Impacts of Mobility Models on RPL-Based Mobile IoT Infrastructures: An Evaluative Comparison and Survey

With the widespread use of IoT applications and the increasing trend in the number of connected smart devices, the concept of routing has become very challenging. In this regard, the IPv6 Routing Protocol for Low-power and Lossy Networks (PRL) was standardized to be adopted in IoT networks. Nevertheless, while mobile IoT domains have gained significant popularity in recent years, since RPL was fundamentally designed for stationary IoT applications, it could not well adjust with the dynamic fluctuations in mobile applications. While there have been a number of studies on tuning RPL for mobile IoT applications, but still there is a high demand for more efforts to reach a standard version of this protocol for such applications. Accordingly, in this survey, we try to conduct a precise and comprehensive experimental study on the impact of various mobility models on the performance of a mobility-aware RPL to help this process. In this regard, a complete and scrutinized survey of the mobility models has been presented to be able to fairly justify and compare the outcome results. A significant set of evaluations has been conducted via precise IoT simulation tools to monitor and compare the performance of the network and its IoT devices in mobile RPL-based IoT applications under the presence of different mobility models from different perspectives including power consumption, reliability, latency, and control packet overhead. This will pave the way for researchers in both academia and industry to be able to compare the impact of various mobility models on the functionality of RPL, and consequently to design and implement application-specific and even a standard version of this protocol, which is capable of being employed in mobile IoT applications

Modeling Crowd Mobility and Communication in Wireless Networks

This dissertation presents contributions to the fields of mobility modeling, wireless sensor networks (WSNs) with mobile sinks, and opportunistic communication in theme parks. The two main directions of our contributions are human mobility models and strategies for the mobile sink positioning and communication in wireless networks. The first direction of the dissertation is related to human mobility modeling. Modeling the movement of human subjects is important to improve the performance of wireless networks with human participants and the validation of such networks through simulations. The movements in areas such as theme parks follow specific patterns that are not taken into consideration by the general purpose mobility models. We develop two types of mobility models of theme park visitors. The first model represents the typical movement of visitors as they are visiting various attractions and landmarks of the park. The second model represents the movement of the visitors as they aim to evacuate the park after a natural or man-made disaster. The second direction focuses on the movement patterns of mobile sinks and their communication in responding to various events and incidents within the theme park. When an event occurs, the system needs to determine which mobile sink will respond to the event and its trajectory. The overall objective is to optimize the event coverage by minimizing the time needed for the chosen mobile sink to reach the incident area. We extend this work by considering the positioning problem of mobile sinks and preservation of the connected topology. We propose a new variant of p-center problem for optimal placement and communication of the mobile sinks. We provide a solution to this problem through collaborative event coverage of the WSNs with mobile sinks. Finally, we develop a network model with opportunistic communication for tracking the evacuation of theme park visitors during disasters. This model involves people with smartphones that store and carry messages. The mobile sinks are responsible for communicating with the smartphones and reaching out to the regions of the emergent events

HUMAN MOBILITY IN URBAN SPACE

Nowadays we witness a rapid increase of people mobility as the world population has become more interconnected and is relying on faster transportation methods, simplified connections and shorter commuting times. Unveiling and understanding human mobility patterns have become a crucial issue to support decisions and prediction activities when managing the complexity of the today's social organization. The strict connections between human mobility patterns, the planning, deployment and management of a variety of public and commercial services have fueled the rise of a vast research activity. Throughout this work, we are more interested and mainly focusing on urban mobility because here most of the human interactions take place and mobility has the greatest impact on management and optimization of public and commercial services. In this thesis, we provided a general framework for dealing with the modeling importance of locations from a per-user perspective and identified a few novel properties of human mobility. Also through characterizing the transition patterns driving user movement among visited places, we pave the way to propose a new mobility model in urban spaces. Meanwhile relying on the relevance of visited places, we propose a new algorithm for detecting and distinguishing Home and Workplaces. And finally, we suggest a framework for predicting the different aspects of Encounter/Colocation events. By exploiting the weighted Bayesian predictor we could enhance the accuracy of prediction w.r.t. the standard naive Bayesian and also to some other state-of-the-art predictors

