Exploiting smart antennas in wireless mesh networks using contention access

Smart antennas can increase the capacity of mesh networks and reduce the susceptibility of individual nodes to interception and jamming, but creating the conditions that allow them to be effective is difficult. In this article we provide a broad review of antenna technologies and identify their capabilities and limitations. We review mechanisms used by medium access control schemes to arbitrate access. These reviews let us identify a small set of conditions that are necessary for smart antenna exploitation. We then review the most common MAC approaches, carrier sense multiple access, slotted aloha, and time-division multiple access, and evaluate their suitability for exploiting smart antennas. We demonstrate that they are not capable of creating the complete set of antenna exploitation conditions while retaining a contention nature. We follow with a discussion of the synchronous collision resolution (SCR) MAC scheme and describe how it creates all the exploitation conditions. We conclude that SCR provides the best support for smart antenna exploitation with the added benefits that there is no requirement for all nodes to be equipped with the same antenna technologies and that smart antennas can be combined with channelization technologies to provide even higher capacities.     

MANETs中智能天线和功率控制的应用

分析了MANETs中基于CDMA的MAC协议存在的问题,提出在协议中引入智能天线和功率控制技术来解决多址干扰和远-近效应等问题.对采用智能天线和功率控制技术的MAC协议的工作原理进行了阐述,并通过仿真评估了智能天线与功率控制技术结合后对网络吞吐量和节点耗能的影响.研究结果表明,在MANETs中使用智能天线和功率控制技术可以有效地提高网络的吞吐量,降低节点的能耗.     

Sustainable simultaneous communications in ad-hoc networks using smart antenna systems

This article proposes an analytical model for evaluating the number of simultaneous communications that can be sustained by an ad-hoc network in which the nodes are equipped with fully adaptive smart antennas. The presented mathematical framework adopts realistic models for the antenna radiation pattern and the channel behavior, and is able to take into account the network topology and the characteristics of the medium access control (MAC) protocol in the spatial domain. The model is employed to investigate the impact of the spatial channel model and of the angular spread on network performance. Additionally, this article examines the influence of the transmission policy of the control and data packets of the MAC layer on the number of simultaneous communications.     

Angular MAC: a framework for directional antennas in wireless mesh networks

Capacity of wireless mesh networks can be enhanced through the use of smart directional antennas, which not only enable nodes to have high quality links but also increase network throughput by allowing spatial reuse. This paper proposes a new MAC protocol and framework, called Angular MAC (ANMAC) that enables directional antennas in wireless mesh networks. The protocols and algorithms of the ANMAC framework fit well with the requirements of mesh networks such as neighbor discovery and self-configuration, while providing significant throughput enhancements. The throughput enhancements are proven by comprehensive simulations with realistic antenna patterns, including performance comparisons of ANMAC with directional schemes using a similar node architecture and omni 802.11. Also, the effect of contention window size is analyzed and a dynamic contention window adaptation algorithm is proposed to maximize the throughput of the self-configuring mesh network, by taking instantaneous traffic conditions into account.     

动态可重构的智能光载无线接入技术

文章认为动态可重构的智能光载无线网络可以融合光纤和无线接入系统,通过引入新的网络架构、媒体访问控制(MAC)协议、系统链路以及关键器件等系列新技术,满足通信网对高效、宽带以及灵活等特性的需求。基于动态可重构的智能光载无线技术,文章在网络层提出适合智能光载无线技术的网络架构;在MAC层提出使光载无线MAC层的性能得到提升、保障联合资源的动态可管控的专用设计;在系统层提出在光域对射频信号进行处理、传输与控制的相关技术。文章还在器件方面提出利用特殊结构改善滤波、天线等性能的新技术。     

Exploiting spatial multiplexing and reuse in multi-antenna wireless ad hoc networks

