A Survey on Multi-AP Coordination Approaches over Emerging WLANs: Future Directions and Open Challenges

Recent advancements in wireless local area network (WLAN) technology include IEEE 802.11be and 802.11ay, often known as Wi-Fi 7 and WiGig, respectively. The goal of these developments is to provide Extremely High Throughput (EHT) and low latency to meet the demands of future applications like as 8K videos, augmented and virtual reality, the Internet of Things, telesurgery, and other developing technologies. IEEE 802.11be includes new features such as 320 MHz bandwidth, multi-link operation, Multi-user Multi-Input Multi-Output, orthogonal frequency-division multiple access, and Multiple-Access Point (multi-AP) coordination (MAP-Co) to achieve EHT. With the increase in the number of overlapping APs and inter-AP interference, researchers have focused on studying MAP-Co approaches for coordinated transmission in IEEE 802.11be, making MAP-Co a key feature of future WLANs. Moreover, similar issues may arise in EHF bands WLAN, particularly for standards beyond IEEE 802.11ay. This has prompted researchers to investigate the implementation of MAP-Co over future 802.11ay WLANs. Thus, in this article, we provide a comprehensive review of the state-of-the-art MAP-Co features and their shortcomings concerning emerging WLAN. Finally, we discuss several novel future directions and open challenges for MAP-Co.Comment: The reason for the replacement of the previous version of the paper is due to a change in the author's list. As a result, a new version has been created, which serves as the final draft version before acceptance. This updated version contains all the latest changes and improvements made to the pape

Survey and Systematization of Secure Device Pairing

Secure Device Pairing (SDP) schemes have been developed to facilitate secure communications among smart devices, both personal mobile devices and Internet of Things (IoT) devices. Comparison and assessment of SDP schemes is troublesome, because each scheme makes different assumptions about out-of-band channels and adversary models, and are driven by their particular use-cases. A conceptual model that facilitates meaningful comparison among SDP schemes is missing. We provide such a model. In this article, we survey and analyze a wide range of SDP schemes that are described in the literature, including a number that have been adopted as standards. A system model and consistent terminology for SDP schemes are built on the foundation of this survey, which are then used to classify existing SDP schemes into a taxonomy that, for the first time, enables their meaningful comparison and analysis.The existing SDP schemes are analyzed using this model, revealing common systemic security weaknesses among the surveyed SDP schemes that should become priority areas for future SDP research, such as improving the integration of privacy requirements into the design of SDP schemes. Our results allow SDP scheme designers to create schemes that are more easily comparable with one another, and to assist the prevention of persisting the weaknesses common to the current generation of SDP schemes.Comment: 34 pages, 5 figures, 3 tables, accepted at IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials 2017 (Volume: PP, Issue: 99

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

Medium access control protocol for visible light communication in vehicular communication networks

