9 research outputs found
Traffic differentiation: a basic step towards providing end-to-end QoS on the train-to-wayside wireless communication system
We developed a network platform that is responsible for an uninterrupted and seamless connectivity from the train to the wayside through heterogeneous wireless access technologies. However, limiting the offered services to only an onboard Internet is not a feasible business case. A viable one should extend to a broad spectrum of railway communication services like: train control, diagnostics, real time passenger information, entertainment, security CCTV surveillance etc. In a highly dynamic environment (from the communication link point of view) such a fast moving train, it is neccesary to introduce prioritization among different traffic classes. This will implicitly determine under what conditions a certain flow should get suspended or dropped in order to preserve the flows of a higher priority as long as possible and to ensure that they meet their QoS demands. The first step towards this goal is data traffic differentiation
Soft Handover scheme for WSN nodes using media independent handover functions
The present wireless networks are equipped with multiple radio links and operate in a collaborative way to enable continuous data transfer even when any link goes down. The IEEE 802.21 is a standard to provide continuous wireless connectivity between heterogeneous link technologies using media independent handover functions as MIHF. The standard supports handover between IEEE 802.11, IEEE 802.16, 3GPP cellular networks. The wireless sensor networks (WSN) based on IEEE 802.15.4 consists of sensors to monitor various physical or physiological activities and to transfer the collected data to the remote controlling station using a short range radio. But in this case if the wireless node moves out of each other's communication range data transfer is not possible. So in this paper, the WSN communication protocol is made as a part of the IEEE 802.21 stack to explore the handover feature offered by the standard. The proposed stack has an internal partition to make WSN protocol to operate independently with other similar modules as long as they are in range, and the MIH function gets triggered by the application when the home networks are not available thus to provide handover from other link interfaces. The proposed hardware has IEEE 802.11, IEEE 802.16, and 3GPP links which are operated by the MIH functions along with the IEEE 802.15.4 interface. So the WSN modules are provisioned to have connectivity from multiple radio interfaces even if they move out of the coverage range from the current point of access. The proposed primitives for handover between WSN and other links are efficient in providing reliable handoff. Keywords: IEEE 802.21, Media independent handover, IEEE 802.15.4, Wireless sensor network
Cognitive Radio-Aware Transport Protocol for Mobile Ad Hoc Networks
With the proliferation of new wireless service, scarce wireless resources is expected to become a critical issue. For this reason, cognitive radio mobile ad hoc networks (CogMANET) are being developed as a promising solution to this problem. However, in CogMANET, channel switching is inherently necessary whenever a primary user with a license appears on the channel. Allowing secondary users to choose an available channel from among a wide spectrum range thus enables reliable communication in this context, but communication characteristics such as bottleneck bandwidth and RTT will change with channel switch. In response to this change, TCP has to adaptively update its congestion window (cwnd) to make an efficient use of the available resources. For this purpose, TCP CRAHN was proposed for CogMANET. In this paper, TCP CRAHN is first evaluated in cases where bottleneck bandwidth and RTT drastically change. Based on these results, TCP CoBA is proposed to further improve the throughput of the above use cases. TCP CoBA updates the cwnd based upon the available buffer space in the relay node upon channel switch, as well as other communication characteristics. Through simulations, we show that compared with TCP CRAHN, TCP CoBA improves the throughput by up to 200 percent
Heterogeneous networks using mobile-IP technology
Whenever a mobile user moves between networks a handover must occur. This basically means that a network-layer protocol must handle the moving of the mobile device. In a cellular phone a GSM/UMTS infrastructure performs horizontal handover and the user does not notices any call or ongoing session interruption while roaming. The handover procedure begins when the received signal strength identificator (RSSI) of a mobile device falls below a level, it discovers a neighbour access point with better quality of services (QoS) than its current access point. In heterogeneous wireless networks different portions of RF spectrum are used and is difficult or impossible for a mobile node to concurrently maintain its connectivity without signal interruptions. Thus, the different network environments must be integrated and support a common platform to achieve seamless handover. The seamless or vertical handover's target is to maintain the mobile user's IP address independently of user's location or of the physical parameters the current network is using. A mechanism that keeps a mobile device to an ongoing connection by maintaining its home-location IP address is the Mobile-IP protocol which operates at the network-layer of the Open System Interconnection (OSI) model.
