Localization in Wireless Networks: The Potential of Triangulation Techniques

User localization is one of the key service-enablers in broadband mobile communications. Moreover, from a different point of view, next steps towards automatic network optimization also depend upon the capability of the system to perform real-time user localization, in order to obtain the traffic distribution. The aim of this paper is to get deeper into the feasibility and accuracy of different localization mechanisms ranging from triangulation to database correlation. Call tracing data extracted from a real operating mobile network have been used to assess these algorithms after the execution of an extensive measurements campaign. Results show that enhanced triangulation offers the best performance even outperforming other more sophisticated mechanisms like fingerprinting, without introducing any change in the network and without requiring any special characteristic of the user equipment. Indeed, the lack of precision of channel estimates, which for the same position could differ up to 10 dB, introduces a large uncertainty that harms localization mechanisms based on database correlation. Finally, this paper identifies the areas for improvement in triangulation to reach its maximum potential, provides details for its implementation and analyzes the performance of the different proposed enhancements. © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.The authors would like to thank the funding received from the Ministerio de Industria, Turismo y Comercio within the Project number TSI-020100-2010-183 and from the Generalitat Valenciana IMIDTA/2010/800 funds.Osa Ginés, V.; Matamales Casañ, J.; Monserrat Del Río, JF.; López Bayo, J. (2013). Localization in Wireless Networks: The Potential of Triangulation Techniques. Wireless Personal Communications. 68(4):1525-1538. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11277-012-0537-2S15251538684Laiho J., Wacker A., Novosad T. (2006) Radio Network Planning and Optimisation for UMTS 2nd Edn. Wiley, AmsterdamOsa V., Matamales J., Monserrat J. et al (2010) Expert systems for the automatic optimisation of 3G networks. WAVES 2: 97–105Gustafsson F., Gunnarsson F. (2005) Mobile positioning using wireless networks: Possibilites and fundamental limitations based on available wireless network measurements. IEEE Signal Processing Magazine 22(4): 41–53. doi: 10.1109/MSP.2005.1458284Gezici S. (2008) A survey on wireless position estimation. Springer Wireless Personal Communications 44(3): 263–282. doi: 10.1007/s11277-007-9375-zBahillo, A., Mazuelas, S., & Lorenzo, R.M., et al. (2010). Accurate and integrated localization system for indoor environments based on IEEE 802.11 round-trip time measurements.EURASIP Journal on Wireless Communications and Networking, 2010, Article ID 102095, p. 13. doi: 10.1155/2010/102095 .Yang Z., Liu Y. (2010) Quality of trilateration: Confidence-based iterative localization. IEEE Transactions on Parallel and Distributed Systems 21(5): 631–640. doi: 10.1109/TPDS.2009.90Zimmermann, D., et al. (2004). Database correlation for positioning of mobile terminals in cellular networks using wave propagation models. In IEEE 60th Vehicular Technology Conference (Vol. 7, pp. 4682–4686) doi: 10.1109/VETECF.2004.1404980 .Zhao Y. (2002) Standardization of mobile phone positioning for 3G systems. IEEE Communications Magazine 40(7): 108–116. doi: 10.1109/MCOM.2002.1018015Caffery J.J., Stuber G.L. (1998) Overview of radiolocation in CDMA cellular systems. IEEE Communications Magazine 36(4): 38–45. doi: 10.1109/35.667411Kaaranen H., Ahtiainen A., Laitinen L., Naghian S., Niemi V. (2005) UMTS networks: Architecture, mobility and services. Wiley, Amsterdam3GPP. (2010). TS 25.215 Physical layer; Measurements (FDD). http://www.3gpp.org/ftp/Specs/archive/25_series/25.215/25215-920.zip .3GPP. (2010). TS 25.133 Requirements for support of radio resource management. http://www.3gpp.org/ftp/Specs/archive/25_series/25.133/25133-950.zip .3GPP. (2009). TS 45.010 Radio subsystem synchronization. http://www.3gpp.org/ftp/Specs/archive/45_series/45.010/45010-900.zip .Kos, T., Grgic, M., & Sisul, G. (2006). Mobile user positioning in GSM/UMTS cellular networks. In 48th International Symposium ELMAR-2006 focused on multimedia signal processing and communications (pp. 185–188). doi: 10.1109/ELMAR.2006.329545 .Kirkpatrick S., Gelatt C. D. Jr., Vecchi M. P. (1983) Optimization by simulated annealing. Science 220(4598): 671–680. doi: 10.1126/science.220.4598.671Hepsaydir, E. (1999). Analysis of mobile positioning measurements in CDMA cellular networks. In Radio and Wireless Conference, RAWCON 99 (pp. 73–76). doi: 10.1109/RAWCON.1999.810933 .Villebrun, E., Ben Hadj Alaya, A., Boursier, Y., & Noisette, N. (2006). Indoor Outdoor user discrimination in mobile wireless networks. In Vehicular Technology Conference 2006 Fall (pp. 1–5, 25–28). doi: 10.1109/VTCF.2006.500 .Farr, T.G., et al. (2007). The shuttle radar topography mission. Reviews of geophysics, Vol. 45, RG2004, 33 pp. doi: 10.1029/2005RG000183