Efficient exploitation of multiple antenna capabilities in ad hoc networks requires carefully designed cross-layer techniques. The work presented in this paper provides a medium access control (MAC)/physical cross-layer scheme for ad hoc networks to address several of the challenges involved in cross-layer design. Multiple antenna systems can be used to increase data rate by spatial multiplexing, that is communicating multiple parallel streams, and to increase spatial reuse by interference suppression. Our proposed scheme, called HYB, exploits both spatial multiplexing and reuse so a receiver node can receive multiple simultaneous data streams from a desired transmitter while suppressing interference from other transmitters in the neighborhood. HYB partitions the available degrees of freedom in the antenna array between spatial multiplexing and reuse which allows the user to obtain different performance characteristics. The applicability of HYB spans across all wireless environments, including line-of-sight and dense multipath scenarios.Simulations demonstrate the significant performance gains and flexibility offered by HYB. The simulation results also offer key insights into the multi-antenna resource allocation problem in ad hoc networks based on traffic patterns and network/transport layer protocols, and consequently provide guidelines for network configuration/management. We show that throughput increases when the degrees of freedom allocated to spatial multiplexing increases, while fairness increases when the degrees of freedom allocated to spatial reuse increases.     

MAC Layer Concepts to Support Space Division Multiple Access in OFDM based IEEE 802.16

Advanced antenna technologies and algorithms have been developed during the last years. But until today, advanced antenna algorithms in the physical layer and the modes of operation in medium access layers have not been integrated in modern wireless systems. As one of the first standards the metropolitan area network IEEE 802.16 provides means to support smart antenna techniques.After a detailed introduction of the medium access control layer this article outlines the support of space division multiple access (SDMA) techniques by the wireless metropolitan area network IEEE 802.16. New concepts are introduced that allow and further optimize the use of SDMA techniques brought by intelligent antennas. First, the possibility to enable SDMA in the IEEE 802.16a-2003 protocol is investigated, and second the support of SDMA in the revised 802.16-2004 standard is elaborated in detail. To overcome current limitations of 802.16a-2003, an enhanced control structure is introduced in 802.16-2004 that masters a concurrent transmission and reception of data to/from several different subscriber stations. The approach facilitates a fully flexible structure which significantly improves system capacity. Christian P. Hoymann received his Diploma degree in electrical engineering from RWTH Aachen University in 2002. Before he served a student internship at SIEMENS Corporate Research, Princeton, USA. Since 2002 he is employed as a Research Assistant at the Chair of Communication Networks (ComNets) of RWTH Aachen University where he is working towards his Ph.D. degree.He worked in the fields of traffic engineering and dimensioning of GSM/GPRS networks together with his project partners at D2 Vodafone. He was actively involved in the IST-STRIKE project where smart antenna systems had been integrated in Metropolitan Area Networks. His current research interests include the optimization of MANs especially in consideration of smart antenna technologies such as SDMA and relaying technologies such as Mesh.Mr. Hoymann has published several conference and journal papers and was actively involved in the standardization of SDMA technologies for IEEE 802.16.     

Simulation and analysis of node throughput using smart antenna in wireless mesh networks

Smart antenna technology is introduced to wireless mesh networks. Smart antennas based wider-range access medium access control (MAC) protocol (SWAMP) is used as MAC protocol for IEEE 802.11 mesh networks in this study. The calculation method of node throughput in chain and arbitrary topology is proposed under nodes fairness guarantee. Network scale and interference among nodes are key factors that influence node throughput. Node distribution pattern near the gateway also affects the node throughput. Experiment based on network simulator-2 (NS-2) simulation platform compares node throughput between smart antenna scenario and omni-antenna scenario. As smart antenna technology reduces the bottle collision domain, node throughput increases observably.     

