Minimizing Spatial and Time Reservation With Collision-Aware DCF in Mobile Ad Hoc Networks

Carrier sensing is widely adopted in wireless communication to protect data transfers from collisions. For example, distributed coordination function (DCF) in IEEE 802.11 standard renders a node to defer its communication if it senses the medium busy. For the duration of deferment, each frame carries, in its MAC header, a 16-bit number in microseconds during which any overhearing node must defer. However, even if the carrier signal is detected, both ongoing and a new communication can be simultaneously successful depending on their relative positions in the network or equivalently, their mutual interference level. Supporting multiple concurrent communications is important in multihop ad hoc networks in order to maximize the network performance. However, it is largely ignored in DCF of the 802.11 standards because it is primarily targeted at single-hop wireless LANs. In addition, in DCF, the time duration information mentioned above is not delivered to all potential interferers, particularly those in the distance. This paper proposes Collision-Aware DCF (CAD) that efficiently utilizes the available channel resource along with the spatial as well as time dimension. First, each node makes its deferment decision adaptively based on the feedback from the communication counterpart and the status of the medium rather than on a simple, fixed carrier sense threshold as DCF. Second, CAD embeds the spatial and time reservation requirements in the PHY header, which is transmitted at the lowest data rate, so that a larger group of neighbors become aware of the ongoing communication and thus avoid collisions. Extensive experiments based on ns-2 network simulator show that CAD consistently outperforms DCF regardless of node mobility, traffic intensity, and channel randomness. For practicality, this paper discusses the implementation of CAD based on the DCF specification

On the Design of MAC Protocols for Multi-Packet Communication in IEEE 802.11 Heterogeneous Networks Using Adaptive Antenna Arrays

This paper discusses the design requirements for enabling multiple simultaneous peer-to-peer communications in IEEE 802.11 asynchronous networks in the presence of adaptive antenna arrays, and proposes two novel access schemes to realize multipacket communication (MPC). Both presented solutions, which rely on the information acquired by each node during the monitoring of the network activity, are suitable for distributed and heterogeneous scenarios, where nodes equipped with different antenna systems can coexist. The first designed scheme, called threshold access MPC (TAMPC), is based on a threshold on the load sustainable by the single-node, while the second protocol, called signal-to-interference ratio (SIR) access MPC (SAMPC), is based on an accurate estimation of the SIR and on the adoption of low density parity check codes. Both protocols, which are designed to be backward compatible with the 802.11 standard, are numerically tested in realistic scenarios. Furthermore, the performance of the two schemes is compared to the theoretical one and to that of the 802.11n extension in a mobile environment

Efficient Cross Layer Designs for IEEE 802.11 Wireless Networks

Various properties of wireless networks, such as mobility, frequent disconnections and varying channel conditions, have made it a challenging task to design networking protocols for wireless communications. In this dissertation, we address several problems related to both the routing layer and medium access control (MAC) layer in wireless networks aiming to enhance the network performance. First, we study the effect of the channel noise on the network performance. We present mechanisms to compute energy-efficient paths in noisy environments for ad hoc networks by exploiting the IEEE 802.11 fragmentation mechanism. These mechanisms enhance the network performance up to orders of magnitude in terms of energy and throughput. We also enhance the IEEE 802.11 infrastructure networks with a capability to differentiate between different types of unsuccessful transmissions to enhance the network performance. Second, we study the effects of the physical layer capture phenomena on network performance. We modify the IEEE 802.11 protocol in a way to increase the concurrent transmissions by exploiting the capture phenomena. We analytically study the potential performance enhancement of our mechanism over the original IEEE 802.11. The analysis shows that up to 35% of the IEEE 802.11 blocking decisions are unnecessary. The results are verified by simulation in which we show that our enhanced mechanism can achieve up to 22% more throughput. Finally, we exploit the spatial reuse of the directional antenna in the IEEE 802.11 standards by developing two novel opportunistic enhancement mechanisms. The first mechanism augments the IEEE 802.11 protocol with additional information that gives a node the flexibility to transmit data while other transmissions are in its vicinity. The second mechanism changes the access routines of the IEEE 802.11 data queue. We show analytically how the IEEE 802.11 protocol using directional antenna is conservative in terms of assessing channel availability, with as much as 60% of unnecessary blocking assessments and up to 90% when we alter the accessing mechanism of the data queue. By simulation, we show an improvement in network throughput of 40% in the case of applying the first mechanism, and up to 60% in the case of applying the second mechanism

A Cooperative Diversity-Based Robust Mac Protocol in Wireless Ad Hoc Networks

In interference-rich and noisy environment, wireless communication is often hampered by unreliable communication links. Recently, there has been active research on cooperative communication that improves the communication reliability by having a collection of radio terminals transmit signals in a cooperative way. This paper proposes a medium access control (MAC) algorithm, called Cooperative Diversity MAC (CD-MAC), which exploits the cooperative communication capability of the physical (PHY) layer to improve robustness in wireless ad hoc networks. In CD-MAC, each terminal proactively selects a partner for cooperation and lets it transmit simultaneously so that this mitigates interference from nearby terminals, and thus, improves the network performance. For practicability, CD-MAC is designed based on the widely adopted IEEE 802.11 MAC. For accurate evaluation, this study presents and uses a realistic reception model by taking bit error rate (BER), derived from Intersil HFA3861B radio hardware, and the corresponding frame error rate (FER) into consideration. System-level simulation study shows that CD-MAC significantly outperforms the original IEEE 802.11 MAC in terms of packet delivery ratio and end-to-end delay

