A cross-layer adaptive algorithm for multimedia QoS fairness in WLAN environments using neural networks

The authors address the problem of providing fair multimedia quality-of-service (QoS) in IEEE 802.11 distributed co-ordination function-based wireless local area networks in the infrastructure mode where mobile hosts experience heterogeneous channel conditions due to mobility and fading effects. It was observed that unequal link qualities can pose significant unfairness of channel sharing, which may thereby lead to the degradation of multimedia QoS performed in adverse conditions. A cross-layer adaptation scheme that provides fair QoS by online adjusting the multidimensional medium access control layer backoff parameters in accordance with the application-layer QoS requirements as well as the physical-layer channel conditions was proposed. The solution is based on an optimisation approach, which utilises neural networks to learn the cross-layer function. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed adaptation scheme can tackle heterogeneous channel conditions and random joining (or leaving) of hosts to achieve fair QoS in terms of throughput and packet delay.     

Experimental Study of Coexistence Issues Between IEEE 802.11b and IEEE 802.15.4 Wireless Networks

Coexistence issues between IEEE 802.11b wireless communication networks and IEEE 802.15.4 wireless sensor networks, operating over the 2.4-GHz industrial, scientific, and medical band, are assessed. In particular, meaningful experiments that are performed through a suitable testbed are presented. Such experiments involve both the physical layer, through measurements of channel power and the SIR, and the network/transport layer, by means of packet loss ratio estimations. Different configurations of the testbed are considered; major characteristics, such as the packet rate, the packet size, the SIR, and the network topology, are varied. The purpose of this paper is to gain helpful information and hints to efficiently face coexistence problems between such networks and optimize their setup in some real-life conditions. Details concerning the testbed, the measurement procedure, and the performed experiments are provided.      

Improved regular and semi-random rate-compatible low-density parity-check codes with short block lengths

Powerful rate-compatible codes are essential for achieving high throughput in hybrid automatic repeat request (ARQ) systems for networks utilising packet data transmission. The paper focuses on the construction of efficient rate-compatible low-density parity-check (RC-LDPC) codes over a wide range of rates. Two LDPC code families are considered; namely, regular LDPC codes which are known for good performance and low error floor, and semi-random LDPC codes which offer performance similar to regular LDPC codes with the additional property of linear-time encoding. An algorithm for the design of punctured regular RC-LDPC codes that have low error floor is presented. Furthermore, systematic algorithms for the construction of semi-random RC-LDPC codes are proposed based on puncturing and extending. The performance of a type-ll hybrid ARQ system employing the proposed RC-LDPC codes is investigated. Compared with existing hybrid ARQ systems based on regular LDPC codes, the proposed ARQ system based on semi-random LDPC codes offers the advantages of linear-time encoding and higher throughput.     

Robust end-to-end loss differentiation scheme for transport control protocol over wired/wireless networks

The authors propose a robust end-to-end loss differentiation scheme to identify the packet losses because of congestion for transport control protocol (TCP) connections over wired/wireless networks. The authors use the measured round trip time (RTT) values to determine whether the cause of packet loss is because of the congestion over wired path or regular bit errors over wireless paths. The classification should be as accurate as possible to achieve high throughput and maximum fairness for the TCP connections sharing the wired/wireless paths. The accuracies of previous schemes in the literature depends on varying network parameters such as RTT, buffer size, amount of cross traffic, wireless loss rate and congestion loss rate. The proposed scheme is robust in that the accuracy remains rather stable under varying network parameters. The basic idea behind the scheme is to set the threshold for the classification to be a function of the minimum RTT and the current sample RTT, so that it may automatically adapt itself to the current congestion level. When the congestion level of the path is estimated to be low, the threshold for a packet loss to be classified as a congestion loss is increased. This avoids unnecessary halving of the congestion window on packet loss because of the regular bit errors over the wireless path and hence improves the TCP throughput. When the congestion level of the path is estimated to be high, the threshold for a packet loss to be classified as the congestion loss not to miss any congestion loss is decreased and hence improves the TCP fairness. In ns 2 simulations, the proposed scheme correctly classifies the congestion losses under varying network parameters whereas the previous schemes show some dependency on subsets of parameters.     