Hybrid Routing in Delay Tolerant Networks

This work addresses the integration of today\u27s infrastructure-based networks with infrastructure-less networks. The resulting Hybrid Routing System allows for communication over both network types and can help to overcome cost, communication, and overload problems. Mobility aspect resulting from infrastructure-less networks are analyzed and analytical models developed. For development and deployment of the Hybrid Routing System an overlay-based framework is presented

Hybrid routing in delay tolerant networks

This work addresses the integration of today\\u27s infrastructure-based networks with infrastructure-less networks. The resulting Hybrid Routing System allows for communication over both network types and can help to overcome cost, communication, and overload problems. Mobility aspect resulting from infrastructure-less networks are analyzed and analytical models developed. For development and deployment of the Hybrid Routing System an overlay-based framework is presented

Privacy-preserving spatiotemporal multicast for mobile information services

Mobile devices have become essential for accessing information services anywhere at any time. While the so-called geographic multicast (geocast) has been considered in detail in existing research, it only focuses on delivering messages to all mobile devices that are currently residing within a certain geographic area. This thesis extends this notion by introducing a Spatiotemporal Multicast (STM), which can informally be described as a "geocast into the past". Instead of addressing users based on their current locations, this concept relates to the challenge of sending a message to all devices that have resided within a geographic area at a certain time in the past. While a wide variety of applications can be envisioned for this concept, it presents several challenges to be solved. In order to deliver messages to all past visitors of a certain location, an STM service would have to fully track all user movements at all times. However, collecting this kind of information is not desirable considering the underlying privacy implications, i.e., users may not wish to be identified by the sender of a message as this can disclose sensitive personal information. Consequently, this thesis aims to provide a privacy-preserving notion of STM. In order to realize such a service, this work first presents a detailed overview of possible applications. Based on those, functional, non-functional, as well as security and privacy objectives are proposed. These objectives provide the foundation for an in-depth literature review of potential mechanisms for realizing an STM service. Among the suggested options, the most promising relies on Rendezvous Points (RPs) for datagram delivery. In simple terms, RPs represent "anonymous mailboxes" that are responsible for certain spatiotemporal regions. Messages are deposited at RPs so that users can retrieve them later on. Protecting the privacy of users then translates to obfuscating the responsibilities of RPs for specific spatiotemporal regions. This work proposes two realizations: CSTM, which relies on cryptographic hashing, and OSTM, which considers the use of order-preserving encryption in a CAN overlay. Both approaches are evaluated and compared in detail with respect to the given objectives. While OSTM yields superior performance-related properties, CSTM provides an increased ability of protecting the privacy of users.Mobilgeräte bilden heute die Grundlage allgegenwärtiger Informationsdienste. Während der sogenannte geografische Multicast (Geocast) hier bereits ausführlich erforscht worden ist, so bezieht sich dieser nur auf Geräte, welche sich aktuell innerhalb einer geografischen Zielregion befinden. Diese Arbeit erweitert dieses Konzept durch einen räumlich-zeitlichen Multicast, welcher sich informell als "Geocast in die Vergangenheit" beschreiben lässt. Dabei wird die Zustellung einer Nachricht an alle Nutzer betrachtet, die sich in der Vergangenheit an einem bestimmten Ort aufgehalten haben. Während eine Vielzahl von Anwendungen für dieses Konzept denkbar ist, so ergeben sich hier mehrere Herausforderungen. Um Nachrichten an ehemalige Besucher eines Ortes senden zu können, müsste ein räumlich-zeitlicher Multicast-Dienst die Bewegungen aller Nutzer vollständig erfassen. Aus Gründen des Datenschutzes ist das zentralisierte Sammeln solch sensibler personenbezogener Daten jedoch nicht wünschenswert. Diese Arbeit befasst sich daher insbesondere mit dem Schutz der Privatsphäre von Nutzern eines solchen Dienstes. Zur Entwicklung eines räumlich-zeitlichen Multicast-Dienstes erörtert diese Arbeit zunächst mögliche Anwendungen. Darauf aufbauend werden funktionale, nicht-funktionale, sowie Sicherheits- und Privatsphäre-relevante Anforderungen definiert. Diese bilden die Grundlage einer umfangreichen Literaturrecherche relevanter Realisierungstechniken. Der vielversprechendste Ansatz basiert hierbei auf der Hinterlegung von Nachrichten in sogenannten Rendezvous Points. Vereinfacht betrachtet stellen diese "anonyme Briefkästen" für bestimmte räumlich-zeitliche Regionen dar. Nachrichten werden in diesen so hinterlegt, dass legitime Empfänger sie dort später abholen können. Der Schutz der Nutzer-Privatsphäre entspricht dann der Verschleierung der Zuständigkeiten von Rendezvous Points für verschiedene räumlich-zeitliche Regionen. Diese Arbeit schlägt zwei Ansätze vor: CSTM, welches kryptografische Hashfunktionen nutzt, sowie OSTM, welches ordnungserhaltende Verschlüsselung in einem CAN Overlay einsetzt. Beide Optionen werden detailliert analytisch sowie empirisch bezüglich ihrer Diensteigenschaften untersucht und verglichen. Dabei zeigt sich, dass OSTM vorteilhaftere Leistungseigenschaften besitzt, während CSTM einen besseren Schutz der Nutzer-Privatsphäre bietet

