Network-Coded Multiple Access

This paper proposes and experimentally demonstrates a first wireless local area network (WLAN) system that jointly exploits physical-layer network coding (PNC) and multiuser decoding (MUD) to boost system throughput. We refer to this multiple access mode as Network-Coded Multiple Access (NCMA). Prior studies on PNC mostly focused on relay networks. NCMA is the first realized multiple access scheme that establishes the usefulness of PNC in a non-relay setting. NCMA allows multiple nodes to transmit simultaneously to the access point (AP) to boost throughput. In the non-relay setting, when two nodes A and B transmit to the AP simultaneously, the AP aims to obtain both packet A and packet B rather than their network-coded packet. An interesting question is whether network coding, specifically PNC which extracts packet (A XOR B), can still be useful in such a setting. We provide an affirmative answer to this question with a novel two-layer decoding approach amenable to real-time implementation. Our USRP prototype indicates that NCMA can boost throughput by 100% in the medium-high SNR regime (>=10dB). We believe further throughput enhancement is possible by allowing more than two users to transmit together

Energy Savings via Harnessing Partial Packets in Body Area Networks

This work considers the incorporation, implications and potential energy savings of partial packet recovery schemes in Body Area Networks (BANs). Received packets which have not been fully corrected by the physical layer, called partial, are discarded by the vast majority of BAN protocols, as opposed to valid packets, which satisfy the error detection check and are propagated to higher layers. In typical networks using ARQ protocols, dropping partial packets results in retransmissions. However, because these packets contain useful information, partial packet recovery schemes have been proposed with demonstrated throughput and reliability benefits, targeting mostly wireless LANs. In order to quantify the potential energy benefits of harnessing partial packets in BANs, we use an experimental setup with four sensors mounted on a human body, transmitting information to a receiving node in a typical office environment. By precisely modeling the state transitions and energy consumption of sensors, we compare the efficiency of a baseline ARQ protocol against a scheme which leverages information in partial packets. Our results indicate that exploiting partial packets reduces on average the energy consumption of our sensors by 8--20%. The energy savings are pronounced in challenged channel conditions of high PER, where they can be up to 50%

Enhancement of Adaptive Forward Error Correction Mechanism for Video Transmission Over Wireless Local Area Network

Video transmission over the wireless network faces many challenges. The most critical challenge is related to packet loss. To overcome the problem of packet loss, Forward Error Correction is used by adding extra packets known as redundant packet or parity packet. Currently, FEC mechanisms have been adopted together with Automatic Repeat reQuest (ARQ) mechanism to overcome packet losses and avoid network congestion in various wireless network conditions. The number of FEC packets need to be generated effectively because wireless network usually has varying network conditions. In the current Adaptive FEC mechanism, the FEC packets are decided by the average queue length and average packet retransmission times. The Adaptive FEC mechanisms have been proposed to suit the network condition by generating FEC packets adaptively in the wireless network. However, the current Adaptive FEC mechanism has some major drawbacks such as the reduction of recovery performance which injects too many excessive FEC packets into the network. This is not flexible enough to adapt with varying wireless network condition. Therefore, the enhancement of Adaptive FEC mechanism (AFEC) known as Enhanced Adaptive FEC (EnAFEC) has been proposed. The aim is to improve recovery performance on the current Adaptive FEC mechanism by injecting FEC packets dynamically based on varying wireless network conditions. The EnAFEC mechanism is implemented in the simulation environment using Network Simulator 2 (NS-2). Performance evaluations are also carried out. The EnAFEC was tested with the random uniform error model. The results from experiments and performance analyses showed that EnAFEC mechanism outperformed the other Adaptive FEC mechanism in terms of recovery efficiency. Based on the findings, the optimal amount of FEC generated by EnAFEC mechanism can recover high packet loss and produce good video quality

A study on stryi-icnos potatorum and pisum sativum as natural coagulants for meat food processing wastewater

Slow maintained load test is widely used by contractors in Malaysia to ensure the driven pile could accommodate the design load of the structure. Slow maintained load test is a test to determine load-settlement curve and pile capacity for a period of time using conventional load test. Conventional static pile load test equipment is large in size thus making it heavier and takes a long time to install. In addition, it consumes a lot of space which causes congestion at construction sites. Therefore, the objective of this thesis is to conduct a conventional load test by replacing the pile kentledge load with anchorage and reaction pile. Preparations of ten designs comprising six commercial designs were reviewed. In addition, four proposed designs were suggested for the setup. Final design was produced based on its safety factors and criteria referred via literature review. The test frame consists of reaction frame with four reaction helical pile with two helixes per reaction pile. The deformation shapes, safety factor, stress, and strain of the design and finite element of the model has been analysed with the use of SolidWorks and Pia.xis 30 software. SolidWorks software emphasizes on the model load-deflection relationship while Plaxis 30 ensures a correlation of reaction between pile uplift force and soil. Then, the model was tested on site to determine the relationship between physical load­deflection and pile-soil uplift force. The results of uplift force and displacement for numerical and physical test were nearly identical which increment of load­displacement graph pattern. The higher the uplift force, the higher the displacement obtained. In conclusion, the result obtained and the design may be considered as a guideline for future application of sustainable slow maintained pile load test

Cross-layer wireless bit rate adaptation

This paper presents SoftRate, a wireless bit rate adaptation protocol that is responsive to rapidly varying channel conditions. Unlike previous work that uses either frame receptions or signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) estimates to select bit rates, SoftRate uses confidence information calculated by the physical layer and exported to higher layers via the SoftPHY interface to estimate the prevailing channel bit error rate (BER). Senders use this BER estimate, calculated over each received packet (even when the packet has no bit errors), to pick good bit rates. SoftRate's novel BER computation works across different wireless environments and hardware without requiring any retraining. SoftRate also uses abrupt changes in the BER estimate to identify interference, enabling it to reduce the bit rate only in response to channel errors caused by attenuation or fading. Our experiments conducted using a software radio prototype show that SoftRate achieves 2X higher throughput than popular frame-level protocols such as SampleRate and RRAA. It also achieves 20% more throughput than an SNR-based protocol trained on the operating environment, and up to 4X higher throughput than an untrained SNR-based protocol. The throughput gains using SoftRate stem from its ability to react to channel variations within a single packet-time and its robustness to collision losses.National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant CNS-0721702)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant CNS-0520032)Foxconn International Holdings Ltd

Experimenting with commodity 802.11 hardware: overview and future directions

The huge adoption of 802.11 technologies has triggered a vast amount of experimentally-driven research works. These works range from performance analysis to protocol enhancements, including the proposal of novel applications and services. Due to the affordability of the technology, this experimental research is typically based on commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) devices, and, given the rate at which 802.11 releases new standards (which are adopted into new, affordable devices), the field is likely to continue to produce results. In this paper, we review and categorise the most prevalent works carried out with 802.11 COTS devices over the past 15 years, to present a timely snapshot of the areas that have attracted the most attention so far, through a taxonomy that distinguishes between performance studies, enhancements, services, and methodology. In this way, we provide a quick overview of the results achieved by the research community that enables prospective authors to identify potential areas of new research, some of which are discussed after the presentation of the survey.This work has been partly supported by the European Community through the CROWD project (FP7-ICT-318115) and by the Madrid Regional Government through the TIGRE5-CM program (S2013/ICE-2919).Publicad