Minimum-cost multicast over coded packet networks

We consider the problem of establishing minimum-cost multicast connections over coded packet networks, i.e., packet networks where the contents of outgoing packets are arbitrary, causal functions of the contents of received packets. We consider both wireline and wireless packet networks as well as both static multicast (where membership of the multicast group remains constant for the duration of the connection) and dynamic multicast (where membership of the multicast group changes in time, with nodes joining and leaving the group). For static multicast, we reduce the problem to a polynomial-time solvable optimization problem, and we present decentralized algorithms for solving it. These algorithms, when coupled with existing decentralized schemes for constructing network codes, yield a fully decentralized approach for achieving minimum-cost multicast. By contrast, establishing minimum-cost static multicast connections over routed packet networks is a very difficult problem even using centralized computation, except in the special cases of unicast and broadcast connections. For dynamic multicast, we reduce the problem to a dynamic programming problem and apply the theory of dynamic programming to suggest how it may be solved

Distributed MAC Protocol Supporting Physical-Layer Network Coding

Physical-layer network coding (PNC) is a promising approach for wireless networks. It allows nodes to transmit simultaneously. Due to the difficulties of scheduling simultaneous transmissions, existing works on PNC are based on simplified medium access control (MAC) protocols, which are not applicable to general multi-hop wireless networks, to the best of our knowledge. In this paper, we propose a distributed MAC protocol that supports PNC in multi-hop wireless networks. The proposed MAC protocol is based on the carrier sense multiple access (CSMA) strategy and can be regarded as an extension to the IEEE 802.11 MAC protocol. In the proposed protocol, each node collects information on the queue status of its neighboring nodes. When a node finds that there is an opportunity for some of its neighbors to perform PNC, it notifies its corresponding neighboring nodes and initiates the process of packet exchange using PNC, with the node itself as a relay. During the packet exchange process, the relay also works as a coordinator which coordinates the transmission of source nodes. Meanwhile, the proposed protocol is compatible with conventional network coding and conventional transmission schemes. Simulation results show that the proposed protocol is advantageous in various scenarios of wireless applications.Comment: Final versio

Random Linear Network Coding for 5G Mobile Video Delivery

An exponential increase in mobile video delivery will continue with the demand for higher resolution, multi-view and large-scale multicast video services. Novel fifth generation (5G) 3GPP New Radio (NR) standard will bring a number of new opportunities for optimizing video delivery across both 5G core and radio access networks. One of the promising approaches for video quality adaptation, throughput enhancement and erasure protection is the use of packet-level random linear network coding (RLNC). In this review paper, we discuss the integration of RLNC into the 5G NR standard, building upon the ideas and opportunities identified in 4G LTE. We explicitly identify and discuss in detail novel 5G NR features that provide support for RLNC-based video delivery in 5G, thus pointing out to the promising avenues for future research.Comment: Invited paper for Special Issue "Network and Rateless Coding for Video Streaming" - MDPI Informatio

CASPR: Judiciously Using the Cloud for Wide-Area Packet Recovery

We revisit a classic networking problem -- how to recover from lost packets in the best-effort Internet. We propose CASPR, a system that judiciously leverages the cloud to recover from lost or delayed packets. CASPR supplements and protects best-effort connections by sending a small number of coded packets along the highly reliable but expensive cloud paths. When receivers detect packet loss, they recover packets with the help of the nearby data center, not the sender, thus providing quick and reliable packet recovery for latency-sensitive applications. Using a prototype implementation and its deployment on the public cloud and the PlanetLab testbed, we quantify the benefits of CASPR in providing fast, cost effective packet recovery. Using controlled experiments, we also explore how these benefits translate into improvements up and down the network stack

Dynamic algorithms for multicast with intra-session network coding

The problem of multiple multicast sessions with intra-session network coding in time-varying networks is considered. The network-layer capacity region of input rates that can be stably supported is established. Dynamic algorithms for multicast routing, network coding, power allocation, session scheduling, and rate allocation across correlated sources, which achieve stability for rates within the capacity region, are presented. This work builds on the back-pressure approach introduced by Tassiulas et al., extending it to network coding and correlated sources. In the proposed algorithms, decisions on routing, network coding, and scheduling between different sessions at a node are made locally at each node based on virtual queues for different sinks. For correlated sources, the sinks locally determine and control transmission rates across the sources. The proposed approach yields a completely distributed algorithm for wired networks. In the wireless case, power control among different transmitters is centralized while routing, network coding, and scheduling between different sessions at a given node are distributed

Fulcrum: Flexible Network Coding for Heterogeneous Devices

Producción CientíficaWe introduce Fulcrum, a network coding framework that achieves three seemingly conflicting objectives: 1) to reduce the coding coefficient overhead down to nearly n bits per packet in a generation of n packets; 2) to conduct the network coding using only Galois field GF(2) operations at intermediate nodes if necessary, dramatically reducing computing complexity in the network; and 3) to deliver an end-to-end performance that is close to that of a high-field network coding system for high-end receivers, while simultaneously catering to low-end receivers that decode in GF(2). As a consequence of 1) and 3), Fulcrum has a unique trait missing so far in the network coding literature: providing the network with the flexibility to distribute computational complexity over different devices depending on their current load, network conditions, or energy constraints. At the core of our framework lies the idea of precoding at the sources using an expansion field GF(2 h ), h > 1, to increase the number of dimensions seen by the network. Fulcrum can use any high-field linear code for precoding, e.g., Reed-Solomon or Random Linear Network Coding (RLNC). Our analysis shows that the number of additional dimensions created during precoding controls the trade-off between delay, overhead, and computing complexity. Our implementation and measurements show that Fulcrum achieves similar decoding probabilities as high field RLNC but with encoders and decoders that are an order of magnitude faster.Green Mobile Cloud project (grant DFF-0602-01372B)Colorcast project (grant DFF-0602-02661B)TuneSCode project (grant DFF - 1335-00125)Danish Council for Independent Research (grant DFF-4002-00367)Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad - Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (grants MTM2012-36917-C03-03 / MTM2015-65764-C3-2-P / MTM2015-69138-REDT)Agencia Estatal de Investigación - Fondo Social Europeo (grant RYC-2016-20208)Aarhus Universitets Forskningsfond Starting (grant AUFF-2017-FLS-7-1