On the Stability of Contention Resolution Diversity Slotted ALOHA

In this paper a Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) based Random Access (RA) channel with Successive Interference Cancellation (SIC) is considered for a finite user population and reliable retransmission mechanism on the basis of Contention Resolution Diversity Slotted ALOHA (CRDSA). A general mathematical model based on Markov Chains is derived which makes it possible to predict the stability regions of SIC-RA channels, the expected delays in equilibrium and the selection of parameters for a stable channel configuration. Furthermore the model enables the estimation of the average time before reaching instability. The presented model is verified against simulations and numerical results are provided for comparison of the stability of CRDSA versus the stability of traditional Slotted ALOHA (SA). The presented results show that CRDSA has not only a high gain over SA in terms of throughput but also in its stability.Comment: 10 pages, 12 figures This paper is submitted to the IEEE Transactions on Communications for possible publication. The IEEE copyright notice applie

Energy aware optimization for low power radio technologies

The explosive growth of IoT is pushing the market towards cheap, very low power devices with a strong focus on miniaturization, for applications such as in-body sensors, personal health monitoring and microrobots. Proposing procedures for energy efficiency in IoT is a difficult task, as it is a rapidly growing market comprised of many and very diverse product categories using technologies that are not stable, evolving at a high pace. The research in this field proposes solutions that go from physical layer optimization up to the network layer, and the sensor network designer has to select the techniques that are best for its application specific architecture and radio technology used. This work is focused on exploring new techniques for enhancing the energy efficiency and user experience of IoT networks. We divide the proposed techniques in frame and chip level optimization techniques, respectively. While the frame level techniques are meant to improve the performance of existing radio technologies, the chip level techniques aim at replacing them with crystal-free architectures. The identified frame level techniques are the use of preamble authentication and packet fragmentation, advisable for Low Power Wide Area Networks (LPWANs), a technology that offers the lowest energy consumption per provided service, but is vulnerable in front of energy exhaustion attacks and does not perform well in dense networks. The use of authenticated preambles between the sensors and gateways becomes a defence mechanism against the battery draining intended by attackers. We show experimentally that this approach is able to reduce with 91% the effect of an exhaustion attack, increasing the device's lifetime from less than 0.24 years to 2.6 years. The experiments were conducted using Loadsensing sensor nodes, commercially used for critical infrastructure control and monitoring. Even if exemplified on LoRaWAN, the use of preamble authentication is extensible to any wireless protocol. The use of packet fragmentation despite the packet fits the frame, is shown to reduce the probability of collisions while the number of users in the duty-cycle restricted network increases. Using custom-made Matlab simulations, important goodput improvement was obtained with fragmentation, with higher impact in slower and denser networks. Using NS3 simulations, we showed that combining packet fragmentation with group NACK can increase the network reliability, while reducing the energy consumed for retransmissions, at the cost of adding small headers to each fragment. It is a strategy that proves to be effective in dense duty-cycle restricted networks only, where the headers overhead is negligible compared to the network traffic. As a chip level technique, we consider using radios for communication that do not use external frequency references such as crystal oscillators. This would enable having all sensor's elements on a single piece of silicon, rendering it even ten times more energy efficient due to the compactness of the chip. The immediate consequence is the loss of communication accuracy and ability to easily switch communication channels. In this sense, we propose a sequence of frequency synchronization algorithms and phases that have to be respected by a crystal-free device so that it can be able to join a network by finding the beacon