Design and implementation of high quality H.264 video streaming over wireless mesh networks

Wireless multimedia home servers are the next generation of home entertainment systems. From a single broadband connection entering a residence, the multimedia stream is transmitted to television headsets and other peripherals by using only wireless links. The provision of high quality time-critical multimedia services in indoor environment is very challenging due to high attenuation and multi-path fading caused by the walls and contention in the shared channel. In this thesis, we demonstrate that the newly proposed wireless standard on wireless mesh networks can help improve the coverage while supporting Quality of Service requirements of both multimedia and data users, when the video packets are given EDCA priorities based on their importance according to the new high definition video streaming standard H.264. We support our hypothesis by presenting test results gathered from both simulations and from a real implementation test bed, where we observe very low delay and very few packet losses in video stream and almost no loss in perceived video quality even in the presence of high contending neighboring data traffi

Cross-layer energy-efficient schemes for multimedia content delivery in heterogeneous wireless networks

The wireless communication technology has been developed focusing on fulfilling the demand in various parts of human life. In many real-life cases, this demand directs to most types of commonly-used rich-media applications which – with diverse traffic patterns - often require high quality levels on the devices of wireless network users. Deliveries of applications with different patterns are accomplished using heterogeneous wireless networks using multiple types of wireless network structure simultaneously. Meanwhile, content deliveries with assuring quality involve increased energy consumption on wireless network devices and highly challenge their limited power resources. As a result, many efforts have been invested aiming at high-quality and energy-efficient rich-media content deliveries in the past years. The research work presented in the thesis focuses on developing energy-aware content delivery schemes in heterogeneous wireless networks. This thesis has four major contributions outlined below: 1. An energy-aware mesh router duty cycle management scheme (AOC-MAC) for high-quality video deliveries over wireless mesh networks. AOC-MAC manages the sleep-periods of mesh devices based on link-state communication condition, reducing their energy consumption by extending their sleep-periods. 2. An energy efficient routing algorithm (E-Mesh) for high-quality video deliveries over wireless mesh networks. E-Mesh evolves an innovative energy-aware OLSR-based routing algorithm by taking energy consumption, router position and network load into consideration. 3. An energy-aware multi-flow-based traffic load balancing scheme (eMTCP) for multi-path content delivery over heterogeneous wireless networks. The scheme makes use of the MPTCP protocol at the upper transport layer of network, allowing data streams to be delivered across multiple consequent paths. Meanwhile, this benefit of MPTCP is also balanced with energy consumption awareness by partially off-loading traffic from the paths with higher energy cost to others. 4. A MPTCP-based traffic-characteristic-aware load balancing mechanism (eMTCP-BT) for heterogeneous wireless networks. In eMTCP-BT, mobile applications are categorized according to burstiness level. eMTCP-BT increases the energy efficiency of the application content deliveries by performing a MDP-based distribution of traffic delivery via the available wireless network interfaces and paths based on the traffic burstiness level

Improving the Performance of Wireless LANs

This book quantifies the key factors of WLAN performance and describes methods for improvement. It provides theoretical background and empirical results for the optimum planning and deployment of indoor WLAN systems, explaining the fundamentals while supplying guidelines for design, modeling, and performance evaluation. It discusses environmental effects on WLAN systems, protocol redesign for routing and MAC, and traffic distribution; examines emerging and future network technologies; and includes radio propagation and site measurements, simulations for various network design scenarios, numerous illustrations, practical examples, and learning aids

Design and evaluation of a self-configuring wireless mesh network architecture

Wireless network connectivity plays an increasingly important role in supporting our everyday private and professional lives. For over three decades, self-organizing wireless multi-hop ad-hoc networks have been investigated as a decentralized replacement for the traditional forms of wireless networks that rely on a wired infrastructure. However, despite the tremendous efforts of the international wireless research community and widespread availability of devices that are able to support these networks, wireless ad-hoc networks are hardly ever used. In this work, the reasons behind this discrepancy are investigated. It is found that several basic theoretical assumptions on ad-hoc networks prove to be wrong when solutions are deployed in reality, and that several basic functionalities are still missing. It is argued that a hierarchical wireless mesh network architecture, in which specialized, multi-interfaced mesh nodes form a reliable multi-hop wireless backbone for the less capable end-user clients is an essential step in bringing the ad-hoc networking concept one step closer to reality. Therefore, in a second part of this work, algorithms increasing the reliability and supporting the deployment and management of these wireless mesh networks are developed, implemented and evaluated, while keeping the observed limitations and practical considerations in mind. Furthermore, the feasibility of the algorithms is verified by experiment. The performance analysis of these protocols and the ability to deploy the developed algorithms on current generation off-the-shelf hardware indicates the successfulness of the followed research approach, which combines theoretical considerations with practical implementations and observations. However, it was found that there are also many pitfalls to using real-life implementation as a research technique. Therefore, in the last part of this work, a methodology for wireless network research using real-life implementation is developed, allowing researchers to generate more reliable protocols and performance analysis results with less effort

