Amit P. Jardosh

Towards realistic mobility models for mobile ad hoc networks

One of the most important methods for evaluating the characteristics of ad hoc networking protocols is through the use of simulation. Simulation provides researchers with a number of significant benefits, including repeatable scenarios, isolation of parameters, and exploration of a variety of metrics. The topology and movement of the nodes in the simulation are key factors in the performance of the network protocol under study. Once the nodes have been initially distributed, the mobility model dictates the movement of the nodes within the network. Because the mobility of the nodes directly impacts the performance of the protocols, simulation results obtained with unrealistic movement models may not correctly reflect the true performance of the protocols. The majority of existing mobility models for ad hoc networks do not provide realistic movement scenarios; they are limited to random walk models without any obstacles. In this paper, we propose to create more realistic movement models through the incorporation of obstacles. These obstacles are utilized to both restrict node movement as well as wireless transmissions. In addition to the inclusion of obstacles, we construct movement paths using the Voronoi diagram of obstacle vertices. Nodes can then be randomly distributed across the paths, and can use shortest path route computations to destinations at randomly chosen obstacles. Simulation results show that the use of obstacles and pathways has a significant impact on the performance of ad hoc network protocols.

Understanding congestion in IEEE 802.11b wireless networks

The growing popularity of wireless networks has led to cases of heavy utilization and congestion. In heavily utilized wireless networks, the wireless portion of the network is a major performance bottleneck. Understanding the behavior of the wireless portion of such networks is critical to ensure their robust operation. This understanding can also help optimize network performance. In this paper, we use link layer information collected from an operational, large-scale, and heavily utilized IEEE 802.11b wireless network deployed at the 62nd Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) meeting to study congestion in wireless networks. We motivate the use of channel busy-time as a direct measure of channel utilization and show how channel utilization along with network throughput and goodput can be used to define highly congested, moderately congested, and uncongested network states. Our study correlates network congestion and its effect on link-layer performance. Based on these correlations we find that (1) current rate adaptation implementations make scarce use of the 2 Mbps and 5.5 Mbps data rates, (2) the use of Request-to-Send/Clear-to-Send (RTS-CTS) prevents nodes from gaining fair access to a heavily congested channel, and (3) the use of rate adaptation, as a response to congestion, is detrimental to network performance.

Green WLANs: On-Demand WLAN Infrastructures

Enterprise wireless local area networks (WLANs) that consist of a high-density of hundreds to thousands of access points (APs) are being deployed rapidly in corporate offices and university campuses. The primary purpose of these deployments is to satisfy user demands for high bandwidth, mobility, and reliability. However, our recent study of two such WLANs showed that these networks are rarely used at their peak capacity, and the majority of their resources are frequently idle. In this paper, we bring to attention that a large fraction of idle WLAN resources results in significant energy losses. Thousands of WLANs world-wide collectively compound this problem, while raising serious concerns about the energy losses that will occur in the future. In response to this compelling problem, we propose the adoption of resource on-demand (RoD) strategies for WLANs. RoD strategies power on or off WLAN APs dynamically, based on the volume and location of user demand. As a specific solution, we propose SEAR, a practical and elegant RoD strategy for high-density WLANs. We implement SEAR on two wireless networks to show that SEAR is easy to integrate in current WLANs, while it ensures no adverse impact on end-user connectivity and performance. In our experiments, SEAR reduces power consumption to 46%. Using our results we discuss several interesting problems that open future directions of research in RoD WLANs.

Real-world environment models for mobile network evaluation

Simulation environments are an important tool for the evaluation of new concepts in networking. The study of mobile ad hoc networks depends on understanding protocols from simulations, before these protocols are implemented in a real-world setting. To produce a real-world environment within which an ad hoc network can be formed among a set of nodes, there is a need for the development of realistic, generic and comprehensive mobility, and signal propagation models. In this paper, we propose the design of a mobility and signal propagation model that can be used in simulations to produce realistic network scenarios. Our model allows the placement of obstacles that restrict movement and signal propagation. Movement paths are constructed as Voronoi tessellations with the corner points of these obstacles as Voronoi sites. Our mobility model also introduces a signal propagation model that emulates properties of fading in the presence of obstacles. As a result, we have developed a complete environment in which network protocols can be studied on the basis of numerous performance metrics. Through simulation, we show that the proposed mobility model has a significant impact on network performance, especially when compared with other mobility models. In addition, we also observe that the performance of ad hoc network protocols is effected when different mobility scenarios are utilized.

