Efficient admission control schemes in cellular IP networks

The rapid growth of real-time multimedia applications over IP (Internet Protocol) networks has made the Quality of Service (QoS) a critical issue. One important factor affecting the QoS in the overall IP networks is the admission control in the fast expanding wireless IP networks. Due to the limitations of wireless bandwidth, wireless IP networks (cellular IP networks in particular) are generally considered to be the bottlenecks of the global IP networks. Admission control is to maintain the QoS level for the services admitted. It determines whether to admit or reject a new call request in the mobile cell based on the availability of the bandwidth. In this thesis, the term “call” is for general IP services including voice calls (VoIP) and the term “wireless IP” is used interchangeably with “cellular IP”, which means “cellular or mobile networks supporting IP applications”. In the wireless IP networks, apart from new calls, there are handoff (handover) calls which are calls moving from one cell to another. The general admission control includes the new call admission control and handoff call admission control. The desired admission control schemes should have the QoS maintained in specified levels and network resources (i.e. bandwidth in this case) are utilised efficiently. The study conducted in this thesis is on reviewing current admission control schemes and developing new schemes. Threshold Access Sharing (TAS) scheme is one of the existing schemes with good performance on general call admission. Our work started with enhancing TAS. We have proposed an improved Threshold Access Sharing (iTAS) scheme with the simplified ratebased borrowing which is an adaptive mechanism. The iTAS aims to lower handoff call dropping probability and to maximise the resource utilisation. The scheme works at the cell level (i.e. it is applied at the base station), on the basis of reserving a fixed amount of bandwidth for handoff calls. Prioritised calls can be admitted by “borrowing” bandwidth from other ongoing calls. Our simulation has shown that the new scheme has outperformed the original TAS in terms of handoff prioritisation and handling, especially for bandwidth adaptive calls. However, in iTAS, the admission decision is made solely based on bandwidth related criteria. All calls of same class are assumed having similar behaviour. In the real situation, many factors can be referred in decision making of the admission control, especially the handoff call handling. We have proposed a novice scheme, which considered multiple criteria with different weights. The total weights are used to make a decision for a handoff. These criteria are hard to be modelled in the traditional admission models. Our simulated result has demonstrated that this scheme yields better performance in terms of handoff call xiv dropping compared with iTAS. We further expand the coverage of the admission control from a cell level to a system level in the hierarchical networks. A new admission control model was built, aiming to optimise bandwidth utilisation by separating the signalling channels and traffic channels in different tiers. In the new model, handoff calls are also prioritised using call classification and admission levels. Calls belonging to a certain class follow a pre-defined admission rule. The admission levels can be adjusted to suit the traffic situation in the system. Our simulated results show that this model works better than the normal 2-tier hierarchical networks in terms of handoff calls. The model settings are adjustable to reflect real situation. Finally we conclude our research and suggest some possible future work

Final report on the evaluation of RRM/CRRM algorithms

Deliverable public del projecte EVERESTThis deliverable provides a definition and a complete evaluation of the RRM/CRRM algorithms selected in D11 and D15, and evolved and refined on an iterative process. The evaluation will be carried out by means of simulations using the simulators provided at D07, and D14.Preprin

Modelling and performance evaluation of wireless and mobile communication systems in heterogeneous environments

It is widely expected that next generation wireless communication systems will be heterogeneous, integrating a wide variety of wireless access networks. Of particular interest recently is the integration of cellular networks (GSM, GPRS, UMTS, EDGE and LTE) and wireless local area networks (WLANs) to provide complementary features in terms of coverage, capacity and mobility support. These different networks will work together using vertical handover techniques and hence understanding how well these mechanisms perform is a significant issue. In this thesis, these networks are modelled to yield performance results such as mean queue lengths and blocking probabilities over a range of different conditions. The results are then analysed using network constraints to yield operational graphs based on handover probabilities to different networks. Firstly, individual networks with horizontal handover are analysed using performability techniques. The thesis moves on to look at vertical handovers between cellular networks using pure performance models. Then the integration of cellular networks and WLAN is considered. While analysing these results it became clear that the common models that were being used were subjected to handover hysteresis resulting from feedback loops in the model. A new analytical model was developed which addressed this issue but was shown to be problematic in developing state probabilities for more complicated scenarios. Guard channels analysis, which is normally used to give priority to handover traffic in mobile networks, was employed as a practical solution to the observed handover hysteresis. Overall, using different analytical techniques as well as simulation, the results of this work form an important part in the design and development of future mobile systems