How Do Modeling Choices and Erosion Zone Locations Impact the Representation of Connectivity and the Dynamics of Suspended Sediments in a Multi-Source Soil Erosion Model?

[Abstract] Soil erosion and suspended sediment transport understanding is an important issue in terms of soil and water resources management in the critical zone. In mesoscale watersheds (>10 km2) the spatial distribution of potential sediment sources within the catchment associated with rainfall dynamics is considered to be the main factor in the observed suspended sediment flux variability within and between runoff events. Given the high spatial heterogeneity that can exist for such scales of interest, distributed physically based models of soil erosion and sediment transport are powerful tools to distinguish the specific effect of structural and functional connectivity on suspended sediment flux dynamics. As the spatial discretization of a model and its parameterization can crucially influence how the structural connectivity of the catchment is represented in the model, this study analyzed the impact of modeling choices in terms of the contributing drainage area (CDA) threshold to define the river network and of Manning's roughness parameter (n) on the sediment flux variability at the outlet of two geomorphologically distinct watersheds. While the modeled liquid and solid discharges were found to be sensitive to these choices, the patterns of the modeled source contributions remained relatively similar when the CDA threshold was restricted to the range of 15 to 50 ha, with n restricted to the range 0.4–0.8 on the hillslopes and to 0.025–0.075 in the river. The comparison of the two catchments showed that the actual location of sediment sources was more important than the choices made during discretization and parameterization of the model. Among the various structural connectivity indicators used to describe the geological sources, the mean distance to the stream was the most relevant proxy for the temporal characteristics of the modeled sedigraphs.Francia. Agence Nationale de la Recherche; ANR-11-EQPX-0011This research has been supported by the Draix Bléone and OHMCV long-term observatories, funded by the National Institute of Science of the Universe, for access to datasets and the OZCAR research infrastructure (grant no. ANR-11-EQPX-0011)

Beam Tracking Strategies for 5G New Radio Networks Operating in the Millimetre Wave Bands