In this M.Sc. thesis we perform heterogeneous network scenarios with the Mobile-IP technology. Moreover, we have built the system practically and assist the applicability of such heterogeneous wireless networks through real-side measurements. We used Linux operating system (Ubuntu & Debian) between different network technologies, made at the National Center for Scientific Research (NCSR) ''Demokritos'' institute, in Greece. The required applications for the Mobile-IP and 3G technologies were implemented and configured in a platform of fixed and mobile devices at Demokrito's departmental laboratory. The idea of using the Mobile-IP protocol was to gather information about time differences that occurred in handover delay between different networks.fi=Opinnäytetyö kokotekstinä PDF-muodossa.|en=Thesis fulltext in PDF format.|sv=Lärdomsprov tillgängligt som fulltext i PDF-format
IMPLEMENTATION AND PERFORMANCE STUDY OF IEEE 802.21 IN INTEGRATED IEEE 802.11/802.16E NETWORKS
In this paper, we propose a framework for the implementation of the IEEE 802.21 Media Independent Handover (MIH) standard and evaluate its performance through experiments in integrated 802.11/802.16e networks. The IEEE 802.21 standard defines three types of MIH services (event, command, and information) that facilitate the mobility management and handover process in heterogeneous networks. To support MIH services, we develop a MIH-capable mobile node and the MIH information service server. Then. we introduce the Connection Manager (CM) which utilizes MIH services. Two main roles of CM are supporting seamless vertical handovers and efficient access point (AP) discoveries. From the experimental results in the real test-bed, we can know that the MIH services can be used to reduce packet losses during a vertical handover and to reduce the AP discovery time and energy consumption of mobile nodes. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.X1133sciescopu
Towards Seamless Mobility: An IEEE 802.21 Practical Approach
In the recent years, mobile devices such as cell phones, notebook or ultra mobile computers and videogame
consoles are experiencing an impressive evolution in terms of hardware and software possibilities. Elements
such a wideband Internet connection allows a broad range of possibilities for creative developers. Many of
these possibilities can include applications requiring continuity of service when the user moves form a coverage
area to another.
Nowadays, mobile devices are equipped with one or more radio interfaces such as GSM, UMTS, WiMax or Wi‐
Fi. Many of these technologies are ready to allow transparent roaming within their own coverage areas, but
they are not ready to handle a service transfer between different technologies. In order to find a solution to this
issue, the IEEE has developed a standard known as Media Independent Handover (MIH) Services with the aim
of easing seamless mobility between these technologies.
The present work has been centered in developing a system capable to enable a service of mobility under the
terms specified in the stated standard. The development of a platform aiming to provide service continuity is
mandatory, being a cross‐layer solution based in elements from link and network layers supplying a transparent
roaming mechanism from user’s point of view.
Two applications have been implemented in C/C++ language under a Linux environment. One application is
designed to work within a mobile device, and the other one in the network access point. The mobile device
basically consists in a notebook equipped with two Wi‐Fi interfaces, which is not a common feature in
commercial devices, allowing seamless communication transfers aided by the application. Network access
points are computers equipped with a Wi‐Fi interface and configured to provide Internet wireless access and
services of mobility.
In order to test the operation, a test‐bed has been implemented. It consists on a pair of access points
connected through a network and placed within partially overlapped coverage areas, and a mobile device, all of
them properly set. The mobile detects the networks that are compatible and gets attached to the one that
provides better conditions for the demanded service. When the service degrades up to certain level, the mobile
transfers the communication to the other access point, which offers better service conditions. Finally, in order
to check if the changes have been done properly, the duration of the required actions has been measured, as
well as the data that can have been lost or buffered meanwhile.
The result is a MIH‐alike system working in a proper way. The discovery and selection of a destination network
is correct and is done before the old connection gets too degraded, providing seamless mobility. The measured
latencies and packet losses are affordable in terms of MIH protocol, but require future work improvements in
terms of network protocols that have not been considered under the scope of this work
Acesso banda larga sem fios em ambientes heterogéneos de próxima geração
Doutoramento em Engenharia InformáticaO acesso ubíquo à Internet é um dos principais desafios para os operadores
de telecomunicações na próxima década. O número de utilizadores da Internet
está a crescer exponencialmente e o paradigma de acesso "always connected,
anytime, anywhere" é um requisito fundamental para as redes móveis de
próxima geração. A tecnologia WiMAX, juntamente com o LTE, foi
recentemente reconhecida pelo ITU como uma das tecnologias de acesso
compatíveis com os requisitos do 4G. Ainda assim, esta tecnologia de acesso
não está completamente preparada para ambientes de próxima geração,
principalmente devido à falta de mecanismos de cross-layer para integração de
QoS e mobilidade. Adicionalmente, para além das tecnologias WiMAX e LTE,
as tecnologias de acesso rádio UMTS/HSPA e Wi-Fi continuarão a ter um
impacto significativo nas comunicações móveis durante os próximos anos.