Interference analysis of and dynamic channel assignment algorithms in TD–CDMA/TDD systems

The radio frequency spectrum for commercial wireless communications has become an expensive commodity. Consequently, radio access techniques are required which enable the efficient exploitation of these resources. This, however, is a difficult task due to an increasing diversity of wireless services. Hence, in order to achieve acceptable spectrum efficiency a flexible air– interface is required. It has been demonstrated that code division multiple access (CDMA) provides flexibility by enabling efficient multi user access in a cellular environment. In addition, time division duplex (TDD) as compared to frequency division duplex (FDD) represents an appropriate method to cater for the asymmetric use of a duplex channel. However, the TDD technique is subject to additional interference mechanisms in particular if neighbouring cells require different rates of asymmetry. If TDD is combined with an interference limited multiple access technique such as CDMA, the additional interference mechanism represents an important issue. This issue poses the question of whether a CDMA/TDD air–interface can be used in a cellular environment. The problems are eased if a hybrid TDMA (time division multiple access) / CDMA interface (TD–CDMA) is used. The reason for this is that the TDMA component adds another degree of freedom which can be utilised to avoid interference. This, however, requires special channel assignment techniques. This thesis analyses cellular CDMA/TDD systems used in indoor environments. A key parameter investigated is the interference in such systems. In the interference analysis a special focus is placed on adjacent channel interference since the jamming entity and victim entity can be in close proximity. The interference analysis shows that co–location of BS’s using adjacent channels is not feasible for an adjacent channel protection factor that is less than 40 dB and frame synchronisation errors of more than 10%. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that ideal frame synchronisation does not necessarily yield the highest capacity. As a consequence, a new technique termed ’TS–opposing’ is introduced. This method is intended to enable a cellular TD–CDMA/TDD system to apply cell independent channel asymmetry. For this purpose, a centralised DCA is developed. It is found that this algorithm indeed enables neighbouring cells to adopt different rates of asymmetry without a significant capacity loss. Moreover, a decentralised DCA algorithm based on the TS–opposing principle is developed. In this context, a novel TS assignment concept is proposed which reduces the complexity associated with the TS–opposing technique. In addition, the TS assignment plan allows for full spatial coverage. It is shown that the capacity of a TD–CDMA/TDD interface can be greater than the capacity of an equivalent FDD interface. The performance of the decentralised DCA algorithm is limited by the interference in the uplink. Therefore, additional methods which assist in reducing the interference in the uplink are envisaged to further improve the performance of the decentralised DCA algorithm. The exploitation of the TS–opposing technique in two different ways demonstrates that this method can be used to improve the performance of a TD–CDMA/TDD system significantly

An Optimization Theoretical Framework for Resource Allocation over Wireless Networks

With the advancement of wireless technologies, wireless networking has become ubiquitous owing to the great demand of pervasive mobile applications. Some fundamental challenges exist for the next generation wireless network design such as time varying nature of wireless channels, co-channel interferences, provisioning of heterogeneous type of services, etc. So how to overcome these difficulties and improve the system performance have become an important research topic. Dynamic resource allocation is a general strategy to control the interferences and enhance the performance of wireless networks. The basic idea behind dynamic resource allocation is to utilize the channel more efficiently by sharing the spectrum and reducing interference through optimizing parameters such as the transmitting power, symbol transmission rate, modulation scheme, coding scheme, bandwidth, etc. Moreover, the network performance can be further improved by introducing diversity, such as multiuser, time, frequency, and space diversity. In addition, cross layer approach for resource allocation can provide advantages such as low overhead, more efficiency, and direct end-to-end QoS provision. The designers for next generation wireless networks face the common problem of how to optimize the system objective under the user Quality of Service (QoS) constraint. There is a need of unified but general optimization framework for resource allocation to allow taking into account a diverse set of objective functions with various QoS requirements, while considering all kinds of diversity and cross layer approach. We propose an optimization theoretical framework for resource allocation and apply these ideas to different network situations such as: 1.Centralized resource allocation with fairness constraint 2.Distributed resource allocation using game theory 3.OFDMA resource allocation 4.Cross layer approach On the whole, we develop a universal view of the whole wireless networks from multiple dimensions: time, frequency, space, user, and layers. We develop some schemes to fully utilize the resources. The success of the proposed research will significantly improve the way how to design and analyze resource allocation over wireless networks. In addition, the cross-layer optimization nature of the problem provides an innovative insight into vertical integration of wireless networks