Adaptive scheduling in cellular access, wireless mesh and IP networks

Networking scenarios in the future will be complex and will include fixed networks and hybrid Fourth Generation (4G) networks, consisting of both infrastructure-based and infrastructureless, wireless parts. In such scenarios, adaptive provisioning and management of network resources becomes of critical importance. Adaptive mechanisms are desirable since they enable a self-configurable network that is able to adjust itself to varying traffic and channel conditions. The operation of adaptive mechanisms is heavily based on measurements. The aim of this thesis is to investigate how measurement based, adaptive packet scheduling algorithms can be utilized in different networking environments. The first part of this thesis is a proposal for a new delay-based scheduling algorithm, known as Delay-Bounded Hybrid Proportional Delay (DBHPD), for delay adaptive provisioning in DiffServ-based fixed IP networks. This DBHPD algorithm is thoroughly evaluated by ns2-simulations and measurements in a FreeBSD prototype router network. It is shown that DBHPD results in considerably more controllable differentiation than basic static bandwidth sharing algorithms. The prototype router measurements also prove that a DBHPD algorithm can be easily implemented in practice, causing less processing overheads than a well known CBQ algorithm. The second part of this thesis discusses specific scheduling requirements set by hybrid 4G networking scenarios. Firstly, methods for joint scheduling and transmit beamforming in 3.9G or 4G networks are described and quantitatively analyzed using statistical methods. The analysis reveals that the combined gain of channel-adaptive scheduling and transmit beamforming is substantial and that an On-off strategy can achieve the performance of an ideal Max SNR strategy if the feedback threshold is optimized. Finally, a novel cross-layer energy-adaptive scheduling and queue management framework EAED (Energy Aware Early Detection), for preserving delay bounds and minimizing energy consumption in WLAN mesh networks, is proposed and evaluated with simulations. The simulations show that our scheme can save considerable amounts of transmission energy without violating application level QoS requirements when traffic load and distances are reasonable

Improving Multicast Communications Over Wireless Mesh Networks

In wireless mesh networks (WMNs) the traditional approach to shortest path tree based multicasting is to cater for the needs of the poorest performingnode i.e. the maximum permitted multicast line rate is limited to the lowest line rate used by the individual Child nodes on a branch. In general, this meansfixing the line rate to its minimum value and fixing the transmit power to its maximum permitted value. This simplistic approach of applying a single multicast rate for all nodes in the multicast group results in a sub-optimal trade-off between the mean network throughput and coverage area that does not allow for high bandwidth multimedia applications to be supported. By relaxing this constraint and allowing multiple line rates to be used, the mean network throughput can be improved. This thesis presents two methods that aim to increase the mean network throughput through the use of multiple line rates by the forwarding nodes. This is achieved by identifying the Child nodes responsible for reducing the multicast group rate. The first method identifies specific locations for the placement of relay nodes which allows for higher multicast branch line rates to be used. The second method uses a power control algorithm to tune the transmit power to allow for higher multicast branch line rates. The use of power control also helps to reduce the interference caused to neighbouring nodes.Through extensive computer simulation it can be shown that these two methods can lead to a four-fold gain in the mean network throughput undertypical WMN operating conditions compared with the single line rate case