[ES] La llegada de la próxima generación del estándar de comunicaciones móviles, la llamada quinta generación (5G), es prácticamente una realidad. Las primeras redes comerciales han comenzado a ser desplegadas, centrándose en ofrecer altas velocidades de transferencia de datos. Sin embargo, el estándar 5G va mucho más allá y prevé dar soporte a nuevos servicios que pretenden revolucionar la sociedad. Estos nuevos servicios imponen un nivel alto de requisitos en no solo en cuanto a velocidad del tráfico de datos, sino en cuanto a latencia o número de dispositivos conectados simultáneamente. La amplia variedad de requisitos no puede ser soportada por las redes de cuarta generación (4G), por lo que se hizo necesario plantear un nuevo paradigma para las redes inalámbricas. Con la promesa de grandes cantidades de ancho de banda sin utilizar, el estándar 5G contempla utilizar frecuencias en la comúnmente conocida como banda de milimétricas (mmWave). Esta banda presenta grandes pérdidas de propagación, que se acentúan si existen bloqueos de señal. Actividades regulatorias del uso de las bandas de milimétricas atrajo el interés tanto de la industria como de la academia en plantear soluciones para dar servicio en estas bandas. En los últimos años se han presentado infinidad de trabajos basados en sistemas con múltiples antenas o MIMO, para conformar las señales transmitidas o recibidas en haces apuntando en determinadas direcciones. La ganancia que aportan los sistemas MIMO pueden compensar las altas pérdidas de propagación, asegurando la viabilidad de las comunicaciones mmWave. Se ha detectado una evidente falta de estudios sobre la viabilidad de sistemas MIMO en entornos móviles y dinámicos con bloqueos que hagan necesario que el sistema se reconfigure. Esta Tesis pretende cubrir este espacio desde un enfoque práctico y propone mecanismos de gestión de los haces para hacerles un seguimiento utilizando los recursos y mecanismos del nuevo estándar 5G. Las soluciones aportadas se basan en el uso eficiente de los reportes de medidas de las señales de referencia estandarizadas en enlace descendente. En primer lugar, esta Tesis recoge un análisis minucioso del estado del arte, donde se corrobora la necesidad de aportar soluciones de seguimiento de haces en sistemas de comunicaciones en la banda de milimétricas. Además, se estudian los diferentes mecanismos definidos en el estándar 5G y que posibilitan el seguimiento. Cabe destacar que el estándar no define un mecanismo único a seguir, permitiendo presentar propuestas. Una vez conocidas las tecnologías, se centra el estudio en el impacto del seguimiento sobre las prestaciones a nivel de red y de enlace. Dicho estudio se realiza sobre un sistema punto a punto, donde el terminal móvil se desplaza por un entorno urbano. En base a simulaciones de red, se cuantifica el índice de seguimiento de haz y de cómo dicho seguimiento afecta a la relación señal a ruido más interferencia (SINR) y la tasa de transmisión del usuario. Las soluciones de seguimiento propuestas en esta Tesis se pueden clasificar en dos categorías. En una primera categoría, se realiza el seguimiento en base a reportes de medidas de las señales de referencia. Independientemente de la velocidad, se alcanza un seguimiento del 91% con poca penalización en la tasa de transmisión si se monitorizan los haces de interés con una periodicidad menor de 20 ms. En la segunda categoría caben mecanismos de seguimiento que hacen uso de fuentes externas de información. Dentro de esta categoría, se propone un fingerprinting que relacione haces con la localización reportada y un modelo de machine learning (ML) que prediga los haces a utilizar. El fingerprinting proporciona los mismos niveles de rendimiento. Sin embargo, esta solución es muy sensible a errores y requiere considerar todos los casos posibles, lo que la hace tecnológicamente inviable. En cambio, el modelo de ML, que hace p[CA] L'arribada de la següent generació de l'estàndard de comunicacions mòbils, l'anomenada cinquena generació (5G), es pràcticament una realitat. Les primeres xarxes comercials han començat a desplegar-se i s'han centrat en oferir altes velocitats de transferència de dades. No obstant, l'estàndard 5G va molt mes allà y preveu donar suport a nous serveis que pretenen revolucionar la societat. Estos nous serveis imposen un alt nivell de requisits no sols en quant a velocitat de tràfic de dades, si no també en quant a latència o número de connexions simultànies. L'ampla varietat de requisits no es suportada per les xarxes de quarta generació (4G) actuals, per el qual es va fer necessari un nou paradigma de xarxes sense fil. Amb la promesa de amplies quantitats d'ample de banda, l'estàndard 5G contempla utilitzar freqüències a la banda de mil·limètriques. Esta banda presenta l'inconvenient d'experimentar grans pèrdues de propagació, que s'accentuen en cas de bloqueigs. L'apertura de les bandes de mil·limètriques va atraure l'interès tant de l'industria com de l'acadèmia en plantejar solucions per a donar servei en estes bandes. En els últims anys s'han presentat infinitat de treballs basats en sistemes amb múltiples antenes o MIMO, per a conformar els senyals transmesos o rebuts en feixos apuntant en determinades direccions d'interès. El guany de feix es pot utilitzar per a compensar les pèrdues de propagació, assegurant la viabilitat de les comunicacions en la banda de mil·limètriques. No obstant això, s'ha detectat una preocupant manca d'estudis sobre la viabilitat d'estos sistemes en entorns mòbils i dinàmics, amb obstacles que bloquejen els feixos i facen necessari que el sistema es reconfigure. El present treball de Tesi pretén cobrir este espai buit i des d'un punt de vista pràctic, es proposen mecanismes de gestió dels feixos per a ser el seguiment utilitzant els recursos i mecanismes dels que disposa l'estàndard 5G. D'esta manera, les solucions aportades es basen en la utilització eficient dels reports de mesures dels senyals de referència del enllaç descendent. En primer lloc, esta Tesi recull una anàlisi