Understanding link-layer behavior in highly congested IEEE 802.11b wireless networks

The growing deployment and concomitant rise in wireless network usage necessitates the comprehensive understanding of its behavior. More importantly, as networks grow in size and number of users, congestion in the wireless portion of the network is likely to increase. We believe there is a strong need to understand the intricacies of the wireless portion of a congested network by interpreting information collected from the network. Congestion in a wireless network can be best analyzed by studying the transmission of frames at the link layer. To this end, we use vicinity sniffing techniques to analyze the link layer in an operational IEEE 802.11b wireless network. In this paper, we discuss how congestion in a network can be estimated using point-to-point link reliability. We then show how link reliability is correlated with the behavior of link-layer properties such as frame retransmissions, frame sizes, and data rates. Based on the results from these correlations, our hypothesis is that the performance of the link layer in congested networks can be improved by (1) sending smaller frames, and/or (2) using higher data rates with a fewer number of frames sent.

IQU: practical queue-based user association management for WLANs

Flash crowds and high concentrations of users in wireless LANs (WLANs) cause significant interference problems and unsustainable load at access points. This leads to poor connectivity for users, severe performance degradation, and possible WLAN collapse. To validate this claim, we present two case studies of large, heavily loaded operational WLANs. These studies provide significant insight into the degraded performance and collapse of a WLAN during heavy use. To address these problems, we propose IQU, a practical queue-based user association management system for heavily loaded WLANs. IQU grants users fair opportunities to access the WLAN while maintaining high overall throughput, even when the WLAN is heavily loaded. The basic premise of IQU is to control user associations with the WLAN through request queues and work period allocations. We implement a prototype of IQU and evaluate it on a wireless testbed. Our evaluation demonstrates that IQU significantly improves network throughput under heavy load; the tradeoff is that users have to wait for network access. We explore the impact of IQU parameters on system performance, and validate the robustness of IQU under heavy load conditions. Through IQU, WLANs can be utilized efficiently and network collapse prevented.

Experiences from the design, deployment, and usage of the UCSB MeshNet testbed

In this article we report on our effort and experience in designing, deploying, and using our 30-node wireless mesh testbed, the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB) MeshNet. Compared to simulation, the construction and utilization of a wireless mesh testbed poses many new challenges. We discuss the challenges with distributed testbed management, nonintrusive and distributed monitoring, and node status visualization. These are vital components in a sustainable wireless mesh testbed, but at the same time nontrivial to design and. realize. As a case study, we present the UCSB MeshNet architecture, including its management, monitoring, and visualization systems. We share our lessons learned from this effort and believe that they are valuable to other researchers who develop experimental wireless mesh networks

IPAC: IP-based Adaptive Packet Concatenation for Multihop Wireless Networks

Because medium contention occurs for each packet that is transmitted in a IEEE 802.11 wireless network, transmission of a large number of small packets can be particularly detrimental to performance. As a result of contention overhead, end-to-end delay and energy dissipation increase and the medium utilization decreases. In this paper, our goal is to reduce contention through concatenation of several small packets into a single large packet, and subsequently transmit this large packet. We propose IPAC, an IP-based packet concatenation protocol that adaptively selects an appropriate packet size based on the route quality. Simulation results show that with IPAC, contention is reduced by a factor of two, resulting in a throughput increase by a factor of two to three.

Study of Best-Effort VoIP Handovers between WLAN and EVDO Networks

The IEEE 802.11 based Wireless LANs (WLANs) have emerged as a viable technology for supporting real-time applications such as voice over IP (VoIP). Even the personal digital assistants and Smartphones are being equipped with WLAN, leading such devices to operate in dual-mode with the WLAN and WAN (wide area network) radios capable of supporting IP communication. This development enables applications such as VoIP to roam or handover freely across the two networks. Seamless handover of VoIP between such networks poses two challenges: the call must persist in spite of mobility across networks, and the LAN and WAN must support the delay and packet loss requirement bounds for VoIP calls. In this paper, we present an experimental study of best-effort VoIP handovers across WLAN and the CDMA EVDO networks, using Skype as the VoIP application. The objectives of our study were: to understand and evaluate the mobility events and actions taking place in a handover; to evaluate the feasibility of running VoIP over WLAN and CDMA EVDO in the process of understanding mobility; and to provide insight into further research in this area. Our study shows that EVDO link acquisition latency and downlink scheduling, and IP mobility procedures contribute towards VoIP call failures. These results provide crucial input to the design of best-effort real-time applications as well as mobility protocols.