Multi-layer traffic control for wireless networks

Le reti Wireless LAN, così come definite dallo standard IEEE 802.11, garantiscono connettività senza fili nei cosiddetti “hot-spot” (aeroporti, hotel, etc.), nei campus universitari, nelle intranet aziendali e nelle abitazioni. In tali scenari, le WLAN sono denotate come “ad infrastruttura” nel senso che la copertura della rete è basata sulla presenza di un “Access Point” che fornisce alle stazioni mobili l’accesso alla rete cablata. Esiste un ulteriore approccio (chiamato “ad-hoc”) in cui le stazioni mobili appartenenti alla WLAN comunicano tra di loro senza l’ausilio dell’Access Point. Le Wireless LAN tipicamente sono connesse alla rete di trasporto (che essa sia Internet o una Intranet aziendale) usando un’infrastruttura cablata. Le reti wireless Mesh ad infrastruttura (WIMN) rappresentano un’alternativa valida e meno costosa alla classica infrastruttura cablata. A testimonianza di quanto appena affermato vi è la comparsa e la crescita sul mercato di diverse aziende specializzate nella fornitura di infrastrutture di trasporto wireless e il lancio di varie attività di standardizzazione (tra cui spicca il gruppo 802.11s). La facilità di utilizzo, di messa in opera di una rete wireless e i costi veramente ridotti hanno rappresentato fattori critici per lo straordinario successo di tale tecnologia. Di conseguenza possiamo affermare che la tecnologia wireless ha modificato lo stile di vita degli utenti, il modo di lavorare, il modo di passare il tempo libero (video conferenze, scambio foto, condivisione di brani musicali, giochi in rete, messaggistica istantanea ecc.). D’altro canto, lo sforzo per garantire lo sviluppo di reti capaci di supportare servizi dati ubiqui a velocità di trasferimento elevate è strettamente legato a numerose sfide tecniche tra cui: il supporto per l’handover tra differenti tecnologie (WLAN/3G), la certezza di accesso e autenticazione sicure, la fatturazione e l’accounting unificati, la garanzia di QoS ecc. L’attività di ricerca svolta nell’arco del Dottorato si è focalizzata sulla definizione di meccanismi multi-layer per il controllo del traffico in reti wireless. In particolare, nuove soluzioni di controllo del traffico sono state realizzate a differenti livelli della pila protocollare (dallo strato data-link allo strato applicativo) in modo da fornire: funzionalità avanzate (autenticazione sicura, differenziazione di servizio, handover trasparente) e livelli soddisfacenti di Qualità del Servizio. La maggior parte delle soluzioni proposte in questo lavoro di tesi sono state implementate in test-bed reali. Questo lavoro riporta i risultati della mia attività di ricerca ed è organizzato nel seguente modo: ogni capitolo presenta, ad uno specifico strato della pila protocollare, un meccanismo di controllo del traffico con l’obiettivo di risolvere le problematiche presentate precedentemente. I Capitoli 1 e 2 fanno riferimento allo strato di Trasporto ed investigano il problema del mantenimento della fairness per le connessioni TCP. L’unfairness TCP conduce ad una significativa degradazione delle performance implicando livelli non soddisfacenti di QoS. Questi capitoli descrivono l’attività di ricerca in cui ho impiegato il maggior impegno durante gli studi del dottorato. Nel capitolo 1 viene presentato uno studio simulativo delle problematiche di unfairness TCP e vengono introdotti due possibili soluzioni basate su rate-control. Nel Capitolo 2 viene derivato un modello analitico per la fairness TCP e si propone uno strumento per la personalizzazione delle politiche di fairness. Il capitolo 3 si focalizza sullo strato Applicativo e riporta diverse soluzioni di controllo del traffico in grado di garantire autenticazione sicura in scenari di roaming tra provider wireless. Queste soluzioni rappresentano parte integrante del framework UniWireless, un testbed nazionale sviluppato nell’ambito del progetto TWELVE. Il capitolo 4 descrive, nuovamente a strato Applicativo, una soluzione (basata su SIP) per la gestione della mobilità degli utenti in scenari di rete eterogenei ovvero quando diverse tecnologie di accesso radio sono presenti (802.11/WiFi, Bluetooth, 2.5G/3G). Infine il Capitolo 5 fa riferimento allo strato Data-Link presentando uno studio preliminare di un approccio per il routing e il load-balancing in reti Mesh infrastrutturate.Wireless LANs, as they have been defined by the IEEE 802.11 standard, are shared media enabling connectivity in the so-called “hot-spots” (airports, hotel lounges, etc.), university campuses, enterprise intranets, as well as “in-home” for home internet access. With reference to the above scenarios, WLANs are commonly denoted as “infra-structured” in the sense that WLAN coverage is based on “Access Points” which provide the mobile stations with access to the wired network. In addition to this approach, there exists also an “ad-hoc” mode to organize WLANs where mobile stations talk to each other without the need of Access Points. Wireless LANs are typically connected to the wired backbones (Internet or corporate intranets) using a wired infrastructure. Wireless Infrastructure Mesh Networks (WIMN) may represent a viable and cost-effective alternative to this traditional wired approach. This is witnessed by the emergence and growth of many companies specialized in the provisioning of wireless infrastructure solutions, as well as the launch of standardization activities (such as 802.11s). The easiness of deploying and using a wireless network, and the low deployment costs have been critical factors in the extraordinary success of such technology. As a logical consequence, the wireless technology has allowed end users being connected everywhere – every time and it has changed several things in people’s lifestyle, such as the way people work, or how they live their leisure time (videoconferencing, instant photo or music sharing, network gaming, etc.). On the other side, the effort to develop networks capable of supporting ubiquitous data services with very high data rates in strategic locations is linked with many technical challenges including seamless vertical handovers across WLAN and 3G radio technologies, security, 3G-based authentication, unified accounting and billing, consistent QoS and service provisioning, etc. My PhD research activity have been focused on multi-layer traffic control for Wireless LANs. In particular, specific new traffic control solutions have been designed at different layers of the protocol stack (from the link layer to the application layer) in order to guarantee i) advanced features (secure authentication, service differentiation, seamless handover) and ii) satisfactory level of perceived QoS. Most of the proposed solutions have been also implemented in real testbeds. This dissertation presents the results of my research activity and is organized as follows: each Chapter presents, at a specific layer of the protocol stack, a traffic control mechanism in order to address the introduced above issues. Chapter 1 and Charter 2 refer to the Transport Layer, and they investigate the problem of maintaining fairness for TCP connections. TCP unfairness may result in significant degradation of performance leading to users perceiving unsatisfactory Quality of Service. These Chapters describe the research activity in which I spent the most significant effort. Chapter 1 proposes a simulative study of the TCP fairness issues and two different solutions based on Rate Control mechanism. Chapter 2 illustrates an analytical model of the TCP fairness and derives a framework allowing wireless network providers to customize fairness policies. Chapter 3 focuses on the Application Layer and it presents new traffic control solutions able to guarantee secure authentication in wireless inter-provider roaming scenarios. These solutions are an integral part of the UniWireless framework, a nationwide distributed Open Access testbed that has been jointly realized by different research units within the TWELVE national project. Chapter 4 describes again an Application Layer solution, based on Session Initiation Protocol to manage user mobility and provide seamless mobile multimedia services in a heterogeneous scenario where different radio access technologies are used (802.11/WiFi, Bluetooth, 2.5G/3G networks). Finally Chapter 5 refers to the Data Link Layer and presents a preliminary study of a general approach for routing and load balancing in Wireless Infrastructure Mesh Network. The key idea is to dynamically select routes among a set of slowly changing alternative network paths, where paths are created through the reuse of classical 802.1Q multiple spanning tree mechanisms