一种能处理无线链路拥塞的TCP/ARQ改进算法

采用链路层自动请求重传（ARQ）方法来对分组差错进行恢复，并对传统的TCP／ARQ算法加以改进，加入了在无线链路拥塞情况下的自适应拥塞避免算法。仿真结果表明，这种能处理无线链路拥塞的TCP／ARQ算法对于提高无线网络的吞吐量非常有效。     

Cross-layer design for tree-type routing and level-based centralised scheduling in IEEE 802.16 based wireless mesh networks

Infrastructure wireless mesh network, also named as mesh router, is one key topology for the next generation wireless networking. In this work, the performance optimisation for the infrastructure wireless mesh network is presented and the sub-optimum solution mechanism is investigated. A cross-layer design for tree-type routing, level-based centralised scheduling and distributed power control theme is proposed as the sub-optimum solution strategy. The cross-layer design relies on the channel information and the distributed transmission power control in the physical layer, and the wireless scheduling in the medium access control (MAC) layer, as well as the routing selection mechanism in the MAC upper layer. In this work, a modified distributed power control algorithm is proposed first. In addition, a tree-type routing construction algorithm for centralised scheduling is presented to improve the network throughput by jointly considering interference and hop-count to construct the routing tree. Simulation results show that the proposed cross-layer design strategy can effectively improve the network throughput performance, decrease the power consumption and achieve better performances.     

Deployment of Polar Codes for Mission-Critical Machine-Type Communication Over Wireless Networks

Mission critical Machine-type Communication (mcMTC), also referred to as Ultra-reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC), has become a research hotspot. It is primarily characterized by communication that provides ultra-high reliability and very low latency to concurrently transmit short commands to a massive number of connected devices. While the reduction in physical (PHY) layer overhead and improvement in channel coding techniques are pivotal in reducing latency and improving reliability, the current wireless standards dedicated to support mcMTC rely heavily on adopting the bottom layers of general-purpose wireless standards and customizing only the upper layers. The mcMTC has a significant technical impact on the design of all layers of the communication protocol stack. In this paper, an innovative bottom-up approach has been proposed for mcMTC applications through PHY layer targeted at improving the transmission reliability by implementing ultra-reliable channel coding scheme in the PHY layer of IEEE 802.11a standard bearing in mind short packet transmission system. To achieve this aim, we analyzed and compared the channel coding performance of convolutional codes (CCs), low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes, and polar codes in wireless network on the condition of short data packet transmission. The Viterbi decoding algorithm (VA), logarithmic belief propagation (Log-BP) algorithm, and cyclic redundancy check (CRC) successive cancellation list (SCL) (CRC-SCL) decoding algorithm were adopted to CC, LDPC codes, and polar codes, respectively. Consequently, a new PHY layer for mcMTC has been proposed. The reliability of the proposed approach has been validated by simulation in terms of Bit error rate (BER) and packet error rate (PER) vs. signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). The simulation results demonstrate that the reliability of IEEE 802.11a standard has been significantly improved to be at PER = 10⁻⁵ or even better with the implementation of polar codes. The results also show that the general-purpose wireless networks are prominent in providing short packet mcMTC with the modification needed.     

Cross-layer binding update for TCP performance enhancement over Mobile IPv6 networks

Mobility support in Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) is a de facto standard for allowing nodes to remain connected while moving around in the IPv6 networks. To provide better handoff latency and performance, numerous optimisation techniques were developed. Some of them are single-layer optimisation such as the hierarchical mobile IPv6 architecture, which aims at reducing the registration time in network layer. Others are cross-layer optimisation such as the fast handover mechanism, which tries to reduce the address resolution time in network layer based on the data-link layer detection. Most of these techniques are focused on data-link and network layer optimisation. The authors propose a cross-layer mechanism, which uses the standard binding update packet in mobile IPv6 handoff to enhance the overall transmission control protocol performance in transmission. The theoretical analysis and simulations show promising performance enhancements.     

Throughput fairness and efficiency of link adaptation techniques in wireless networks

Link adaptation techniques aim to maximise the quality of service and resource utilisation in wireless networks. However, fairness must be taken into consideration, particularly, in low-mobility environments where the channel dynamic variation is small. The authors propose and analyse three link adaptation techniques [using joint power control (PC) and adaptive coding and modulation (ACM)] for fairness enhancement. In the first technique, called aggregate throughput maximisation with fairness constraint, the authors formulate the fairness problem as a constrained optimisation problem where the authors try to maximise the aggregate throughput subject to the throughput fairness constraint. In order to solve the optimisation problem, the authors convert the constrained optimisation problem to an unconstrained optimisation one using the penalty method. Then, the unconstrained optimisation problem is solved using the steepest descent technique. The second techniques, called individual throughput balancing, tries to equalise the individual throughput by using a higher throughput level for disadvantaged users and using a lower throughput level for advantaged users. Finally, the third technique, called adaptive virtual maximum power constraint, uses virtual maximum power cap, which is lower than the real maximum power cap. The virtual maximum power cap of each user is variable and it adapts based on the user's individual throughput to compensate disadvantaged users. The authors analyse the three proposed techniques in terms of the throughput fairness and the throughput efficiency and compare them with three basic link adaptation techniques (PC, ACM, and joint PC and ACM). The three proposed techniques are shown to be able to enhance the fairness with different degrees and with different levels of aggregate throughput degradation.     