Interaktive latenzkritische Anwendungen in mobilen Ad-hoc Netzen

In this thesis we discuss the challenges that latency-sensitive interactive applications face in mobile ad-hoc networks. By using multi-player games as an example, we argue that the traditional client-server architecture is unsuitable for this new environment. We consequently create a novel communication architecture as well as quality of service mechanisms that can support the network requirements of such applications in mobile environments. By using a number of distributed zone servers that are selected and managed dynamically by our server selection algorithm, we provide a scalable approach that offers the necessary redundancy. Furthermore, we propose additional quality of service mechanisms to reduce latency and packet loss for interactive applications. We evaluate our approach through network simulation and realistic mobile gaming scenarios. The performance of our evaluation is checked against real-world measurements.In dieser Arbeit werden die Probleme und Herausforderungen von latenz-kritischen interactiven Computeranwendungen in mobilen Ad-hoc Netzen untersucht. Am Beispiel von Mehrbenutzercomputerspielen zeigen wir, dass traditionelle Client-Server Architekturen für diese neuen Umgebungen ungeeignet sind. Im Rahmen dieser Arbeit wird daher eine neue Kommunikationsarchitektur sowie verschiedene Mechanismen zur Erhöhung der Dienstgüte vorgeschlagen. Mit Hilfe von Zonenserver, die durch den Serverauswahlalgorithmus ausgesucht und verwaltet werden zeigen wir einen Ansatz auf, der sowohl bezüglich der Netzgröße skalierbar ist als auch die notwendige Redundanz bereitstellt. Wir zeigen die Funktionalität und die Leistung unseres Ansatzes mit Hilfe von Netzsimulationen bei denen realistische Szenarien für mobiles Spielen simuliert werden. Der hierbei benutze Netzsimulator wurde dafür auf Basis von eigenen Messungen verbessert und für das jeweilige Szenario passend eingestellt

Contributions to the routing of traffic flows in multi-hop IEEE 802.11 wireless networks