Medium access control in ad hoc networks with MIMO links: optimization considerations and algorithms

we present a medium access control (MAC) protocol for ad hoc networks with multiple input multiple output (MIMO) links. MIMO links provide extremely high spectral efficiencies in multipath channels by simultaneously transmitting multiple independent data streams in the same channel. MAC protocols have been proposed in related work for ad hoc networks with other classes of smart antennas such as switched beam antennas. However, as we substantiate in the paper, the unique characteristics of MIMO links coupled with several key optimization considerations, necessitate an entirely new MAC protocol. We identify several advantages of MIMO links, and discuss key optimization considerations that can help in realizing an effective MAC protocol for such an environment. We present a centralized algorithm called stream-controlled medium access (SCMA) that has the key optimization considerations incorporated in its design. Finally, we present a distributed SCMA protocol that approximates the centralized algorithm and compare its performance against that of baseline protocols that are CSMA/CA variants.     

Performance of MIMO cross‐layer MAC protocol based on antenna selection in ad hoc networks

In this paper, we investigate the performance of a cross‐layer (physical and MAC) design for multiple‐input multiple‐output (MIMO) system that aims at maximizing the throughput of ad hoc networks by selecting the optimum antenna combination. Employing this cross‐layer design is shown to improve the overall network performance relative to the case where no antenna selection (AS) is used. To solve the node blocking problem associated with the IEEE 802.11 medium‐access control (MAC) protocol, the proposed protocol leverage the available degrees of freedom offered by the MIMO system to allow neighboring nodes to simultaneously communicate using the zero‐forcing (ZF) Bell‐labs layered space‐time (BLAST) architecture. Using the cross‐layer design, neighboring nodes share their optimum antenna selection (AS) information through control messages. Given this shared information, nodes set their decisions on the number of selected antennas based on the available spatial channels that guarantees collision‐free transmissions. At the destination node, the ZF receiver is employed to extract the desired user data while treating the data from neighboring users as interference. The performance of the proposed cross‐layer design is examined through simulations, where we show that the network throughput is significantly improved compared to conventional MAC protocols. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Directional MAC and routing schemes for power controlled Wireless Mesh Networks with adaptive antennas

Wireless Mesh Networks (WMNs) have emerged recently as a technology for next-generation wireless networking. Several approaches that exploit directional and adaptive antennas have been proposed in the literature to increase the performance of WMNs. However, while adaptive antennas can improve the wireless medium utilization by reducing radio interference and the impact of the exposed nodes problem, they can also exacerbate the hidden nodes problem. Therefore, efficient MAC protocols are needed to fully exploit the features offered by adaptive antennas. Furthermore, routing protocols that were designed for omnidirectional communications can be redesigned to exploit directional transmissions and the cross-layer interaction between the MAC and the network layer.In this paper we first propose a novel Power-Controlled Directional MAC protocol (PCD-MAC) for adaptive antennas. PCD-MAC uses the standard RTS–CTS–DATA–ACK exchange procedure. The novel difference is the transmission of the RTS and CTS packets in all directions with a tunable power while the DATA and ACK are transmitted directionally at the minimal required power.We then propose the Directional Deflection Routing (DDR), a routing algorithm that exploits multiple paths towards the destination based on the MAC layer indication on channel availability in different directions.We measure the performance of PCD-MAC and DDR by simulation of several realistic network scenarios, and we compare them with other approaches proposed in the literature. The results show that our schemes increase considerably both the total traffic accepted by the network and the fairness among competing connections.     

Smart antenna techniques and their application to wireless ad hoc networks

In this article the use of smart antennas in mobile ad hoc and mesh networks is discussed. We first give a brief overview of smart antenna techniques and describe the issues that arise when applying these techniques in ad hoc networks. We consider ad hoc/mesh networks with directional antennas, beamforming/adaptive antennas, and/or multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) techniques. We then show how the MAC/routing techniques can be modified to get the maximum benefit with smart antennas, while also showing examples of degradation in system performance, rather than improvement, when smart antenna techniques are added to networks with standard MAC/routing techniques.     