channel, synthesize all communication channels and then maintain their accuracy against temperature change. The proposed algorithms need no additional network overhead, as they are using the existing network signaling. The evaluation is made in simulations and experimentally on a prototype implementation of an IEEE802.15.4 crystal-free radio. While in simulations we are able to change to another communication channel with very good frequency accuracy, the results obtained experimentally show an initial accuracy slightly above 40ppm, which will be later corrected by the chip to be below 40 ppm.El crecimiento significativo de la IoT está empujando al mercado hacia el desarrollo de dispositivos de bajo coste, de muy bajo consumo energético y con un fuerte enfoque en la miniaturización, para aplicaciones que requieran sensores corporales, monitoreo de salud personal y micro-robots. La investigación en el campo de la eficiencia energética en la IoT propone soluciones que van desde la optimización de la capa física hasta la capa de red. Este trabajo se centra en explorar nuevas técnicas para mejorar la eficiencia energética y la experiencia del usuario de las redes IoT. Dividimos las técnicas propuestas en técnicas de optimización de nivel de trama de red y chip, respectivamente. Si bien las técnicas de nivel de trama están destinadas a mejorar el rendimiento de las tecnologías de radio existentes, las técnicas de nivel de chip tienen como objetivo reemplazarlas por arquitecturas que no requieren de cristales. Las técnicas de nivel de trama desarrolladas en este trabajo son el uso de autenticación de preámbulos y fragmentación de paquetes, aconsejables para redes LPWAN, una tecnología que ofrece un menor consumo de energía por servicio prestado, pero es vulnerable frente a los ataques de agotamiento de energía y no escalan frente la densificación. El uso de preámbulos autenticados entre los sensores y las pasarelas de enlace se convierte en un mecanismo de defensa contra el agotamiento del batería previsto por los atacantes. Demostramos experimentalmente que este enfoque puede reducir con un 91% el efecto de un ataque de agotamiento, aumentando la vida útil del dispositivo de menos de 0.24 años a 2.6 años. Los experimentos se llevaron a cabo utilizando nodos sensores de detección de carga, utilizados comercialmente para el control y monitoreo de infrastructura crítica. Aunque la técnica se ejemplifica en el estándar LoRaWAN, el uso de autenticación de preámbulo es extensible a cualquier protocolo inalámbrico. En esta tesis se muestra también que el uso de la fragmentación de paquetes a pesar de que el paquete se ajuste a la trama, reduce la probabilidad de colisiones mientras aumenta el número de usuarios en una red con restricciones de ciclos de transmisión. Mediante el uso de simulaciones en Matlab, se obtiene una mejora importante en el rendimiento de la red con la fragmentación, con un mayor impacto en redes más lentas y densas. Usando simulaciones NS3, demostramos que combinar la fragmentación de paquetes con el NACK en grupo se puede aumentar la confiabilidad de la red, al tiempo que se reduce la energía consumida para las retransmisiones, a costa de agregar pequeños encabezados a cada fragmento. Como técnica de nivel de chip, consideramos el uso de radios para la comunicación que no usan referencias de frecuencia externas como los osciladores basados en un cristal. Esto permitiría tener todos los elementos del sensor en una sola pieza de silicio, lo que lo hace incluso diez veces más eficiente energéticamente debido a la integración del chip. La consecuencia inmediata, en el uso de osciladores digitales en vez de cristales, es la pérdida de precisión de la comunicación y la capacidad de cambiar fácilmente los canales de comunicación. En este sentido, proponemos una secuencia de algoritmos y fases de sincronización de frecuencia que deben ser respetados por un dispositivo sin cristales para que pueda unirse a una red al encontrar el canal de baliza, sintetizar todos los canales de comunicación y luego mantener su precisión contra el cambio de temperatura. Los algoritmos propuestos no necesitan una sobrecarga de red adicional, ya que están utilizando la señalización de red existente. La evaluación se realiza en simulaciones y experimentalmente en una implementación prototipo de una radio sin cristal IEEE802.15.4. Los resultados obtenidos experimentalmente muestran una precisión inicial ligeramente superior a 40 ppm, que luego será corregida por el chip para que sea inferior a 40 ppm.Postprint (published version

