A Software Architecture For Cross Layer Wireless Networks

Conventional data networks are based on a layered architecture, in which a layer implements some aspect of the network while hiding the detailed implementation from the other layers. The introduction of wireless networks has created a need to violate this layered discipline to create cross-layer designs or adaptations. Such cross-layer adaptations optimize the performance of wireless networks by using information from any layer in the network. The key problem is that ad-hoc implementations of cross-layer adaptations introduce complex interactions between layers and thus reduce the level of modularity and abstraction in the network's implementation. This gives rise to a significant increase in complexity. We demonstrate that a new software architecture is able to provide a systematic framework that helps us to implement a wide variety of cross-layer adaptations while preserving to a significant degree the modularity found in the existing network's implementation. To develop such an architecture, we first create a taxonomy of possible cross-layer adaptations. The taxonomy allows a precise description of a wide variety of cross-layer adaptations. Thus our taxonomy can serve as a framework for developing a cross-layer architecture. We develop the software architecture by creating two architectures, a conceptual one and a concrete one. We first develop a conceptual architecture, which shows the key mechanisms that are required to implement cross-layer adaptations. This architecture helps us to understand how we can implement cross-layer adaptations by using our architectural framework. We then develop a concrete architecture, which shows how we can implement such a conceptual architecture on real wireless systems. This architecture addresses more detailed implementation issues. We design the concrete architecture for Hydra, which is a flexible wireless network testbed. We then show that our architecture is generic enough to allow us to support a wide set of cross-layer architectures. We evaluate the proposed architecture by performing three case studies, each of which implements a cross-layer adaptation within Hydra based on the concrete architecture. The case studies allow us to implement and evaluate the key mechanisms provided by our architectural framework. We also implement each cross-layer adaptation by using a conventional approach, in which one layer performs the cross-layer adaptation directly communicating with other layers and other nodes. Comparing both the implementation techniques allows us to evaluate how our architectural framework supports a wide variety of cross-layer adaptations while reducing the complexity of implementation of cross-layer adaptations.

Although the existing layering infrastructure--used globally for designing computers, data networks, and intelligent distributed systems and which connects various local and global communication services--is conceptually correct and pedagogically elegant, it is now well over 30 years old has started create a serious bottleneck. Using Cross-Layer Techniques for Communication Systems: Techniques and Applications explores how cross-layer methods provide ways to escape from the current communications model and overcome the challenges imposed by restrictive boundaries between layers. Written exclusively by well-established researchers, experts, and professional engineers, the book will present basic concepts, address different approaches for solving the cross-layer problem, investigate recent developments in cross-layer problems and solutions, and present the latest applications of the cross-layer in a variety of systems and networks.

Cross-layer design seeks to enhance the capacity of wireless networks significantly through the joint optimization of multiple layers in the network, primarily the physical (PHY) and medium access control (MAC) layers. Although there are advantages of such design in wireline networks as well, this approach is particularly advantageous for wireless networks due to the properties (such as mobility and interference) that strongly affect performance and design of higher layer protocols. This unique monograph is concerned with the issue of cross-layer design in wireless networks, and more particularly with the impact of node-level multiuser detection on such design. It provides an introduction to this vibrant and active research area insufficiently covered in existing literature, presenting some of the principal methods developed and results obtained to date. Accompanied by numerous illustrations, the text is an excellent reference for engineers, researchers and students working in communication networks.

Information flow in a telecommunication network is accomplished through the interaction of mechanisms at various design layers with the end goal of supporting the information exchange needs of the applications. In wireless networks in particular, the different layers interact in a nontrivial manner in order to support information transfer. In this text we will present abstract models that capture the cross-layer interaction from the physical to transport layer in wireless network architectures including cellular, ad-hoc and sensor networks as well as hybrid wireless-wireline. The model allows for arbitrary network topologies as well as traffic forwarding modes, including datagrams and virtual circuits. Furthermore the time varying nature of a wireless network, due either to fading channels or to changing connectivity due to mobility, is adequately captured in our model to allow for state dependent network control policies. Quantitative performance measures that capture the quality of service requirements in these systems depending on the supported applications are discussed, including throughput maximization, energy consumption minimization, rate utility function maximization as well as general performance functionals. Cross-layer control algorithms with optimal or suboptimal performance with respect to the above measures are presented and analyzed. A detailed exposition of the related analysis and design techniques is provided.