minuciosa de l'estat de l'art on es corrobora la necessitat de aportar solucions de seguiment de feixos per a comunicacions en la banda de freqüències mil·limètriques. A més a més, s'estudien els diferents mecanismes definits a l'estàndard 5G i que possibiliten el seguiment. Cap destacar que l'estàndard no defineix un mecanisme únic, si no que deixa la porta oberta a presentar propostes. Una vegada conegudes les tecnologies, l'estudi es centra en l'impacte del seguiment sobre les prestacions a nivell de xarxa i d'enllaç. Este estudi es realitza sobre un sistema MIMO punt a punt, en una única estació base i un terminal mòbil desplaçant-se en un entorn urbà. En base a simulacions d'extrem a extrem, es quantifica l'índex de seguiment de feix i com l'anomenat seguiment afecta a la relació senyal a soroll més interferència (SINR) i a la taxa instantània de transmissió de l'usuari. Les solucions de seguiment de feixos propostes a la Tesi es poden classificar en dos categories. A la primera categoria, el seguiment de feixos es realitza en base als reports de mesures dels senyals de referència. Independentment de la velocitat, s'arriba a una taxa de seguiment del 91% amb poca penalització de taxa de transmissió si els feixos d'interès es mesuren amb una periodicitat menor a 20 ms. A la segona categoria pertanyen els algoritmes que utilitzen fonts d'informació externes. Dins d'aquesta categoria es proposa un fingerprinting que relaciona un parell de feixos amb la ubicació de l'usuari, i a banda un model d'intel·ligència artificial (IA) que preveu el feix a utilitzar. El fingerprinting ofereix el mateix rendiment. Però, esta solució es molt sensible a errors i requereix considerar tots els casos possibles, fent-la tecnològicament inviable. En canvi, el[EN] The arrival of the next generation of mobile communication standards, the so-called Fifth Generation (5G), is already a reality. The first commercial networks have begun to be deployed, and they focus on providing higher data rates. However, the 5G standard goes much further from that and aims at providing support to new services which will revolutionise the society. These new services impose a high level of requirements not only in terms of the data traffic speed, but also in terms of very low latency or incredibly large number of simultaneous connections. This wide variety of requirements cannot be technologically supported by the current Fourth Generation (4G) networks, so it became necessary to move forward with a new paradigm for wireless networks. With the promise of large amounts of bandwidth, in the order of GHz, the 5G standard contemplates the use of frequencies in the commonly known Millimetre Wave (mmWave) band. The mmWave band experiences large propagation losses, which are accentuated in blockage events. Regulatory activities worldwide in the mmWave bands attracted the interest of both the industry and the academia. In the last few years, a tremendous number of contributions on mmWave propagation studies and networks have appeared, most of them based on Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) solutions. MIMO architectures allow to beamform, which focuses the radiated energy on certain directions of interest called beams. The additional beam gain compensates the high propagation losses, ensuring the viability of the communications in the mmWave band. There is an evident lack of viability studies of mmWave MIMO systems in mobile and highly-dynamic environments, where obstacles may block beams and forcing frequent re-configurations. This Thesis work aims to fill this gap from a practical approach. This Thesis proposes beam management mechanisms utilising the mechanisms and resources offered by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) 5G radio access standard: 5G New Radio (NR). The practical solutions are based on the efficient use of measurement reports of standardised downlink Reference Signals (RS). In first place, this Thesis provides a thorough state-of-the-art analysis and corroborates the need of adopting beam tracking solutions for mmWave networks. Then, a complete overview of the 5G standard mechanisms that enable beam tracking is given. The NR standard does not define a standardised mechanism for beam tracking, leaving the door open to proposals to carry out such monitoring. Once the technologies have been identified, the Thesis continues with assessing the impact of the beam tracking strategies on the network and link-level performance. The study is focused on individual point-to-point mmWave links in a realistic urban environment. Based on end-to-end network simulations, the Thesis is interested in assessing the beam tracking success ratio and how beam misalignment affects the perceived Signal to Noise plus Interference Ratio (SINR) and user throughput at pedestrian and vehicular speeds. The beam tracking solutions proposed in this Thesis fall into two categories. The first category monitors beams based on measuring and reporting beamformed RS. Regardless of the speed, this beam tracking category provides up to 91 % tracking performance, with little throughput reduction if the beams of interest are measured with a periodicity below 20 ms. Beam tracking in the second category relies on external information sources. Within this category, this Thesis proposes a fingerprinting database relating beams to the user position and a machine learning (ML) model. Fingerprinting beam tracking is technologically viable and provides similar performance levels. However, this solution is very sensitive to errors and requires considering all possible situations. The ML beam tracking, which makes predictions with a 16 % of estimation error for the reference data set.I want to thank the Spanish Ministry of Education and Professional Formation for funding this Thesis work with an official pre-doctoral contract grant.Herranz Claveras, C. (2019). Beam Tracking Strategies for 5G New Radio Networks Operating in the Millimetre Wave Bands [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/130845TESI

