A Cross-Layer Approach for Minimizing Interference and Latency of Medium Access in Wireless Sensor Networks

In low power wireless sensor networks, MAC protocols usually employ periodic sleep/wake schedule to reduce idle listening time. Even though this mechanism is simple and efficient, it results in high end-to-end latency and low throughput. On the other hand, the previously proposed CSMA/CA-based MAC protocols have tried to reduce inter-node interference at the cost of increased latency and lower network capacity. In this paper we propose IAMAC, a CSMA/CA sleep/wake MAC protocol that minimizes inter-node interference, while also reduces per-hop delay through cross-layer interactions with the network layer. Furthermore, we show that IAMAC can be integrated into the SP architecture to perform its inter-layer interactions. Through simulation, we have extensively evaluated the performance of IAMAC in terms of different performance metrics. Simulation results confirm that IAMAC reduces energy consumption per node and leads to higher network lifetime compared to S-MAC and Adaptive S-MAC, while it also provides lower latency than S-MAC. Throughout our evaluations we have considered IAMAC in conjunction with two error recovery methods, i.e., ARQ and Seda. It is shown that using Seda as the error recovery mechanism of IAMAC results in higher throughput and lifetime compared to ARQ.Comment: 17 pages, 16 figure

Adaptive Modulation and Coding and Cooperative ARQ in a Cognitive Radio System

In this paper, a joint cross-layer design of adaptive modulation and coding (AMC) and cooperative automatic repeat request (C-ARQ) scheme is proposed for a secondary user in a shared-spectrum environment. First, based on the statistical descriptions of the channel, closed-form expressions of the average spectral efficiency (SE) and the average packet loss rate (PLR) are presented. Then, the cross-layer scheme is designed, with the aim of maximizing the average SE while maintaining the average PLR under a prescribed level. An optimization problem is formed, and a sub-optimal solution is found: the target packet error rates (PER) for the secondary system channels are obtained and the corresponding sub-optimal AMC rate adaptation policy is derived based on the target PERs. Finally, the average SE and the average PLR performance of the proposed scheme are presented

Green Cellular Networks: A Survey, Some Research Issues and Challenges

Energy efficiency in cellular networks is a growing concern for cellular operators to not only maintain profitability, but also to reduce the overall environment effects. This emerging trend of achieving energy efficiency in cellular networks is motivating the standardization authorities and network operators to continuously explore future technologies in order to bring improvements in the entire network infrastructure. In this article, we present a brief survey of methods to improve the power efficiency of cellular networks, explore some research issues and challenges and suggest some techniques to enable an energy efficient or "green" cellular network. Since base stations consume a maximum portion of the total energy used in a cellular system, we will first provide a comprehensive survey on techniques to obtain energy savings in base stations. Next, we discuss how heterogeneous network deployment based on micro, pico and femto-cells can be used to achieve this goal. Since cognitive radio and cooperative relaying are undisputed future technologies in this regard, we propose a research vision to make these technologies more energy efficient. Lastly, we explore some broader perspectives in realizing a "green" cellular network technologyComment: 16 pages, 5 figures, 2 table

Fuzzy Logic Control of Adaptive ARQ for Video Distribution over a Bluetooth Wireless Link

Bluetooth's default automatic repeat request (ARQ) scheme is not suited to video distribution resulting in missed display and decoded deadlines. Adaptive ARQ with active discard of expired packets from the send buffer is an alternative approach. However, even with the addition of cross-layer adaptation to picture-type packet importance, ARQ is not ideal in conditions of a deteriorating RF channel. The paper presents fuzzy logic control of ARQ, based on send buffer fullness and the head-of-line packet's deadline. The advantage of the fuzzy logic approach, which also scales its output according to picture type importance, is that the impact of delay can be directly introduced to the model, causing retransmissions to be reduced compared to all other schemes. The scheme considers both the delay constraints of the video stream and at the same time avoids send buffer overflow. Tests explore a variety of Bluetooth send buffer sizes and channel conditions. For adverse channel conditions and buffer size, the tests show an improvement of at least 4 dB in video quality compared to nonfuzzy schemes. The scheme can be applied to any codec with I-, P-, and (possibly) B-slices by inspection of packet headers without the need for encoder intervention.</jats:p