847 research outputs found
Performance Modelling and Optimisation of Multi-hop Networks
A major challenge in the design of large-scale networks is to predict and optimise the
total time and energy consumption required to deliver a packet from a source node to a
destination node. Examples of such complex networks include wireless ad hoc and sensor
networks which need to deal with the effects of node mobility, routing inaccuracies, higher
packet loss rates, limited or time-varying effective bandwidth, energy constraints, and the
computational limitations of the nodes. They also include more reliable communication
environments, such as wired networks, that are susceptible to random failures, security
threats and malicious behaviours which compromise their quality of service (QoS) guarantees.
In such networks, packets traverse a number of hops that cannot be determined
in advance and encounter non-homogeneous network conditions that have been largely
ignored in the literature. This thesis examines analytical properties of packet travel in
large networks and investigates the implications of some packet coding techniques on both
QoS and resource utilisation.
Specifically, we use a mixed jump and diffusion model to represent packet traversal
through large networks. The model accounts for network non-homogeneity regarding
routing and the loss rate that a packet experiences as it passes successive segments of a
source to destination route. A mixed analytical-numerical method is developed to compute
the average packet travel time and the energy it consumes. The model is able to capture
the effects of increased loss rate in areas remote from the source and destination, variable
rate of advancement towards destination over the route, as well as of defending against
malicious packets within a certain distance from the destination. We then consider sending
multiple coded packets that follow independent paths to the destination node so as to
mitigate the effects of losses and routing inaccuracies. We study a homogeneous medium
and obtain the time-dependent properties of the packet’s travel process, allowing us to
compare the merits and limitations of coding, both in terms of delivery times and energy
efficiency. Finally, we propose models that can assist in the analysis and optimisation
of the performance of inter-flow network coding (NC). We analyse two queueing models
for a router that carries out NC, in addition to its standard packet routing function. The
approach is extended to the study of multiple hops, which leads to an optimisation problem
that characterises the optimal time that packets should be held back in a router, waiting
for coding opportunities to arise, so that the total packet end-to-end delay is minimised
Proactive Resource Allocation: Harnessing the Diversity and Multicast Gains
This paper introduces the novel concept of proactive resource allocation
through which the predictability of user behavior is exploited to balance the
wireless traffic over time, and hence, significantly reduce the bandwidth
required to achieve a given blocking/outage probability. We start with a simple
model in which the smart wireless devices are assumed to predict the arrival of
new requests and submit them to the network T time slots in advance. Using
tools from large deviation theory, we quantify the resulting prediction
diversity gain} to establish that the decay rate of the outage event
probabilities increases with the prediction duration T. This model is then
generalized to incorporate the effect of the randomness in the prediction
look-ahead time T. Remarkably, we also show that, in the cognitive networking
scenario, the appropriate use of proactive resource allocation by the primary
users improves the diversity gain of the secondary network at no cost in the
primary network diversity. We also shed lights on multicasting with predictable
demands and show that the proactive multicast networks can achieve a
significantly higher diversity gain that scales super-linearly with T. Finally,
we conclude by a discussion of the new research questions posed under the
umbrella of the proposed proactive (non-causal) wireless networking framework
Achievable Rate and Optimal Physical Layer Rate Allocation in Interference-Free Wireless Networks
We analyze the achievable rate in interference-free wireless networks with
physical layer fading channels and orthogonal multiple access. As a starting
point, the point-to-point channel is considered. We find the optimal physical
and network layer rate trade-off which maximizes the achievable overall rate
for both a fixed rate transmission scheme and an improved scheme based on
multiple virtual users and superposition coding. These initial results are
extended to the network setting, where, based on a cut-set formulation, the
achievable rate at each node and its upper bound are derived. We propose a
distributed optimization algorithm which allows to jointly determine the
maximum achievable rate, the optimal physical layer rates on each network link,
and an opportunistic back-pressure-type routing strategy on the network layer.
This inherently justifies the layered architecture in existing wireless
networks. Finally, we show that the proposed layered optimization approach can
achieve almost all of the ergodic network capacity in high SNR.Comment: 5 pages, to appear in Proc. IEEE ISIT, July 200
Multicast Multigroup Precoding and User Scheduling for Frame-Based Satellite Communications
The present work focuses on the forward link of a broadband multibeam
satellite system that aggressively reuses the user link frequency resources.
Two fundamental practical challenges, namely the need to frame multiple users
per transmission and the per-antenna transmit power limitations, are addressed.
To this end, the so-called frame-based precoding problem is optimally solved
using the principles of physical layer multicasting to multiple co-channel
groups under per-antenna constraints. In this context, a novel optimization
problem that aims at maximizing the system sum rate under individual power
constraints is proposed. Added to that, the formulation is further extended to
include availability constraints. As a result, the high gains of the sum rate
optimal design are traded off to satisfy the stringent availability
requirements of satellite systems. Moreover, the throughput maximization with a
granular spectral efficiency versus SINR function, is formulated and solved.
Finally, a multicast-aware user scheduling policy, based on the channel state
information, is developed. Thus, substantial multiuser diversity gains are
gleaned. Numerical results over a realistic simulation environment exhibit as
much as 30% gains over conventional systems, even for 7 users per frame,
without modifying the framing structure of legacy communication standards.Comment: Accepted for publication to the IEEE Transactions on Wireless
Communications, 201
Towards a System Theoretic Approach to Wireless Network Capacity in Finite Time and Space
In asymptotic regimes, both in time and space (network size), the derivation
of network capacity results is grossly simplified by brushing aside queueing
behavior in non-Jackson networks. This simplifying double-limit model, however,
lends itself to conservative numerical results in finite regimes. To properly
account for queueing behavior beyond a simple calculus based on average rates,
we advocate a system theoretic methodology for the capacity problem in finite
time and space regimes. This methodology also accounts for spatial correlations
arising in networks with CSMA/CA scheduling and it delivers rigorous
closed-form capacity results in terms of probability distributions. Unlike
numerous existing asymptotic results, subject to anecdotal practical concerns,
our transient one can be used in practical settings: for example, to compute
the time scales at which multi-hop routing is more advantageous than single-hop
routing
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