Urban Positioning on a Smartphone: Real-time Shadow Matching Using GNSS and 3D City Models

The performance of global navigation satellite system (GNSS) user equipment in urban canyons is particularly poor in the cross-street direction. This is because more signals are blocked by buildings in the cross-street direction than along the street [1]. To address this problem, shadow matching has been proposed to improve cross-street positioning from street-level to lane-level (meters-level) accuracy using 3D city models. This is a new positioning method that uses the city model to predict which satellites are visible from different locations and then compares this with the measured satellite visibility to determine position [2]. In previous work, we have demonstrated shadow matching using GPS and GLONASS data recorded using a geodetic GNSS receiver in Central London, achieving a cross-street position accuracy within 5m 89% of the time [3]. This paper describes the first real-time implementation of shadow matching on a smartphone capable of receiving both GPS and GLONASS. The typical processing time for the system to provide a solution was between 1 and 2 seconds. On average, the cross-street position accuracy from shadow matching was a factor of four better than the phone’s conventional GNSS position solution. A number of groups have also used 3D city models to predict and, in some cases, correct non-line-of-sight reception [4-6]. However, to our knowledge, this paper reports the first ever demonstration of any 3D-model-aided GNSS positioning technique in real time, as opposed to using recorded GNSS data. When it comes to real-time positioning on a smartphone, various obstacles exist including lower-grade GNSS receivers, limited availability of computational power, memory, and battery power. To tackle these problems, in this work, an efficient smartphone-based shadow-matching positioning system was designed. The system was then implemented in an app (i.e. application or software) on the Android operating system, the most common operating system for smartphones. The app has been developed in Java using Eclipse, a software development environment (SDE). It was built on Standard Android platform 4.0.3, using the Android Application programming interface (API) to retrieve information from the GNSS chip. The new positioning system does not require any additional hardware or real-time rendering of 3D scenes. Instead, a grid of building boundaries is computed in advance and stored within the phone. This grid could also be downloaded from the network on demand. Shadow matching is therefore both power-efficient and cost-effective. Experimental testing was performed in Central London using a Samsung Galaxy S3 smartphone. This receives both GPS and GLONASS satellites and has an assisted GNSS (AGNSS) capability. A 3D city model of the Aldgate area of central London, supplied by ZMapping Ltd, was used. Four experimental locations with different building topologies were selected on Fenchurch Street, a dense urban area. Using the Android app developed in this work, real-time shadow-matching positioning was performed over 6 minutes at each site with a new position solution computed every 5 seconds using both GPS and GLONASS observations were used for real-time positioning. The measurement data was also recorded at 1-second intervals for later analysis. Various criteria are applied to access the new system and compare it with the conventional GNSS positioning results. The experimental results show that the proposed system outperforms the conventional GNSS positioning solution, reducing the mean absolute deviation of the cross-street positioning error from 14.81 m to 3.33 m, with a 77.5 percentage reduction. The feasibility of deploying the new system on a larger scale is also discussed from three perspectives: the availability of 3D city models and satellite information, data storage and transfer requirements, and demand from applications. This meters-level across-street accuracy in urban areas benefits a variety of applications from Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) and land navigation systems for automated lane identification to step-by-step guidance for the visually impaired and for tourists, location-based advertisement (LBA) for targeting suitable consumers and many other location-based services (LBS). The system is also expandable to work with Galileo and Beidou (Compass) in the future, with potentially improved performance. In the future, the shadow-matching system can be implemented on a smartphone, a PND, or other consumer-grade navigation device, as part of an intelligent positioning system [7], along with height-aided conventional GNSS positioning, and potentially other technologies, such as Wi-Fi and inertial sensors to give the best overall positioning performance. / References [1] Wang, L., Groves, P. D. & Ziebart, M. Multi-constellation GNSS Performance Evaluation for Urban Canyons Using Large Virtual Reality City Models. Journal of Navigation, July 2012. [2] Groves, P. D. 2011. Shadow Matching: A New GNSS Positioning Technique for Urban Canyons The Journal of Navigation, 64, pp417-430. [3] Wang, L., Groves, P. D. & Ziebart, M. K. GNSS Shadow Matching: Improving Urban Positioning Accuracy Using a 3D City Model with Optimized Visibility Prediction Scoring. ION GNSS 2012. [4] Obst, M., Bauer, S. and Wanielik, G. Urban Multipath Detection and mitigation with Dynamic 3D Maps for Reliable Land Vehicle Localization. IEEE/ION PLANS 2012. [5] Peyraud, S., Bétaille, D., Renault, S., Ortiz, M., Mougel, F., Meizel, D. and Peyret, F. (2013) About Non-Line-Of-Sight Satellite Detection and Exclusion in a 3D Map-Aided Localization Algorithm. Sensors, Vol. 13, 2013, 829?847. [6] Bourdeau, A., M. Sahmoudi, and J.-Y. Tourneret, “Tight Integration of GNSS and a 3D City Model for Robust Positioning in Urban Canyons,” Proc. ION GNSS 2012. [7] Groves, P. D., Jiang, Z., Wang, L. & Ziebart, M. Intelligent Urban Positioning using Multi-Constellation GNSS with 3D Mapping and NLOS Signal Detection. ION GNSS 2012