Time diversity solutions to cope with lost packets

A dissertation submitted to Departamento de Engenharia Electrotécnica of Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia of Universidade Nova de Lisboa in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Engenharia Electrotécnica e de ComputadoresModern broadband wireless systems require high throughputs and can also have very high Quality-of-Service (QoS) requirements, namely small error rates and short delays. A high spectral efficiency is needed to meet these requirements. Lost packets, either due to errors or collisions, are usually discarded and need to be retransmitted, leading to performance degradation. An alternative to simple retransmission that can improve both power and spectral efficiency is to combine the signals associated to different transmission attempts. This thesis analyses two time diversity approaches to cope with lost packets that are relatively similar at physical layer but handle different packet loss causes. The first is a lowcomplexity Diversity-Combining (DC) Automatic Repeat reQuest (ARQ) scheme employed in a Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) architecture, adapted for channels dedicated to a single user. The second is a Network-assisted Diversity Multiple Access (NDMA) scheme, which is a multi-packet detection approach able to separate multiple mobile terminals transmitting simultaneously in one slot using temporal diversity. This thesis combines these techniques with Single Carrier with Frequency Division Equalizer (SC-FDE) systems, which are widely recognized as the best candidates for the uplink of future broadband wireless systems. It proposes a new NDMA scheme capable of handling more Mobile Terminals (MTs) than the user separation capacity of the receiver. This thesis also proposes a set of analytical tools that can be used to analyse and optimize the use of these two systems. These tools are then employed to compare both approaches in terms of error rate, throughput and delay performances, and taking the implementation complexity into consideration. Finally, it is shown that both approaches represent viable solutions for future broadband wireless communications complementing each other.Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia - PhD grant(SFRH/BD/41515/2007); CTS multi-annual funding project PEst-OE/EEI/UI0066/2011, IT pluri-annual funding project PEst-OE/EEI/LA0008/2011, U-BOAT project PTDC/EEATEL/ 67066/2006, MPSat project PTDC/EEA-TEL/099074/2008 and OPPORTUNISTICCR project PTDC/EEA-TEL/115981/200

Location System solution in TErrestrial Trunked RAdio (TETRA) Professional Mobile Radio networks

TETRA-järjestelmään (TErrestrial Trunked RAdio) on toteutettu paikkatietojärjestelmä tarjoamaan palvelua yksiköiden maantieteellisen paikkatiedon välittämiseksi sitä tarvitseville tahoille. Tämän palvelun toteutus noudattaa TETRA:lle asetettuja standardeja muun muassa välitettävän tiedon sisällön sekä palvelun käytön rajoitusten osalta. Tässä työssä ollaan kiinnostuneita havaitusta tarpeesta poiketa standardoiduista palvelun käytön rajoitteista paikkatiedon lyhimmän päivitysvälin osalta. TETRA standardi rajoittaa pienimmän mahdollisen paikkatiedon päivitysvälin kymmeneen sekuntiin minkä ei ole todettu tyydyttävän nopeasti liikkuvien kohteiden seuraamiseen tarvittavaa tiedonkeruutarvetta. Niinpä tässä tutkimuksessa työnä on pyrkiä pienentämään tämä päivitysfrekvenssi alle standardien asettaman rajan ja teettämään mittauksia liikenteen myötä järjestelmään aiheutuvista vaikutuksista. Diplomityön tavoitteena on tutkia tämän poikkeuksellisesta paikkatietopalvelun käytöstä aiheutuvia seurauksia palvelun laadun ylläpidettävyyteen ja TETRA-järjestelmän resurssien kulutukseen. Diplomityön teoriaosuudessa käydään läpi taustaa ammattikäyttöön suunnattujen matkapuhelinjärjestelmien (Professional Mobile Radio) tarkoitusperästä sekä lisäksi erityisesti keskitytään näihin kuuluvan TETRA ratkaisun olennaisimpiin osiin liittyen paikkatietosovelluksen toteutukseen ja työn tavoitteisiin. Tämän analyysin lisäksi esitellään muunnellusta paikkatietojärjestelmästä testiympäristössä saavutettuja mittaustuloksia ja vertaillaan näitä teoreettiseen TETRA-järjestelmän tarjoamaan suorituskykyyn sekä tavoiteltuun loppukäyttäjän kokemaan palvelun laatuun. Lopuksi pohditaan mahdollisuuksia työn mittaustulosten sekä aineiston analyysin pohjalta kartoitettujen paikkatietopalveluun aiheutuneiden vaikutusten pienentämiseksi. Nämä poikkeavan toiminnallisuuden mahdollistavat järjestelmän muutostarpeet kohdistuisivat tiettyihin systeemin parametreihin ja standardien sanelemiin rajoituksiin joista voitaisiin mahdollisuuksien mukaan poiketa.For Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA) systems, there is a location system designed for enabling service, that provides unit geographical positions for parties who need them. The implementation of such service follows various standards applied for TETRA, having influence on delivered information contents and service usage restrictions among others. The focus of this work is on a perceived need for differing from the service usage restrictions on location information minimum update interval. The TETRA standard sets a limitation for the minimum location update interval to ten seconds, which is not seen to satisfy the information gathering needs for tracking fast moving objects. Therefore, the work task is to try to decrease the update frequency below the limits set by the standard and to measure any influences caused by the resulting traffic to the system. The objective of this thesis is then to study the impacts caused by the exceptional usage of the location system to the perceived service quality and consumption of resources in TETRA systems. In the theoretical part of this thesis, the background and purpose of Professional Mobile Radio (PMR) systems is discussed while at the same time the focus is on the most relevant aspects for implementing the location system in the TETRA PMR solution and objectives of this work. In addition to this analysis, measurement results from a test environment of the altered location solution are introduced and compared to the theoretical performance offered by TETRA systems and service quality perceived by end-users. In the end, possibilities for mitigating the impacts to the location service found based on the measurements and data analysis is discussed. These system modifications required for improving the exceptional location system usage should be concentrated on certain system parameters and standard based restrictions which could possibly he deviated from

