Bandwidth-guaranteed multicast in multi-channel multi-interface wireless mesh networks

Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Communications, 2009, p. 1-5We consider multi-channel multi-interface wireless mesh networks with a schedule-based MAC protocol, where conflict-free transmission is ensured by requiring links assigned with the same channel and within the mutual interference range of each other to be active at different time slots. When a (point-to-multipoint) multicast call arrives, the call is accepted if a multicast distribution tree can be established for connecting the source node with all the receiving nodes, and with sufficient bandwidth reserved on each link. Otherwise, the call is rejected. To maximize the call acceptance rate, the multicast tree must be constructed judiciously upon each call arrival. Aiming at minimizing the carried load on the most-heavily loaded channel, and maximizing the residual capacity of the most heavily loaded node, an integer linear program (ILP) is formulated for multicast tree construction. Since solving ILP can be time-consuming, an efficient heuristic algorithm is then proposed. We compare the two tree construction algorithms by simulations. We found that both algorithms give comparable call acceptance rate, but the heuristic algorithm requires much shorter running time. ©2009 IEEE.published_or_final_versio

Maximizing multicast call acceptance rate in multi-channel multi-interface wireless mesh networks

In this paper, we consider the problem of constructing bandwidth-guaranteed multicast tree in multi-channel multi-interface wireless mesh networks. We focus on the scenario of dynamic multicast call arrival, where each call has a specific bandwidth requirement. A call is accepted if a multicast tree with sufficient bandwidth on each link can be constructed. Intuitively, if the carried load on both the most-heavily loaded channel and the most-heavily loaded node is minimized, the traffic load in the network will be balanced. If the network load is balanced, more room will be available for accommodating future calls. This would maximize the call acceptance rate in the network. With the above notion of load balancing in mind, an Integer Linear Programming (ILP) formulation is formulated for constructing bandwidth-guaranteed tree. We show that the above problem is NP-hard, and an efficient heuristic algorithm called Largest Coverage Shortest-Path First (LC-SPF) is devised. Simulation results show that LC-SPF yields comparable call acceptance rate as the ILP formulation, but with much shorter running time. © 2010 IEEE.published_or_final_versio

Security and Privacy Issues in Wireless Mesh Networks: A Survey

This book chapter identifies various security threats in wireless mesh network (WMN). Keeping in mind the critical requirement of security and user privacy in WMNs, this chapter provides a comprehensive overview of various possible attacks on different layers of the communication protocol stack for WMNs and their corresponding defense mechanisms. First, it identifies the security vulnerabilities in the physical, link, network, transport, application layers. Furthermore, various possible attacks on the key management protocols, user authentication and access control protocols, and user privacy preservation protocols are presented. After enumerating various possible attacks, the chapter provides a detailed discussion on various existing security mechanisms and protocols to defend against and wherever possible prevent the possible attacks. Comparative analyses are also presented on the security schemes with regards to the cryptographic schemes used, key management strategies deployed, use of any trusted third party, computation and communication overhead involved etc. The chapter then presents a brief discussion on various trust management approaches for WMNs since trust and reputation-based schemes are increasingly becoming popular for enforcing security in wireless networks. A number of open problems in security and privacy issues for WMNs are subsequently discussed before the chapter is finally concluded.Comment: 62 pages, 12 figures, 6 tables. This chapter is an extension of the author's previous submission in arXiv submission: arXiv:1102.1226. There are some text overlaps with the previous submissio

Quality of Service over Specific Link Layers: state of the art report

The Integrated Services concept is proposed as an enhancement to the current Internet architecture, to provide a better Quality of Service (QoS) than that provided by the traditional Best-Effort service. The features of the Integrated Services are explained in this report. To support Integrated Services, certain requirements are posed on the underlying link layer. These requirements are studied by the Integrated Services over Specific Link Layers (ISSLL) IETF working group. The status of this ongoing research is reported in this document. To be more specific, the solutions to provide Integrated Services over ATM, IEEE 802 LAN technologies and low-bitrate links are evaluated in detail. The ISSLL working group has not yet studied the requirements, that are posed on the underlying link layer, when this link layer is wireless. Therefore, this state of the art report is extended with an identification of the requirements that are posed on the underlying wireless link, to provide differentiated Quality of Service

Efficient Resource Management Mechanism for 802.16 Wireless Networks Based on Weighted Fair Queuing

Wireless Networking continues on its path of being one of the most commonly used means of communication. The evolution of this technology has taken place through the design of various protocols. Some common wireless protocols are the WLAN, 802.16 or WiMAX, and the emerging 802.20, which specializes in high speed vehicular networks, taking the concept from 802.16 to higher levels of performance. As with any large network, congestion becomes an important issue. Congestion gains importance as more hosts join a wireless network. In most cases, congestion is caused by the lack of an efficient mechanism to deal with exponential increases in host devices. This can effectively lead to very huge bottlenecks in the network causing slow sluggish performance, which may eventually reduce the speed of the network. With continuous advancement being the trend in this technology, the proposal of an efficient scheme for wireless resource allocation is an important solution to the problem of congestion. The primary area of focus will be the emerging standard for wireless networks, the 802.16 or “WiMAX”. This project, attempts to propose a mechanism for an effective resource management mechanism between subscriber stations and the corresponding base station

Efficient wireless multimedia multicast in multi-rate multi-channel mesh networks.

