, welfare benefits, and employment opportunities influence social processes and impact on health and wellbeing in diverse ways. The history of the place, as well as individual life histories, together with a cross-generational and longitudinal approach the significance of the ‘time’ dimension, thus contributing to the complexities of health and wellbeing in neighbourhoods. This study adds to literature on social determinants of health operating in a Maltese, Mediterranean context. It emphasises that there are traditional norms that still determine the health and wellbeing of inhabitants in their neighbourhoods, however, social and economic changes are also transforming these neighbourhoods. It further reveals how individual agency interacts with the social and material environment to affect wellbeing outcomes, albeit within limits on individuals’ power and resources. The findings therefore highlight the importance of a relational approach in order to understand the connection between people, place and health

Multi-agent network games with applications in smart electric mobility

The growing complexity and globalization of modern society brought to light novel problems and challenges for researchers that aim to model real-life phenomena. Nowadays communities and even single individuals cannot be considered as a closed system, since one's actions create a ripple effect that ends up influencing the action of others. Therefore, the study of decision-making processes over networks became a pivotal topic in the research community. The possible applications are virtually endless and span into many different fields. Two of the most relevant examples are smart mobility and energy management in highly populated cities, where a collection of (partially) noncooperative individuals interact over a network trying to reach an efficient equilibrium point, in the sense of Nash, and share limited resources due to the environment in which they operate. In this work, we approach these problems through the lens of game theory. We use different declinations of this powerful mathematical tool to study several aspects of these themes. We design decentralized iterative algorithms solving generalized network games that generate behavioral rules for the players that, if followed, ensure global convergence. Then, we question the classical assumption of perfect players’ rationality by introducing novel dynamics to model partial rationality and analyzing their properties. We conclude by focusing on the design of optimal policies to regulate smart mobility and energy management. In this case, we create a detailed and more realistic description of the problem and use a nudging mechanism, implemented by means of a semi-decentralized algorithm, to align the users' behavior with the one desired by the policymaker