On distributed scheduling in wireless networks exploiting broadcast and network coding

In this paper, we consider cross-layer optimization in wireless networks with wireless broadcast advantage, focusing on the problem of distributed scheduling of broadcast links. The wireless broadcast advantage is most useful in multicast scenarios. As such, we include network coding in our design to exploit the throughput gain brought in by network coding for multicasting. We derive a subgradient algorithm for joint rate control, network coding and scheduling, which however requires centralized link scheduling. Under the primary interference model, link scheduling problem is equivalent to a maximum weighted hypergraph matching problem that is NP-complete. To solve the scheduling problem distributedly, locally greedy and randomized approximation algorithms are proposed and shown to have bounded worst-case performance. With random network coding, we obtain a fully distributed cross-layer design. Numerical results show promising throughput gain using the proposed algorithms, and surprisingly, in some cases even with less complexity than cross-layer design without broadcast advantage

Pseudo-gradient Based Local Voltage Control in Distribution Networks

Voltage regulation is critical for power grids. However, it has become a much more challenging problem as distributed energy resources (DERs) such as photovoltaic and wind generators are increasingly deployed, causing rapid voltage fluctuations beyond what can be handled by the traditional voltage regulation methods. In this paper, motivated by two previously proposed inverter-based local volt/var control algorithms, we propose a pseudo-gradient based voltage control algorithm for the distribution network that does not constrain the allowable control functions and has low implementation complexity. We characterize the convergence of the proposed voltage control scheme, and compare it against the two previous algorithms in terms of the convergence condition as well as the convergence rate

A Game-Theoretic Framework for Medium Access Control

In this paper, we generalize the random access game model, and show that it provides a general game-theoretic framework for designing contention based medium access control. We extend the random access game model to the network with multiple contention measure signals, study the design of random access games, and analyze different distributed algorithms achieving their equilibria. As examples, a series of utility functions is proposed for games achieving the maximum throughput in a network of homogeneous nodes. In a network with n traffic classes, an N-signal game model is proposed which achieves the maximum throughput under the fairness constraint among different traffic classes. In addition, the convergence of different dynamic algorithms such as best response, gradient play and Jacobi play under propagation delay and estimation error is established. Simulation results show that game model based protocols can achieve superior performance over the standard IEEE 802.11 DCF, and comparable performance as existing protocols with the best performance in literature