Performance Evaluation of Distributed Wireless Networks Using Smart Antennas in Low-Rank Channel

This paper investigates the performance of a distributed wireless network in which the nodes are equipped with fully adaptive smart antennas. The main goal is the evaluation of the influence that the geometrical configuration of the antenna array has on network throughput and packet delay. Analysis and simulations are performed to study the relationship between the geometry of the antenna array and the network topology. In this paper, the performance degradation due to both the small-channel angular spreads and the speed of mobile nodes is investigated. The results, which hold for the low-rank channel model only, extend to this specific case previous results obtained in ideal channel conditions. The study adopts an access scheme, previously proposed for ad-hoc networks, which is able to exploit the interferer suppression capabilities of smart antennas, together with realistic models for the antenna and the channel behaviors.     

An overview of using directional antennas in wireless networks

Compared with omni‐directional antennas, directional antennas have many merits, such as lower interference, better spatial reuse, longer transmission range, and improved network capacity. Directional antennas enable numerous emerging outdoor and indoor applications, which have been addressed in many recent studies. Despite the advances in wireless networks with directional antennas (DAWNs), there are many research challenges in all layers of DAWNs. This paper presents a detailed study on recent advances and open research issues on DAWNs. Firstly, we briefly introduce the classification of directional antennas, antenna radiation patterns, antenna modes, and the challenges in the physical layer of DAWNs. We then present research issues on the medium access control (MAC) layer, followed by the current solutions as well as open research problems on the MAC layer of DAWNs. In addition, we also discuss the research issues on the routing layer and the transport layer. Moreover, other research challenges on the performance evaluation of DAWNs and a brief introduction of indoor DAWNs are given in this paper as well. In conclusion, we summarize the current research issues on DAWNs as well as prospects in the future. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Smart antenna based broadcasting in wireless ad hoc networks

Smart antennas have the advantage over traditional omnidirectional antennas of being able to orientate radio signals into the concerned directions in either transmission mode or in reception mode. Since the omnidirectional antenna use in broadcasting over the whole network is the source of an excessive redundancy of broadcast packet receptions within each node, we suggest using smart antennas to improve the medium usage in the case of broadcasting. We propose to adapt a current broadcast protocol to smart antenna applications and present two smart antenna broadcast approaches. We also present a comparative performance study between omnidirectional and smart antennas when broadcasting. We show that we can improve battery power utilisation and bandwidth usage with smart antennas.     

Ad hoc networking with directional antennas: a complete system solution

Directional antennas offer tremendous potential for improving the performance of ad hoc networks. Harnessing this potential, however, requires new mechanisms at the medium access and network layers for intelligently and adaptively exploiting the antenna system. While recent years have seen a surge of research into such mechanisms, the problem of developing a complete ad hoc networking system, including the unique challenge of real-life prototype development and experimentation has not been addressed. In this paper, we present utilizing directional antennas for ad hoc networking (UDAAN). UDAAN is an interacting suite of modular network- and medium access control (MAC)-layer mechanisms for adaptive control of steered or switched antenna systems in an ad hoc network. UDAAN consists of several new mechanisms-a directional power-controlled MAC, neighbor discovery with beamforming, link characterization for directional antennas, proactive routing and forwarding-all working cohesively to provide the first complete systems solution. We also describe the development of a real-life ad hoc network testbed using UDAAN with switched directional antennas, and we discuss the lessons learned during field trials. High fidelity simulation results, using the same networking code as in the prototype, are also presented both for a specific scenario and using random mobility models. For the range of parameters studied, our results show that UDAAN can produce a very significant improvement in throughput over omnidirectional communications.     