Recent achievements in the automotive industry related to lighting apparatuses include the use of LED or laser technology to illuminate the vehicle environment. This advancement resulted in greater energy efficiency and increased safety with selective illumination segments. A secondary effect was creating a new field for researchers in which they can utilize LED fast modulation using the Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) signal. Using LED to encode and transmit data is a relatively new and innovative concept. On the other field, there have been advancements in vehicular communication using radio frequency at 2.4 or 5GHz. This research focuses mainly on a field in which visible light augments or replaces radio frequency communication between vehicles. This research also investigates the effect of asymmetry on network performance using Visible Light Communication (VLC) in vehicular networks. Different types of asymmetry were defined and tested in real-world simulation experiments. Research results showed that asymmetry has a negative influence on network performance, though that effect is not significant. The main focus of the research is to develop a lightweight and new Media Access Control (MAC) protocol for VLC in vehicular networks. To develop a MAC protocol for VLC, special software was developed on top of the existing Network Simulation Environment (NSE). A new VLC MAC protocol for Vehicle to Vehicle (V2V) was benchmarked using a defined set of metrics. The benchmark was conducted as a set of designed simulation experiments against the referent IEEE 802.11b MAC protocol. Both protocols used a newly defined VLC-equipped vehicle model. Each simulation experiment depicted a specific network and traffic situation. The total number of scenarios was eleven. The last set of simulations was conducted in realworld scenarios on the virtual streets of Suffolk, VA, USA. Using defined metrics, the test showed that the new VLC MAC protocol for V2V is better than the referent protocol.Nedavna dostignuća u automobilskoj industriji koja se tiču opreme za osvjetljivanje uključuju korištenje LED ili laserskih rasvjetnih tijela za osvjetljivanje okoline. Ovime se postižu uštede u potrošnji energije kao i povećana sigurnost u prometu. LED rasvjeta je uniformnija od običnih žarulja tako da osvjetljenje bude ravnomjernije i preciznije. Obzirom da su LED selektivne moguće je odabrati segment ceste koji se želi osvijetliti. Upravo ta fleksibilnost LED otvara novi prostor za istraživače gdje mogu koristiti PWM signal za modulaciju podataka. PWM je poseban signal koji ima varijabilnu širinu pulsa na izlazu. Istraživači i znanstvenici mogu koristiti LED za kodiranje i prijenos podataka između automobila. Prednosti korištenja komunikacije u vidljivom dijelu elektro-magnetskog spektra (eng.VLC) je u činjenici da taj segment nije zaštićen licencama te je otvoren za slobodno korištenje. Osim toga, vidljivo, neintenzivno svjetlo nema biološki negativnih posljedica. Kod korištenja PWM signala za modulaciju, postojeći izlaz svjetla i njegova funkcija (osvjetljivanja ceste) nisu narušeni. Ljudsko oko ne može detektirati oscilacije tako visoke frekvencije (oko 5 kHz) S druge strane, komponente koje mogu primiti poslani signal su foto diode ili kamere. Kamere su već prisutne na modernom vozilu u obliku prednje kamere ili stražnje kamere za pomoć pri parkiranju. U svakom slučaju, tehnologija je već prisutna na modernom vozilu. Na drugom području, znanstvenici rade na komunikaciji između vozila koristeći radio valove niže frekvencije 2.4 ili 5 GHz. Komunikacija između automobila je predmet standardizacije i mnoge zemlje već propisuju pravila za obaveznu ugradnju opreme za takav oblik komunikacije. Prednost takvog koncepta je razmjena podatka; od onih za zabavu pa do kritičnih i sigurnosnih podataka npr. informacija o nadolazećem mjestu gdje se dogodila prometna nesreća. Ovo istraživanje se fokusira na proširenje ili zamjenu radio komunikacije sa komunikacijom koristeći vidljivi dio spektra (npr. LED i kamere). Jedan od glavnih nedostataka takvog koncepta je ne postojanje adekvatnog i specijaliziranog protokola za kontrolu pristupa mediju (eng. MAC). Drugi problem je nepoznati efekt asimetrije u VLC komunikaciji na performanse mrežne komunikacija. Ovo istraživanje je prepoznalo i klasificiralo različite tipove asimetrije. Svaki tip je testiran u sklopu simulacijskog eksperimenta u stvarnim scenarijima. Pokazalo se je da asimetrija negativno utječe na mrežne performanse, međutim taj efekt nije značajan jer uzrokuje manje od 0.5 % neuspješno poslanih poruka. Glavni fokus istraživanja je razvoj novog i pojednostavljenog MAC protokola za VLC komunikaciju između automobila. Kako bi se razvio novi MAC protokol nad VLC tehnologijom u prometnim mrežama, bilo je nužno napraviti i novu razvojnu okolinu koja se bazira na postojećim mrežnim simulatorima. Novi VLCMAC protokol za komunikaciju između automobila je testiran koristeći definirani set metrika. Testovi su napravljeni u obliku simulacijskih eksperimenata u kojima su uspored¯ivane performanse novog i referentnog protokola. Referentni protokol, u ovom istraživanju je IEEE 802.11b MAC protokol. U sklopu ovog rada definiran je i model vozila opremljen VLC tehnologijom. U simulacijskim eksperimentima je korišten isti model vozila za oba protokola. Za potrebe istraživanja je definirano jedanaest simulacijskih eksperimenata, svaki od njih opisuje specifične situacije u mrežnim komunikacijama kao i u prometu. Završni simulacijski scenariji uključuju okolinu iz stvarnosti, mreža ulica grada Suffolka, SAD. Osim stvarnih ulica, vozila su se kretala i razmjenjivala podatke koristeći mrežnu komunikaciju na kompletnom ISO/OSI mrežnom stogu sa zamijenjenim MAC podslojem. Razvojna okolina uključuje preciznu provjeru fizičkih karakteristika na razini putanje zrake svjetlosti. Ova preciznost je bila nužna kako bi simulacije bile što vjerodostojnije stvarnim sustavima. Obzirom da se radi o mnogo kalkulacija, obično računalo nije dostatno za izvođenje simulacijskih eksperimenata; zbog toga su se eksperimenti izvodili na klasteru računala Sveučilišta u Zagrebu. Koristeći definirane metrike, istraživanje je pokazalo kako je novi VLC MAC protokol za komunikaciju između automobila bolji od referentnog protokola.