Network virtualization in next generation cellular networks

The complexity of operation and management of emerging cellular networks significantly increases, as they evolve to correspond to increasing QoS needs, data rates and diversity of offered services. Thus critical challenges appear regarding their performance. At the same time, network sustainability pushes toward the utilization of haring Radio Access Network (RAN) infrastructure between Mobile Network Operators (MNOs). This requires advanced network management techniques which have to be developed based on characteristics of these networks and traffic demands. Therefore it is necessary to provide solutions enabling the creation of logically isolated network partitions over shared physical network infrastructure. Multiple heterogeneous virtual networks should simultaneously coexist and support resource aggregation so as to appear as a single resource to serve different traffic types on demand. Hence in this thesis, we study RAN virtualization and slicing solutions destined to tackle these challenges. In the first part, we present our approach to map virtual network elements onto radio resources of the substrate physical network, in a dense multi-tier LTE-A scenario owned by a MNO. We propose a virtualization solution at BS level, where baseband modules of distributed BSs, interconnected via logical point-to-point X2 interface, cooperate to reallocate radio resources on a traffic need basis. Our proposal enhances system performance by achieving 53% throughput gain compared with benchmark schemes without substantial signaling overhead. In the second part of the thesis, we concentrate on facilitating resource provisioning between multiple Virtual MNOs (MVNOs), by integrating the capacity broker in the 3GPP network management architecture with minimum set of enhancements. A MNO owns the network and provides RAN access on demand to several MVNOs. Furthermore we propose an algorithm for on-demand resource allocation considering two types of traffic. Our proposal achieves 50% more admitted requests without Service Level Agreement (SLA) violation compared with benchmark schemes. In the third part, we devise and study a solution for BS agnostic network slicing leveraging BS virtualization in a multi-tenant scenario. This scenario is composed of different traffic types (e.g., tight latency requirements and high data rate demands) along with BSs characterized by different access and transport capabilities (i.e., Remote Radio Heads, RRHs, Small Cells, SCs and future 5G NodeBs, gNBs with various functional splits having ideal and non-ideal transport network). Our solution achieves 67% average spectrum usage gain and 16.6% Baseband Unit processing load reduction compared with baseline scenarios. Finally, we conclude the thesis by providing insightful research challenges for future works.La complejidad de la operación y la gestión de las emergentes redes celulares aumenta a medida que evolucionan para hacer frente a las crecientes necesidades de calidad de servicio (QoS), las tasas de datos y la diversidad de los servicios ofrecidos. De esta forma aparecen desafíos críticos con respecto a su rendimiento. Al mismo tiempo, la sostenibilidad de la red empuja hacia la utilización de la infraestructura de red de acceso radio (RAN) compartida entre operadores de redes móviles (MNO). Esto requiere técnicas avanzadas de gestión de redes que deben desarrollarse en función de las características especiales de estas redes y las demandas de tráfico. Por lo tanto, es necesario proporcionar soluciones que permitan la creación de particiones de red aisladas lógicamente sobre la infraestructura de red física compartida. Para ello, en esta tesis, estudiamos las soluciones de virtualización de la RAN destinadas a abordar estos desafíos. En la primera parte de la tesis, nos centramos en mapear elementos de red virtual en recursos de radio de la red física, en un escenario LTE-A de múltiples niveles que es propiedad de un solo MNO. Proponemos una solución de virtualización a nivel de estación base (BS), donde los módulos de banda base de BSs distribuidas, interconectadas a través de la interfaz lógica X2, cooperan para reasignar los recursos radio en función de las necesidades de tráfico. Nuestra propuesta mejora el rendimiento del sistema al obtener un rendimiento 53% en comparación con esquemas de referencia. En la segunda parte de la tesis, nos concentramos en facilitar el aprovisionamiento de recursos entre muchos operadores de redes virtuales móviles (MVNO), al integrar el capacity broker en la arquitectura de administración de red 3GPP con un conjunto míinimo de mejoras. En este escenario, un MNO es el propietario de la red y proporciona acceso bajo demanda (en inglés on-demand) a varios MVNOs. Además, para aprovechar al máximo las capacidades del capacity broker, proponemos un algoritmo para la asignación de recursos bajo demanda, considerando dos tipos de tráfico con distintas características. Nuestra propuesta alcanza 50% más de solicitudes admitidas sin violación del Acuerdo de Nivel de Servicio (SLA) en comparación con otros esquemas. En la tercera parte de la tesis, estudiamos una solución para el slicing de red independiente del tipo de BS, considerando la virtualización de BS en un escenario de múltiples MVNOs (multi-tenants). Este escenario se compone de diferentes tipos de tráfico (por ejemplo, usuarios con requisitos de latencia estrictos y usuarios con altas demandas de velocidad de datos) junto con BSs caracterizadas por diferentes capacidades de acceso y transporte (por ejemplo, Remote Radio Heads, RRHs, Small cells, SC y 5G NodeBs, gNBs con varias divisiones funcionales que tienen una red de transporte ideal y no ideal). Nuestra solución logra una ganancia promedio de uso de espectro de 67% y una reducción de la carga de procesamiento de la banda base de 16.6% en comparación con escenarios de referencia. Finalmente, concluimos la tesis al proporcionando los desafíos y retos de investigación para trabajos futuros.Postprint (published version