Cross-layer queuing analysis on multihop relaying networks with adaptive modulation and coding

Multihop relaying is one of the promising techniques in future generation wireless networks. The adaptive modulation and coding (AMC) mechanisms can be applied in order to increase the spectral efficiency of wireless multihop networks. However, most of these mechanisms concentrate on the physical layer without taking the queuing effects at the data link layer into account, whose performances are overestimated. Therefore the cross-layer analytical framework is presented in analysing the quality-of-service (QoS) performances of the decode-and-forward (DF) relaying wireless networks, where the AMC is employed at the physical layer under the conditions of unsaturated traffic and finite-length queue at the data link layer. Considering the characteristics of DF relaying protocol at the physical layer, the authors first propose modelling a two-hop DF relaying wireless channel with AMC as an equivalent Finite State Markov Chain (FSMC) in queuing analysis. Then, the performances in terms of queuing delay, packet loss rate and average throughput are derived. The numerical results show that the proposed analytical method can be efficiently applied for studying the issues including the relay deployment and the cross-layer design in the multihop relaying networks.     

Energy Optimised Security against Wormhole Attack in IoT-Based Wireless Sensor Networks

An IoT-based wireless sensor network (WSN) comprises many small sensors to collect the data and share it with the central repositories. These sensors are battery-driven and resource-restrained devices that consume most of the energy in sensing or collecting the data and transmitting it. During data sharing, security is an important concern in such networks as they are prone to many threats, of which the deadliest is the wormhole attack. These attacks are launched without acquiring the vital information of the network and they highly compromise the communication, security, and performance of the network. In the IoT-based network environment, its mitigation becomes more challenging because of the low resource availability in the sensing devices. We have performed an extensive literature study of the existing techniques against the wormhole attack and categorised them according to their methodology. The analysis of literature has motivated our research. In this paper, we developed the ESWI technique for detecting the wormhole attack while improving the performance and security. This algorithm has been designed to be simple and less complicated to avoid the overheads and the drainage of energy in its operation. The simulation results of our technique show competitive results for the detection rate and packet delivery ratio. It also gives an increased throughput, a decreased end-to-end delay, and a much-reduced consumption of energy.     

Design of Intra‐BS handoff in multi‐hop IEEE 802.16 broadband wireless networks

Abstract

In IEEE 802.16‐based multi‐hop networks, transmissions using a multi‐hop high‐rate relay path can potentially achieve better throughput and delay than using a single‐hop low‐rate direct path. The establishment of relay or direct connection and the handoffs between different connections for mobile subscribers are thus key design issues. This paper studies connection setup and Intra‐BS handoff operations in IEEE 802.16‐based multi‐hop networks, where each connection employs adaptive modulation and coding scheme at the physical layer against wireless fading channel. Both centralized and decentralized designs are considered. In the centralized design, the base station coordinates connection establishments and handoffs for multi‐hop IEEE 802.16‐based subscribers. In the decentralized design, the MMR‐enhanced relay stations and mobile subscribers are required to participate in the connection and handoff management. Simulation results show that the two designs can significantly improve the good put, the packet transmission delay and network throughput. The results also highlight that the centralized design outperforms decentralized design in terms of throughput and delay.     

Power optimised channel coding in wireless sensor networks using low-density parity-check codes

Energy consumption of low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes in different implementations is evaluated. Decoder's complexity is reduced by finite precision representation of messages, that is, quantised LDPC decoder, and replacement of function blocks with look-up tables. It is shown that the decoder's energy consumption increases exponentially with the number of quantisation bits. For the sake of low-power consumption, 3-bit magnitude and 1-sign bit representation for messages are used in the decoder. It is concluded that high-rate Gallager codes are as energy efficient as the Reed-Solomon codes, which till now have been the first choice for wireless sensor networks (WSNs). Finally, it is shown that using LDPC codes in WSNs can be justified even more by applying the idea of trading the transmitter power with the decoder energy consumption. By exploiting the trade-off inherent in iterative decoding, the network lifetime is increased up to four times with the 3-6 regular LDPC code. Hence, it is inferred that the LDPC codes are more efficient than the block and the convolutional codes.     

一种新的基于移动预测的MANET路由协议

移动自组网是一种由一系列可以自由移动的节点主机聚集而成的一个临时性动态网络。它没有固定基站，也没有作为控制管理中心的节点主机，由于其拓扑的动态性，其路由协议与其他传统网络有很大的区别。为了能更有效地移动自组网中实现数据的传送，本文提出了一种基于移动预测下的MANET路由协议，该协议综合考虑了传输路径的延时和稳定性，选择在延时限制下平均拥有最稳特性的传输路径，模拟结果表明，这种方法比基于移动预测量稳路径路由协议的传输时延要短，传送成功概率要高，而控制开销却相关不大。     