An Overview on IEEE 802.11bf: WLAN Sensing

With recent advancements, the wireless local area network (WLAN) or wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) technology has been successfully utilized to realize sensing functionalities such as detection, localization, and recognition. However, the WLANs standards are developed mainly for the purpose of communication, and thus may not be able to meet the stringent requirements for emerging sensing applications. To resolve this issue, a new Task Group (TG), namely IEEE 802.11bf, has been established by the IEEE 802.11 working group, with the objective of creating a new amendment to the WLAN standard to meet advanced sensing requirements while minimizing the effect on communications. This paper provides a comprehensive overview on the up-to-date efforts in the IEEE 802.11bf TG. First, we introduce the definition of the 802.11bf amendment and its formation and standardization timeline. Next, we discuss the WLAN sensing use cases with the corresponding key performance indicator (KPI) requirements. After reviewing previous WLAN sensing research based on communication-oriented WLAN standards, we identify their limitations and underscore the practical need for the new sensing-oriented amendment in 802.11bf. Furthermore, we discuss the WLAN sensing framework and procedure used for measurement acquisition, by considering both sensing at sub-7GHz and directional multi-gigabit (DMG) sensing at 60 GHz, respectively, and address their shared features, similarities, and differences. In addition, we present various candidate technical features for IEEE 802.11bf, including waveform/sequence design, feedback types, as well as quantization and compression techniques. We also describe the methodologies and the channel modeling used by the IEEE 802.11bf TG for evaluation. Finally, we discuss the challenges and future research directions to motivate more research endeavors towards this field in details.Comment: 31 pages, 25 figures, this is a significant updated version of arXiv:2207.0485

Low-latency Networking: Where Latency Lurks and How to Tame It

While the current generation of mobile and fixed communication networks has been standardized for mobile broadband services, the next generation is driven by the vision of the Internet of Things and mission critical communication services requiring latency in the order of milliseconds or sub-milliseconds. However, these new stringent requirements have a large technical impact on the design of all layers of the communication protocol stack. The cross layer interactions are complex due to the multiple design principles and technologies that contribute to the layers' design and fundamental performance limitations. We will be able to develop low-latency networks only if we address the problem of these complex interactions from the new point of view of sub-milliseconds latency. In this article, we propose a holistic analysis and classification of the main design principles and enabling technologies that will make it possible to deploy low-latency wireless communication networks. We argue that these design principles and enabling technologies must be carefully orchestrated to meet the stringent requirements and to manage the inherent trade-offs between low latency and traditional performance metrics. We also review currently ongoing standardization activities in prominent standards associations, and discuss open problems for future research