Mobility Impact on Cluster Based MAC Layer Protocols in Wireless Sensor Networks

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) enable a wide variety of applications resulting in still increasing requirements for the protocols supporting the operations. The medium access control (MAC) layer protocols are essential for improving the performance of an application and its quality of service because MAC protocols influence channel capacity utilization, network delay, energy consumption, and scalability. The contribution of this paper is two novel cluster-based time division multiple access (TDMA) scheduling MACs for WSNs and an analysis of the mobility impact on both. The proposed MAC layer protocols support real time applications where the cluster-based scheduling improves the scalability and also improves the performance in varying network conditions. The paper presents the design, implementation and performance evaluation of the proposed cluster based TDMA scheduling algorithms green conflict free (GCF) and multicolor-GCF (M-GCF) for high complexity and high requirement applications of WSNs under both low and high mobility conditions. The comparative evaluation shows that the M-GCF algorithm has better slot sharing and less conflicts with reduced communication energy consumption, delay, and good throughput under static and low mobility conditions while the GCF algorithm has better performance in high mobility scenarios. The paper also defines the mobility threshold that decides the use of the GCF- and M-GCF algorithms according to the mobility requirement of application.     

Medium access control protocols for wireless mobile ad hoc networks: issues and approaches

In this article, a comprehensive survey of the medium access control (MAC) approaches for wireless mobile ad hoc networks is presented. The complexity in MAC design for wireless ad hoc networks arises due to node mobility, radio link vulnerability and the lack of central coordination. A series of studies on MAC design has been conducted in the literature to improve medium access performance in different aspects as identified by the different performance metrics. Tradeoffs among the different performance metrics (such as between throughput and fairness) dictate the design of a suitable MAC protocol. We compare the different proposed MAC approaches, identify their problems and discuss the possible remedies. The interactions among the MAC and the higher layer protocols such as routing and transport layer protocols are discussed and some interesting research issues are also identified. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A range-adaptive directional MAC protocol for wireless ad hoc networks with smart antennas

Using smart antennas in wireless ad hoc networks can offer tremendous potential for improving the network performance. This paper proposes a range-adaptive MAC protocol, called Ra-MAC, for wireless ad hoc networks using smart antennas. In contrast to the previous MAC protocols with only single-fold directional transmission range, we propose to use multi-fold transmission ranges, i.e., LD (Low-distance), MD (Mid-distance) and HD (High-distance), to arrange efficient communications between the senders and receivers. The transmission range is selected dynamically according to the distance between the communicating node-pair. Building on the multiple transmission ranges, we extend directional network allocation vector (DNAV) to range-based DNAV (R-DNAV) to make full use of wireless channels. Moreover, in order to deal with the basic problems (i.e., hidden terminals, deafness and capture) within smart antenna-based wireless networks, we further equip some optimizations such as half-sweeping start of dialog (SOD), extended directional virtual carrier sensing (DVCS) and so on to Ra-MAC, and then detailedly discuss how these optimizations contribute to address the problems. Simulation results indicate that Ra-MAC outperforms the existing directional MAC protocols and 802.11 DCF. Finally, we also make a brief qualitative comparison between all these protocols.     

The impact of space division multiplexing on resource allocation: a unified treatment of TDMA, OFDMA and CDMA

Space division multiple access (SDMA) with an antenna array at the transmitter is a promising means for increasing system capacity and supporting rate-demanding services. However, the presence of an antenna array at the physical layer raises significant issues at higher layers. In this paper, we attempt to capture the impact of SDMA on access layer channel allocation, reflected on channel reuse. This impact obtains different twists in TDMA, CDMA and OFDMA due to the different nature of co-channel and cross-channel interference and the different interaction of user spatial channel characteristics with system channels, namely time slots, codes and subcarriers. We consider these access schemes in a generalized unified framework and propose heuristic algorithms for channel allocation, downlink beamforming and transmit power control so as to increase total provisioned system rate and provide QoS to users in the form of minimum rate guarantees. We study the class of greedy algorithms that rely on criteria such as induced or received interference and signal-to-interference ratio (SIR), and a class of SIR balancing algorithms. Results show superior performance for SIR balancing resource allocation and expose the performance benefits of cross-layer design.