Méthodes d'Accès au Canal pour les Réseaux Dédiés à l'Internet des Objets

Dedicated networks for the Internet of Things appeared with the promise of connecting thousands of nodes, or even more, to a single base station in a star topology. This new logic represents a fundamental change in the way of thinking about networks, after decades during which research work mainly focused on multi-hop networks.Internet of Things networks are characterized by long transmission range, wide geographic coverage, low energy consumption and low set-up costs. This made it necessary to adapt the protocols at different architectural layers in order to meet the needs of these networks.Several players compete in the Internet of Things market, each trying to establish the most efficient solution. These players are mostly focused on modifying the physical layer, on the hardware part or through proposing new modulations. However, with regard to the channel access control solution (known as the MAC protocol), all the solutions proposed by these players are based on classic approaches such as Aloha and CSMA.The objective of this thesis is to propose a dynamic MAC solution for networks dedicated to the Internet of Things. The proposed solution has the ability to adapt to network conditions. This solution is based on a machine learning algorithm that learns from network history in order to establish the relationship between network conditions, MAC layer parameters and network performance in terms of reliability and energy consumption. The solution also has the originality of making possible the coexistence of nodes using different MAC configurations within the same network. The results of simulations have shown that a MAC solution based on machine learning could take advantage of the good properties of different conventional MAC protocols. The results also show that a cognitive MAC solution always offers the best compromise between reliability and energy consumption, while taking into account the fairness between the nodes of the network. The cognitive MAC solution tested for high density networks has proven better scalability compared to conventional MAC protocols, which is another important advantage of our solution.Les réseaux dédiés pour l’Internet des Objets sont apparus avec la promesse de connecter des milliers de nœuds, voire plus, à une seule station de base dans une topologie en étoile. Cette nouvelle logique représente un changement fondamental dans la façon de penser les réseaux, après des décennies pendant lesquelles les travaux de recherche se sont focalisés sur les réseaux multi-sauts.Les réseaux pour l’Internet des Objets se caractérisent par la longue portée des transmissions, la vaste couverture géographique, une faible consommation d’énergie et un bas coût de mise en place. Cela a rendu nécessaire des adaptations à tous les niveaux protocolaires afin de satisfaire les besoins de ces réseaux.Plusieurs acteurs sont en concurrence sur le marché de l’Internet des Objets, essayant chacun d’établir la solution la plus efficiente. Ces acteurs se sont concentrés sur la modification de la couche physique, soit au niveau de la partie matérielle, soit par la proposition de nouvelles techniques de modulation. Toutefois, en ce qui concerne la solution de contrôle d’accès au canal (connue sous le nom de couche MAC), toutes les solutions proposées par ces acteurs se fondent sur des approches classiques, tel que Aloha et CSMA.L'objectif de cette thèse est de proposer une solution MAC dynamique pour les réseaux dédiés à l’Internet des Objets. La solution proposée a la capacité de s'adapter aux conditions du réseau. Cette solution est basée sur un algorithme d'apprentissage automatique, qui apprend de l'historique du réseau afin d'établir la relation entre les conditions du réseau, les paramètres de la couche MAC et les performances du réseau en termes de fiabilité et de consommation d'énergie. La solution possède également l'originalité de faire coexister des nœuds utilisant de différentes configurations MAC au sein du même réseau. Les résultats de simulations ont montré qu'une solution MAC basée sur l'apprentissage automatique pourrait tirer profit des avantages des différents protocoles MAC classiques. Les résultats montrent aussi qu'une solution MAC cognitive offre toujours le meilleur compromis entre fiabilité et consommation d'énergie, tout en prenant en compte l'équité entre les nœuds du réseau. La solution MAC cognitive testée pour des réseaux à haute densité a prouvé des bonnes propriétés de passage à l’échelle par rapport aux protocoles MACs classiques, ce qui constitue un autre atout important de notre solution