Deste modo, é fundamental garantir a coexistência das várias tecnologias de
acesso rádio em termos de QoS e mobilidade, permitindo assim a entrega de
serviços multimédia de tempo real em redes móveis.
Para garantir a entrega de serviços multimédia a utilizadores WiMAX, esta
Tese propõe um gestor cross-layer WiMAX integrado com uma arquitectura de
QoS fim-a-fim. A arquitectura apresentada permite o controlo de QoS e a
comunicação bidireccional entre o sistema WiMAX e as entidades das
camadas superiores. Para além disso, o gestor de cross-layer proposto é
estendido com eventos e comandos genéricos e independentes da tecnologia
para optimizar os procedimentos de mobilidade em ambientes WiMAX. Foram
realizados testes para avaliar o desempenho dos procedimentos de QoS e
mobilidade da arquitectura WiMAX definida, demonstrando que esta é
perfeitamente capaz de entregar serviços de tempo real sem introduzir custos
excessivos na rede.
No seguimento das extensões de QoS e mobilidade apresentadas para a
tecnologia WiMAX, o âmbito desta Tese foi alargado para ambientes de
acesso sem-fios heterogéneos. Neste sentido, é proposta uma arquitectura de
mobilidade transparente com suporte de QoS para redes de acesso multitecnologia.
A arquitectura apresentada integra uma versão estendida do IEEE
802.21 com suporte de QoS, bem como um gestor de mobilidade avançado
integrado com os protocolos de gestão de mobilidade do nível IP. Finalmente,
para completar o trabalho desenvolvido no âmbito desta Tese, é proposta uma
extensão aos procedimentos de decisão de mobilidade em ambientes
heterogéneos para incorporar a informação de contexto da rede e do terminal.
Para validar e avaliar as optimizações propostas, foram desenvolvidos testes
de desempenho num demonstrador inter-tecnologia, composta pelas redes de
acesso WiMAX, Wi-Fi e UMTS/HSPA.Ubiquitous Internet access is one of the main challenges for the
telecommunications industry in the next decade. The number of users
accessing the Internet is growing exponentially and the network access
paradigm of “always connected, anytime, anywhere” is a central requirement
for the so-called Next Generation Mobile Networks (NGMN). WiMAX, together
with LTE, was recently recognized by ITU as one of the compliant access
technologies for 4G. Nevertheless, WiMAX is not yet fully prepared for next
generation environments, mainly due to the lack of QoS and mobility crosslayer
procedures to support real-time multimedia services delivery.
Furthermore, besides the 4G compliant WiMAX and LTE radio access
technologies, UMTS/HSPA and Wi-Fi will also have a significant impact in the
mobile communications during the next years. Therefore, it is fundamental to
ensure the coexistence of multiple radio access technologies in what QoS and
mobility procedures are concerned, thereby allowing the delivery of real-time
services in mobile networks.
In order to provide the WiMAX mobile users with the demanded multimedia
services, it is proposed in this Thesis a WiMAX cross-layer manager integrated
in an end-to-end all-IP QoS enabled architecture. The presented framework
enables the QoS control and bidirectional communication between WiMAX and
the upper layer network entities. Furthermore, the proposed cross-layer
framework is extended with media independent events and commands to
optimize the mobility procedures in WiMAX environments. Tests were made to
evaluate the QoS and mobility performance of the defined architecture,
demonstrating that it is perfectly capable of handling and supporting real time
services without introducing an excessive cost in the network.
Following the QoS and mobility extensions provided for WiMAX, the scope of
this Thesis is broaden and a seamless mobility architecture with QoS support in
heterogeneous wireless access environments is proposed. The presented
architecture integrates an extended version of the IEEE 802.21 framework with
QoS support, as well as an advanced mobility manager integrated with the IP
level mobility management protocols. Finally, to complete the work within the
framework of this Thesis, it is proposed an extension to the handover decisionmaking
processes in heterogeneous access environments through the
integration of context information from both the network entities and the enduser.
Performance tests were developed in a real testbed to validate the
proposed optimizations in an inter-technology handover scenario involving
WiMAX, Wi-Fi and UMTS/HSPA