Internet Access and QoS in Ad Hoc Networks

It is likely that the increased popularity of wireless local area networks (WLANs) together with the continuous technological advances in wireless communication, also increase the interest for ad hoc networks. An ad hoc network is a wireless, autonomous, infrastructure-less network composed of stations that communicate with each other directly in a peer-to-peer fashion. When discussing mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs), we often refer to an ad hoc network where the stations cooperate in forwarding packets on behalf of each other to allow communication beyond their transmission range over multi-hop paths. In order to realize the practical benefits of ad hoc networks, two challenges (among others) need to be considered: distributed quality of service (QoS) guarantees and multi-hop Internet access. This thesis presents conceivable solutions to both of these problems. The first two papers focus on the network layer and consider the provisioning of Internet access to ad hoc networks whereas the last two papers focus on the data link layer and investigate the provisioning of QoS to ad hoc networks. The first paper studies the interconnection between a MANET and the Internet. In addition, it evaluates three approaches for gateway discovery, which can be initiated by the gateway (proactive method), by the mobile station (reactive method) or by mixing these two approaches (hybrid method). The second paper also studies Internet access for MANETs, but with focus on micro mobility, i.e. mobile stations moving from one gateway to another. In particular, it evaluates a solution that allows mobile stations to access the Internet and roam from gateway to gateway. The third paper, gives an overview of the medium access mechanisms in IEEE 802.11 and their QoS limitations. Moreover, it proposes an enhancement to the contention-free medium access mechanism of IEEE 802.11e to provide QoS guarantees in WLANs operating in ad hoc network configuration. The fourth paper continues the work from the third paper by enhancing the scheme and dealing with the problems that occur due to hidden stations. Furthermore, it discusses how to deal with the problems that occur when moving from single-hop ad hoc networks (i.e. WLANs in ad hoc network configuration) to multi-hop ad hoc networks