A Safe and Reliable Routing Mechanism of LEO Satellite Based on SDN

Satellite networks have high requirements for security and data processing speed. In order to improve the reliability of the network, software-defined network (SDN) technology is introduced and a central controller is set in the network. Due to the characteristics of global perspective, control data separation, and centralized control of SDN, the idea of SDN is introduced to the design of the satellite network model. As a result, satellite nodes are only responsible for data transmission, while the maintenance of the links and the calculation of routes are implemented by the controller. For the massive LEO satellite network based on SDN, a state evaluation decision routing mechanism is proposed. The designed mechanism monitors the status of the entire network effectively and reduces the on-board load on the satellite network. The best routing decision is made under the comprehensive consideration of the current and historical status of each intersatellite link between Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite network nodes. The calculation and storage requirements are controlled within a reasonable range. Based on the curve parameter transmission fuzzy encryption algorithm, a safe and reliable condition assessment decision routing mechanism (CADRM) is designed. It ensures that the personal information of the LEO satellite network can be transmitted safely and effectively. The experimental simulation results show the improvement of network throughput, the reduction of packet loss rate and the enhancing of network reliability.     

Cascaded cuckoo search optimization of router placement in signal attenuation minimization for a wireless sensor network in an indoor environment

Optimization of the energy required during data transmission in a wireless indoor area network can be achieved through intelligent router placements to keep the network active for longer and improve the packet delivery ratio. In this work, a cascaded cuckoo search algorithm (C-CSA) approach is implemented for optimal router placement in a wireless indoor area network based on minimization of signal attenuation during data packet transmission through a novel mathematical formulation. The transmission energy for each packet, signal-to-noise ratio and packet error ratio are studied over 50 independent runs of the algorithm. The results are presented with statistical confidence to prove the efficiency of the algorithm. C-CSA provides superior results for data transmission energy and the packet delivery ratio compared to existing algorithms. Physical placement of wireless nodes in a building further establishes the reduction in energy requirement and data packet loss through this optimal router placement strategy.     

A comparative QoS survey of mobile ad hoc network routing protocols

A mobile ad hoc network (MANET) is a wireless, dynamic, infrastructure-less, self-organized, multi-hop, and decentralized network. Each node in MANET can act as a router as well as a work station. Many routing protocols have been developed to increase the efficiency of MANET. The primary objective of this paper is a detailed QoS comparison of reactive (AODV), proactive (DSDV), and hybrid (ZRP) routing protocols of MANET in order to find which routing protocol works best in a particular network scenario. The analysis was made for TCP-based traffic patterns. The performance differentials were analyzed on the basis of normalized routing overhead, packet loss, packet delivery ratio, control packets, end-to-end delay, packet received, and packet sent with a variation of nodes density and mobility. The results were obtained using the NS-2 simulator.     

分簇无线传感器网络的双时槽混合MAC协议

基于事件驱动的无线传感器网络应用,提出了一个基于分簇优化的低时延混合MAC协议--CHMAC.CHMAC采用双时槽传输调度和载波检测多路接入/时分多址接入(CSMA/TDMA)混合模式,采用适合分簇网络的时槽分配,优先保证紧急事件的最小延迟发送,并充分利用分簇网络的数据流特点,精细控制节点的侦听、睡眠以及传输功率,以提高能量有效性和网络吞吐量.理论分析和模拟试验表明,该协议能够以良好的适应性和健壮性在各种流量条件下均表现良好的性能.     

Performance measurement of IEEE 802.11b-based networks affected by narrowband interference through cross-layer measurements

Researches and development efforts in wireless networking and systems are progressing at an incredible rate. Among them, measurement and analysis of performance achieved at network layer and perceived by end users is an important task. In particular, recent advances concerning IEEE 802.11b-based networks seem to be focused on the measurement of key parameters at different protocol levels in a cross-layered fashion, because of their inherent vulnerability to in-channel interference. By adopting a cross-layer approach on a real network set-up operating in a suitable experimental testbed, packet loss against signal-to-interference ratio in IEEE 802.11b-based networks is hereinafter assessed. Results of several measurements aimed at establishing the sensitivity of IEEE 802.11b carrier sensing mechanisms to continuous interfering signals and evaluating the effects of triggered interference on packet transmission.     

一种用于Ad Hoc网络的简单跨层流控机制及其性能分析

为了改善Ad Hoc网络中传输层协议的性能,基于跨层设计思想设计了一种简单的流控机制.该机制有效地利用了网络层路由反馈、传输层协议、应用层速率自适应调节之间的关联性和跨层信息交互,应用层可根据网络层反馈的路由信息来调节发送速率,进而将网络负载维持在合理水平以最大化网络吞吐量.通过计算机模拟评价了此跨层流控机制,模拟评价结果表明,该机制能够使上层应用得到更加智能的控制,改善了基于UDP和TCP的业务性能,尤其是在网络负载较低的情况下效果更为明显.