Cross-layer protocol interactions in heterogeneous data networks

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2005.Includes bibliographical references (p. 143-148).(cont.) TCP timeout backoff and MAC layer retransmissions, are studied in detail. The results show that the system performance is a balance of idle slots and collisions at the MAC layer, and a tradeoff between packet loss probability and round trip time at the transport layer. Finally, we consider the optimal scheduling problem with window service constraints. Optimal policies that minimize the average response time of jobs are derived and the results show that both the job lengths and the window sizes are essential to the optimal policy.Modern data networks are heterogeneous in that they often employ a variety of link technologies, such as wireline, optical, satellite and wireless links. As a result, Internet protocols, such as Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), that were designed for wireline networks, perform poorly when used over heterogeneous networks. This is particularly the case for satellite and wireless networks which are often characterized by high bandwidth-delay product and high link loss probability. This thesis examines the performance of TCP in the context of heterogeneous networks, particularly focusing on interactions between protocols across different layers of the protocol stack. First, we provide an analytical framework to study the interaction between TCP and link layer retransmission protocols (ARQ). The system is modelled as a Markov chain with reward functions, and detailed queueing models are developed for the link layer ARQ. The analysis shows that in most cases implementing ARQ can achieve significant improvement in system throughput. Moreover, by proper choice of protocols parameters, such as the packet size and the number of transmission attempts per packet, significant performance improvement can be obtained. We then investigate the interaction between TCP at the transport layer and ALOHA at the MAC layer. Two equations are derived to express the system performance in terms of various system and protocol parameters, which show that the maximum possible system throughput is 1/e. A sufficient and necessary condition to achieve this throughput is also presented, and the optimal MAC layer transmission probability at which the system achieves its highest throughput is given. Furthermore, the impact of other system and protocol parameters, such asby Chunmei Liu.Ph.D