Aerial Network Assistance Systems for Post-Disaster Scenarios : Topology Monitoring and Communication Support in Infrastructure-Independent Networks

Communication anytime and anywhere is necessary for our modern society to function. However, the critical network infrastructure quickly fails in the face of a disaster and leaves the affected population without means of communication. This lack can be overcome by smartphone-based emergency communication systems, based on infrastructure-independent networks like Delay-Tolerant Networks (DTNs). DTNs, however, suffer from short device-to-device link distances and, thus, require multi-hop routing or data ferries between disjunct parts of the network. In disaster scenarios, this fragmentation is particularly severe because of the highly clustered human mobility behavior. Nevertheless, aerial communication support systems can connect local network clusters by utilizing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) as data ferries. To facilitate situation-aware and adaptive communication support, knowledge of the network topology, the identification of missing communication links, and the constant reassessment of dynamic disasters are required. These requirements are usually neglected, despite existing approaches to aerial monitoring systems capable of detecting devices and networks. In this dissertation, we, therefore, facilitate the coexistence of aerial topology monitoring and communications support mechanisms in an autonomous Aerial Network Assistance System for infrastructure-independent networks as our first contribution. To enable system adaptations to unknown and dynamic disaster situations, our second contribution addresses the collection, processing, and utilization of topology information. For one thing, we introduce cooperative monitoring approaches to include the DTN in the monitoring process. Furthermore, we apply novel approaches for data aggregation and network cluster estimation to facilitate the continuous assessment of topology information and an appropriate system adaptation. Based on this, we introduce an adaptive topology-aware routing approach to reroute UAVs and increase the coverage of disconnected nodes outside clusters. We generalize our contributions by integrating them into a simulation framework, creating an evaluation platform for autonomous aerial systems as our third contribution. We further increase the expressiveness of our aerial system evaluation, by adding movement models for multicopter aircraft combined with power consumption models based on real-world measurements. Additionally, we improve the disaster simulation by generalizing civilian disaster mobility based on a real-world field test. With a prototypical system implementation, we extensively evaluate our contributions and show the significant benefits of cooperative monitoring and topology-aware routing, respectively. We highlight the importance of continuous and integrated topology monitoring for aerial communications support and demonstrate its necessity for an adaptive and long-term disaster deployment. In conclusion, the contributions of this dissertation enable the usage of autonomous Aerial Network Assistance Systems and their adaptability in dynamic disaster scenarios