PROBABILISTIC APPROACH TO WATER, SEDIMENT, AND NUTRIENT CONNECTIVITY FOR ADVANCING WATERSHED MODELLING

The goal of this dissertation is to represent the spatial and temporal domains of water, sediment, and nutrient flux and pathways within fluvial and watershed settings. To complete this goal, we integrate connectivity theory into watershed model structures to simulate water, sediment, and nutrient movement at the fundamental unit they occur. Fluvial-based sediment and nutrient flux is an important driver of global sediment and nutrient budgets, and the quantification of which serves as an ongoing challenge to limnologists, engineers, and watershed managers. Watershed models have been richly developed over the past century, but are currently restrained by problems related to omission of physical transport and detachment processes as well ambiguous representation of active non-point sources and their transport pathways. To overcome limitations such as these, geomorphologists introduced connectivity theory, which has garnered popularity from watershed managers and modelers due perhaps to its ability to explain the non-linearity of system response and explicitly detail non-point sources, sinks, and transport pathways. Connectivity is defined herein as, “the integrated transfer of material from source to sink facilitated by the continuum of material generation, loss, and transport in three dimensions and through time.” Connectivity theory has matured such that we now have a holistic view of phenomena controlling connectivity, however, the connectivity community has not yet adopted a unified conceptual framework with the goal of connectivity quantification. Existing connectivity models have varying approaches to quantify connectivity such as: (1) index-based connectivity assessments; (2) effective catchment area estimation; and (3) network-based connectivity simulations. While these models often adequately represent the structural connections of landscape elements, few frameworks are able to represent the variability of connectivity from dynamic hydrologic forcings. We argue that explicit coupling of watershed models with a unified connectivity framework will help to improve the basis of watershed modelling in physics while avoiding problems that current watershed models possess: namely due to spatial and temporal lumping and empirical estimations of non-point source generation and fate. This dissertation seeks to fulfill this objective through of six studies that advance formulation of the tenets of connectivity including the magnitude, extent, timing, and continuity of connectivity with respect to water, sediment, and nutrients

Protection of an intrusion detection engine with watermarking in ad hoc networks

Mobile ad hoc networks have received great attention in recent years, mainly due to the evolution of wireless networking and mobile computing hardware. Nevertheless, many inherent vulnerabilities exist in mobile ad hoc networks and their applications that affect the security of wireless transactions. As intrusion prevention mechanisms, such as encryption and authentication, are not sufficient we need a second line of defense, Intrusion Detection. In this pa-per we present an intrusion detection engine based on neural networks and a protection method based on watermarking techniques. In particular, we exploit information visualization and machine learning techniques in order to achieve intrusion detection and we authenticate the maps produced by the application of the intelligent techniques using a novel combined watermarking embedding method. The performance of the proposed model is evaluated under different traffic conditions, mobility patterns and visualization metrics