Distributed Wireless Multicast: Throughput and Delay

Multicast transmission, in which data is sent from a source to multiple destinations, is an important form of data communication in wireless networks. Numerous applications require multicast transmission, including content distribution, conferencing, and military and emergency messages, as well as certain network control mechanisms, such as timing synchronization and route establishment. Finding a means to ensure efficient, reliable multicast communication that can adapt to changing channel conditions and be implemented in a distributed way remains a challenging open problem. In this dissertation, we propose to meet that challenge through the use of random coding of data packets coupled with random access to a shared channel. We present an analysis of both the throughput and delay performance of this scheme. We first analyze the multicast throughput in a random access network of finitely many nodes, each of which serves as either a source or a destination node. Our work quantifies throughput in terms of both the Shannon capacity region and the stable throughput region and indicates the extent to which a random linear coding scheme can outperform a packet retransmission scheme. Next, we extend these notions to a random access network of general topology in which each node can act as a receiver or a sender for multiple multicast flows. We present schemes for nodes in the network to compute their random access transmission probabilities in such a way as to maximize a weighted proportional fairness objective function of the multicast throughput. In the schemes we propose, each node can compute its transmission probability using information from neighboring nodes up to two hops away. We then turn our focus to queueing delay performance and propose that random coding of packets be modeled as a bulk-service queueing system, where packets are served and depart the queue in groups. We analyze within this framework two different coding schemes: one with fixed expected coding rate and another with a coding rate that adapts to the traffic load. Finally, we return to the question of multicast throughput and address the effects of packet length, overhead, and the time-varying nature of the wireless channel

TOWARD LAYERLESS COOPERATION AND RATE CONTROL IN WIRELESS MULTI-ACCESS CHANNELS

In wireless networks, a transmitted message may successfully reach multiple nodes simultaneously, which is referred to as the Wireless Multicast Advantage. As such, intermediate nodes have the ability to capture the message and then contribute to the communication toward the ultimate destination by cooperatively relaying the received message. This enables cooperative communication, which has been shown to counteract the effects of fading and attenuation in wireless networks. There has been a great deal of work addressing cooperative methods and their resulting benefits, but most of the work to date has focused on physical-layer techniques and on information-theoretic considerations. While compatible with these, the main thrust of this dissertation is to explore a new approach by implementing cooperation at the network layer. First, we illustrate the idea in a multi-hop multi-access wireless network, in which a set of source users generate packets to deliver to a common destination. An opportunistic and dynamic cooperation protocol is proposed at the network level, where users with a better channel to the destination have the capability and option to relay packets from users that are farther afield. The proposed mode of cooperation protocol is new and relies on MAC/Network-level of relaying, but also takes into account physical-layer parameters that determine successful reception at the destination and/or the relay. We explicitly characterize the stable throughput and average delay performance. Our analysis reveals that cooperation at the network layer leads to substantial performance gains for both performance metrics. Next, on top of the network-layer cooperation, we investigate enhanced cooperative techniques that exploit more sophisticated physical-layer properties. Specifically, we consider dynamic decode-and-forward, superposition coding, and multipacket reception capability, and we quantify the extent to which the enhancement techniques can further improve the stable throughput region. Then we revert back to the two-user multi-access channel with single-packet reception, which has been extensively studied in the case of no cooperation. After cooperation is permitted between the two users, we revisit the relationship between the stability region and the throughput region under both scheduled access and random access schemes. Finally, we shift our focus from the packet-level to bit-level multi-access channels. By exploiting the bit-nature of a packet, we create a bridge between traditional physical-layer-based transmission rates and classical MAC/Network-layer-based throughput rates. We first obtain the closed form of the stability region in bits/slot. Then, as a separate, but related issue, we look at the minimum delivery time policy; for any initial queue size vector, the optimal policy that empties all bits in the system within the shortest time is characterized

Low-latency Networking: Where Latency Lurks and How to Tame It

While the current generation of mobile and fixed communication networks has been standardized for mobile broadband services, the next generation is driven by the vision of the Internet of Things and mission critical communication services requiring latency in the order of milliseconds or sub-milliseconds. However, these new stringent requirements have a large technical impact on the design of all layers of the communication protocol stack. The cross layer interactions are complex due to the multiple design principles and technologies that contribute to the layers' design and fundamental performance limitations. We will be able to develop low-latency networks only if we address the problem of these complex interactions from the new point of view of sub-milliseconds latency. In this article, we propose a holistic analysis and classification of the main design principles and enabling technologies that will make it possible to deploy low-latency wireless communication networks. We argue that these design principles and enabling technologies must be carefully orchestrated to meet the stringent requirements and to manage the inherent trade-offs between low latency and traditional performance metrics. We also review currently ongoing standardization activities in prominent standards associations, and discuss open problems for future research