Devices in wireless mesh networks can operate on multiple channels (MC) and automatically adjust their transmission rates for the occupied channels. This paper shows how to improve performance-guaranteed multicasting transmission coverage for wireless multihop mesh networks by exploring the transmission opportunity offered by multiple rates (MR) and MC. Based on the characteristics of transmissions with different rates, we propose and analyze parallel low-rate transmissions and alternative rate transmissions (ART) to explore the advantages of MRMC in improving the performance and coverage tradeoff under the constraint of limited channel resources. We then apply these new transmission schemes to improve the WMN multicast experience. Combined with the strategy of reliable interference-controlled connections, a novel MRMC multicast algorithm (LC-MRMC) is designed to make efficient use of channel and rate resources to greatly extend wireless multicast coverage with high throughput and short delay performance. Our NS2 simulation results prove that ART and LC-MRMC achieve improved wireless transmission quality across much larger areas as compared to other related studies

Interface placement in constructing widest spanning tree for multi-channel multi-interface wireless mesh networks

Proceedings of the IEEE Wireless Communications and Networking Conference, 2009, p. 2560-2564Widest spanning tree is a broadcast tree with its bottleneck link bandwidth maximized. It provides a cost effective broadcasting solution in multi-channel multi-interface wireless mesh networks. To find the widest spanning tree, existing algorithms jointly consider channel assignment, routing and scheduling while assuming the number of network interface cards (NICs) at each node is given. In this paper, we treat the number of NICs at each node as a design parameter, whereas the total number of NICs in the system is given. By properly placing more NICs to more "critical" nodes, the bandwidth of the spanning tree can be further increased. To this end, a new Integer Linear Programming (ILP) is formulated for solving the widest spanning tree problem based on joint optimization of interface placement, channel assignment, routing and scheduling. Numerical results show that interface placement provides a significant boost to the bandwidth of the widest spanning tree found. © 2009 IEEE.published_or_final_versio

Impacts of Channel Switching Overhead on the Performance of Multicast in Wireless Mesh Networks

Wireless mesh networks (WMNs) have emerged as a promising technology for next generation wireless networking. A WMN extends network coverage using wireless mesh routers that communicate with each other via multi-hop wireless communications. One technique to increase the network capacity of WMNs is to use routers equipped with multiple radios capable of transmitting and receiving on multiple channels. In a Multi-Channel Multi-Radio wireless mesh network (MCMR WMN), nodes are capable of transmitting and receiving data simultaneously through different radios and at least theoretically doubling the average throughput. On the other hand, the use of multi-radio and multi-channel technology in many cases requires routers to switch channels for each transmission and/or reception. Channel switching incurs additional costs and delay. In this thesis, we present a simulation-based study of the impacts of channel switching overheads on the performance of multicast in MCMR WMNs. We study how channel switching overheads affect the performance metrics such as packet delivery ratio, throughput, end-to-end delay, and delay jitter of a multicast session. In particular, we examine: 1. the performance of multicast in MCMR WMNs with three orthogonal channels versus eleven overlapping channels defined in IEEE 802.11b. 2. the performance of the Minimum-interference Multi-channel Multi-radio Multicast (M4) algorithm with and without channel switching. 3. the performance of the Multi-Channel Minimum Number of Transmissions (MCMNT) algorithm (which does not do channel switching) in comparison with the M4 algorithm (which performs channel switching)

Interface placement in constructing widest spanning tree for multi-channel multi-interface wireless mesh networks

Proceedings of the IEEE Wireless Communications and Networking Conference, 2009, p. 2560-2564Widest spanning tree is a broadcast tree with its bottleneck link bandwidth maximized. It provides a cost effective broadcasting solution in multi-channel multi-interface wireless mesh networks. To find the widest spanning tree, existing algorithms jointly consider channel assignment, routing and scheduling while assuming the number of network interface cards (NICs) at each node is given. In this paper, we treat the number of NICs at each node as a design parameter, whereas the total number of NICs in the system is given. By properly placing more NICs to more "critical" nodes, the bandwidth of the spanning tree can be further increased. To this end, a new Integer Linear Programming (ILP) is formulated for solving the widest spanning tree problem based on joint optimization of interface placement, channel assignment, routing and scheduling. Numerical results show that interface placement provides a significant boost to the bandwidth of the widest spanning tree found. © 2009 IEEE.published_or_final_versio