Adaptive techniques play a key role in modern wireless communication systems. The concept of adaptation is emphasized in the Adaptation in Wireless Communications Series through a unified framework across all layers of the wireless protocol stack ranging from the physical layer to the application layer, and from cellular systems to next-generation wireless networks. Adaptation and Cross Layer Design in Wireless Networks is devoted to adaptation in the data link layer, network layer, and application layer. The book presents state-of-the-art adaptation techniques and methodologies, including cross-layer adaptation, joint signal processing, coding and networking, selfishness in mobile ad hoc networks, cooperative and opportunistic protocols, adaptation techniques for multimedia support, self –organizing routing, and tunable security services. It presents several new theoretical paradigms and analytical findings which are supported with various simulation and experimental results. Adaptation in wireless communications is needed in order to achieve high capacity and ubiquitous communications. The current trend in wireless communication systems is to make adaptation dependent upon the state of the relevant parameters in all layers of the system. Focusing on simplified cross layer design approaches, this volume describes advanced techniques such as adaptive resource management, adaptive modulation and coding, 4G communications, QoS, diversity combining, and energy and mobility aware MAC protocols. The first volume in the series, Adaptive Signal Processing in Wireless Communications (cat no.46012) covers adaptive signal processing at the physical layer.

With the evolution of 802.11-based wireless networks from hotspots to mesh networks, there has been a tremendous increase in the number of wireless users and density of deployments. Consequently, current wireless network face several problems due to interference, uncoordinated medium access, packet processing overheads at each hop and sub-optimal route selection. While radio technologies continue to improve speeds upto hundred megabits per second, the inadequacies of medium access and routing protocols severely impact the overall network capacity and end-user experience. In this thesis, we focus on improving the scalability and packet forwarding efficiency of multihop wireless networks. We introduce a self-organizing hierarchical ad-hoc network design (SOHAN) based on a three-tier hierarchy with dedicated forwarding nodes to address the scalability of existing multihop networks. We focus on realistic system design considerations and develop a Linux-based system prototype including novel protocols for bootstrapping, discovery and topology control to enable hierarchical self-organization. Experimental and simulation-based evaluations indicate a 2.5 times performance improvement over flat network models. We address packet forwarding inefficiencies of existing techniques over multihop networks due to queuing, contention and reprocessing at each hop and propose an interface contained forwarding architecture (ICF) using a combination of cut-through MAC protocol and label-based forwarding to enable "atomic" channel access for downstream transmissions and reduce self-interference. Next, we design a cross layer enabled cut through architecture (CLEAR) that extends the ICF mechanism with novel airtime metric-based route selection to mitigate the interference between flows. We further outline a time-based coordination scheme using soft reservations during route discovery phase to coordinate multihop "burst" transfers amongst flows. This model can be adapted to support differentiated services and provide a"low-latency socket" for real-time traffic over multiple hops. Our work can be the basis for a switched multihop wireless network design that enables conflict-free transfers resulting in efficient utilization of channel capacity and providing a viable alternative to wired network deployments. A substantial contribution of this thesis also includes the design and development of the ORBIT wireless testbed with focus on cross-layer experimental framework to facilitate rapid prototyping of wireless protocols and experimental evaluations at scale.

Crosslayer design needed to meet the military's wireless communication needs; key synergies in crosslayer design must be identified; the design must be tailored to the application; crosslayer design should include adaptivity, scheduling and diversity across protocol layers; energy can be a precious resource that must be shared by different protocol layers; node cooperation in communication and compression can provide significant performance gains.