PACE: Simple Multi-hop Scheduling for Single-radio 802.11-based Stub Wireless Mesh Networks

IEEE 802.11-based Stub Wireless Mesh Networks (WMNs) are a cost-effective and flexible solution to extend wired network infrastructures. Yet, they suffer from two major problems: inefficiency and unfairness. A number of approaches have been proposed to tackle these problems, but they are too restrictive, highly complex, or require time synchronization and modifications to the IEEE 802.11 MAC. PACE is a simple multi-hop scheduling mechanism for Stub WMNs overlaid on the IEEE 802.11 MAC that jointly addresses the inefficiency and unfairness problems. It limits transmissions to a single mesh node at each time and ensures that each node has the opportunity to transmit a packet in each network-wide transmission round. Simulation results demonstrate that PACE can achieve optimal network capacity utilization and greatly outperforms state of the art CSMA/CA-based solutions as far as goodput, delay, and fairness are concerned

Design and Analysis of Medium Access Control Protocols for Broadband Wireless Networks

The next-generation wireless networks are expected to integrate diverse network architectures and various wireless access technologies to provide a robust solution for ubiquitous broadband wireless access, such as wireless local area networks (WLANs), Ultra-Wideband (UWB), and millimeter-wave (mmWave) based wireless personal area networks (WPANs), etc. To enhance the spectral efficiency and link reliability, smart antenna systems have been proposed as a promising candidate for future broadband access networks. To effectively exploit the increased capabilities of the emerging wireless networks, the different network characteristics and the underlying physical layer features need to be considered in the medium access control (MAC) design, which plays a critical role in providing efficient and fair resource sharing among multiple users. In this thesis, we comprehensively investigate the MAC design in both single- and multi-hop broadband wireless networks, with and without infrastructure support. We first develop mathematical models to identify the performance bottlenecks and constraints in the design and operation of existing MAC. We then use a cross-layer approach to mitigate the identified bottleneck problems. Finally, by evaluating the performance of the proposed protocols with analytical models and extensive simulations, we determine the optimal protocol parameters to maximize the network performance. In specific, a generic analytical framework is developed for capacity study of an IEEE 802.11 WLAN in support of non-persistent asymmetric traffic flows. The analysis can be applied for effective admission control to guarantee the quality of service (QoS) performance of multimedia applications. As the access point (AP) becomes the bottleneck in an infrastructure based WLAN, we explore the multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) capability in the future IEEE 802.11n WLANs and propose a MIMO-aware multi-user (MU) MAC. By exploiting the multi-user degree of freedom in a MIMO system to allow the AP to communicate with multiple users in the downlink simultaneously, the proposed MU MAC can minimize the AP-bottleneck effect and significantly improve the network capacity. Other enhanced MAC mechanisms, e.g., frame aggregation and bidirectional transmissions, are also studied. Furthermore, different from a narrowband system where simultaneous transmissions by nearby neighbors collide with each other, wideband system can support multiple concurrent transmissions if the multi-user interference can be properly managed. Taking advantage of the salient features of UWB and mmWave communications, we propose an exclusive region (ER) based MAC protocol to exploit the spatial multiplexing gain of centralized UWB and mmWave based wireless networks. Moreover, instead of studying the asymptotic capacity bounds of arbitrary networks which may be too loose to be useful in realistic networks, we derive the expected capacity or transport capacity of UWB and mmWave based networks with random topology. The analysis reveals the main factors affecting the network (transport) capacity, and how to determine the best protocol parameters to maximize the network capacity. In addition, due to limited transmission range, multi-hop relay is necessary to extend the communication coverage of UWB networks. A simple, scalable, and distributed UWB MAC protocol is crucial for efficiently utilizing the large bandwidth of UWB channels and enabling numerous new applications cost-effectively. To address this issue, we further design a distributed asynchronous ER based MAC for multi-hop UWB networks and derive the optimal ER size towards the maximum network throughput. The proposed MAC can significantly improve both network throughput and fairness performance, while the throughput and fairness are usually treated as a tradeoff in other MAC protocols

Performance issues in cellular wireless mesh networks

This thesis proposes a potential solution for future ubiquitous broadband wireless access networks, called a cellular wireless mesh network (CMESH), and investigates a number of its performance issues. A CMESH is organized in multi-radio, multi-channel, multi-rate and multi-hop radio cells. It can operate on abundant high radio frequencies, such as 5-50 GHz, and thus may satisfy the bandwidth requirements of future ubiquitous wireless applications. Each CMESH cell has a single Internet-connected gateway and serves up to hundreds of mesh nodes within its coverage area. This thesis studies performance issues in a CMESH, focusing on cell capacity, expressed in terms of the max-min throughput. In addition to introducing the concept of a CMESH, this thesis makes the following contributions. The first contribution is a new method for analyzing theoretical cell capacity. This new method is based on a new concept called Channel Transport Capacity (CTC), and derives new analytic expressions for capacity bounds for carrier-sense-based CMESH cells. The second contribution is a new algorithm called the Maximum Channel Collision Time (MCCT) algorithm and an expression for the nominal capacity of CMESH cells. This thesis proves that the nominal cell capacity is achievable and is the exact cell capacity for small cells within the abstract models. Finally, based on the MCCT algorithm, this thesis proposes a series of greedy algorithms for channel assignment and routing in CMESH cells. Simulation results show that these greedy algorithms can significantly improve the capacity of CMESH cells, compared with algorithms proposed by other researchers