The IEEE 802.11 standard was not initially designed to provide multi-hop capabilities. Therefore, providing a proper traffic performance in Multi-Hop IEEE 802.11 Wireless Networks (MIWNs) becomes a significant challenge. The approach followed in this thesis has been focused on the routing layer in order to obtain applicable solutions not dependent on a specific hardware or driver. Nevertheless, as is the case of most of the research on this field, a cross-layer design has been adopted. Therefore, one of the first tasks of this work was devoted to the study of the phenomena which affect the performance of the flows in MIWNs. Different estimation methodologies and models are presented and analyzed. The first main contribution of this thesis is related to route creation procedures. First, FB-AODV is introduced, which creates routes and forwards packets according to the flows on the contrary to basic AODV which is destination-based. This enhancement permits to balance the load through the network and gives a finer granularity in the control and monitoring of the flows. Results showed that it clearly benefits the performance of the flows. Secondly, a novel routing metric called Weighted Contention and Interference routing Metric (WCIM) is presented. In all analyzed scenarios, WCIM outperformed the other analyzed state-of-the-art routing metrics due to a proper leveraging of the number of hops, the link quality and the suffered contention and interference. The second main contribution of this thesis is focused on route maintenance. Generally, route recovery procedures are devoted to the detection of link breaks due to mobility or fading. However, other phenomena like the arrival of new flows can degrade the performance of active flows. DEMON, which is designed as an enhancement of FB-AODV, allows the preemptive recovery of degraded routes by passively monitoring the performance of active flows. Results showed that DEMON obtains similar or better results than other published solutions in mobile scenarios, while it clearly outperforms the performance of default AODV under congestion Finally, the last chapter of this thesis deals with channel assignment in multi-radio solutions. The main challenge of this research area relies on the circular relationship between channel assignment and routing; channel assignment determines the routes that can be created, while the created routes decide the real channel diversity of the network and the level of interference between the links. Therefore, proposals which join routing and channel assignment are generally complex, centralized and based on traffic patterns, limiting their practical implementation. On the contrary, the mechanisms presented in this thesis are distributed and readily applicable. First, the Interference-based Dynamic Channel Assignment (IDCA) algorithm is introduced. IDCA is a distributed and dynamic channel assignment based on the interference caused by active flows which uses a common channel in order to assure connectivity. In general, IDCA leads to an interesting trade-off between connectivity preservation and channel diversity. Secondly, MR-DEMON is introduced as way of joining channel assignment and route maintenance. As DEMON, MR-DEMON monitors the performance of the active flows traversing the links, but, instead of alerting the source when noticing degradation, it permits reallocating the flows to less interfered channels. Joining route recovery instead of route creation simplifies its application, since traffic patterns are not needed and channel reassignments can be locally decided. The evaluation of MR-DEMON proved that it clearly benefits the performance of IDCA. Also, it improves DEMON functionality by decreasing the number of route recoveries from the source, leading to a lower overhead.El estándar IEEE 802.11 no fue diseñado inicialmente para soportar capacidades multi-salto. Debido a ello, proveer unas prestaciones adecuadas a los flujos de tráfico que atraviesan redes inalámbricas multi-salto IEEE 802.11 supone un reto significativo. La investigación desarrollada en esta tesis se ha centrado en la capa de encaminamiento con el objetivo de obtener soluciones aplicables y no dependientes de un hardware específico. Sin embargo, debido al gran impacto de fenómenos y parámetros relacionados con las capas físicas y de acceso al medio sobre las prestaciones de los tráficos de datos, se han adoptado soluciones de tipo cross-layer. Es por ello que las primeras tareas de la investigación, presentadas en los capítulos iniciales, se dedicaron al estudio y caracterización de estos fenómenos. La primera contribución principal de esta tesis se centra en mecanismos relacionados con la creación de las rutas. Primero, se introduce una mejora del protocolo AODV, que permite crear rutas y encaminar paquetes en base a los flujos de datos, en lugar de en base a los destinos como se da en el caso básico. Esto permite balacear la carga de la red y otorga un mayor control sobre los flujos activos y sus prestaciones, mejorando el rendimiento general de la red. Seguidamente, se presenta una métrica de encaminamiento sensible a la interferencia de la red y la calidad de los enlaces. Los resultados analizados, basados en la simulación de diferentes escenarios, demuestran que mejora significativamente las prestaciones de otras métricas del estado del arte. La segunda contribución está relacionada con el mantenimiento de las rutas activas. Generalmente, los mecanismos de mantenimiento se centran principalmente en la detección de enlaces rotos debido a la movilidad de los nodos o a la propagación inalámbrica. Sin embargo, otros fenómenos como la interferencia y congestión provocada por la llegada de nuevos flujos pueden degradar de forma significativa las prestaciones de los tráficos activos. En base a ello, se diseña un mecanismo de mantenimiento preventivo de rutas, que monitoriza las prestaciones de los flujos activos y permite su reencaminamiento en caso de detectar rutas degradadas. La evaluación de esta solución muestra una mejora significativa sobre el mantenimiento de rutas básico en escenarios congestionados, mientras que en escenarios con nodos móviles obtiene resultados similares o puntualmente mejores que otros mecanismos preventivos diseñados específicamente para casos con movilidad. Finalmente, el último capítulo de la tesis se centra en la asignación de canales en entornos multi-canal y multi-radio con el objetivo de minimizar la interferencia entre flujos activos. El reto principal en este campo es la dependencia circular que se da entre la asignación de canales y la creación de rutas: la asignación de canales determina los enlaces existentes la red y por ello las rutas que se podrán crear, pero son finalmente las rutas y los tráficos activos quienes determinan el nivel real de interferencia que se dará en la red. Es por ello que las soluciones que proponen unificar la asignación de canales y el encaminamiento de tráficos son generalmente complejas, centralizadas y basadas en patrones de tráfico, lo que limita su implementación en entornos reales. En cambio, en nuestro caso adoptamos una solución distribuida y con mayor aplicabilidad. Primero, se define un algoritmo de selección de canales dinámico basado en la interferencia de los flujos activos, que utiliza un canal común en todos los nodos para asegurar la conectividad de la red. A continuación, se introduce un mecanismo que unifica la asignación de canales con el mantenimiento preventivo de las rutas, permitiendo reasignar flujos degradados a otros canales disponibles en lugar de reencaminarlos completamente. Ambas soluciones demuestran ser beneficiosas en este tipo de entornos.Postprint (published version