Ben McCarthy

BurstProbe: debugging time-critical data delivery in wireless sensor networks

In this paper we present BurstProbe, a new technique to accurately measure link burstiness in a wireless sensor network employed for time-critical data delivery. Measurement relies on shared probing slots that are embedded in the transmission schedule and used by nodes to assess link burstiness over time. The acquired link burstiness information can be stored in the nodes flash memory and relied upon to diagnose transmission problems when missed deadlines occur. Thus, accurate diagnosis is achieved in a distributed manner and without the overhead of transmitting rich measurement data to a central collection point. For the purpose of evaluation we have implemented BurstProbe in the GinMAC WSN protocol and we are able to demonstrate it is an accurate tool to debug time-critical data delivery. In addition, we analyze the cost of implementing BurstProbe and investigate its effectiveness.

Protocols to efficiently support nested NEMO (NEMO

The NEMO Basic Support (NEMO BS) protocol provides a technique for enabling entire networks of IPv6 hosts to gain Internet access and remain reachable via constant, unaltered addresses whilst their underlying location in the Internet changes. In addition to individual hosts, this NEMO model also supports entire mobile networks connecting to other mobile networks, resulting in topologies known as Nested NEMO networks. In this paper we explain the inefficiencies that arise if NEMO BS is used to support this type of scenario and introduce our NEMO+ suite of protocols which are designed to optimise performance in Nested NEMO networks. We detail the Tree Discovery (TD), Network In Node Advertisement (NINA) and Reverse Routing Header (RRH) protocols that make up the NEMO+ suite and provide experimental evaluation results from a testbed comprising of our two distinct protocol implementation platforms (Linux and Cisco IOS). In addition we present simulation results based on scenarios of mass deployment of NEMO+ enabled mobile networks in order to determine the feasibility of our approach to efficiently support Nested NEMO networks.

Using NEMO to Support the Global Reachability of MANET Nodes

Mobile ad hoc network (MANET) routing protocols have been the focus of an accomplished research effort for many years within the networking community and now the results of this effort are beginning to show. With protocol development maturing (and now typically concentrating on a smaller number of standardised routing protocols), increasing numbers of deployment successes are materialising. However, despite these successes and the relative stability of the protocol implementations, seamlessly incorporating MANETs into the Internet still presents many challenges that have hindered their deployment in important mobile scenarios. In this paper we discuss the inherent properties that have affected the adoption of MANET solutions and present an innovative new protocol which has been designed to comprehensively address these challenges. Using performance results acquired from our experimental testbed, we demonstrate how our approach can be used to produce MANET solutions that are highly suited to use in synergy with the current Internet architecture. Our protocol is based on the concept of integrating MANET routing protocols with network mobility (NEMO) technologies to produce what is termed a MANEMO solution. This has meant that by utilising the properties of both of these technologies we have been able to realise a solution that provides mobile networks with the efficient localised communication and robustness of MANETs, as well as the global reachability and the ability to provide structured AAA that a NEMO approach can support.

WSN evaluation in industrial environments first results and lessons learned

The GINSENG project develops performance-controlled wireless sensor networks that can be used for time-critical applications in hostile environments such as industrial plant automation and control. GINSENG aims at integrating wireless sensor networks with existing enterprise resource management solutions using a middleware. A cornerstone is the evaluation in a challenging industrial environment — an oil refinery in Portugal. In this paper we first present our testbed. Then we introduce our solution to access, debug and flash the sensor nodes remotely from an operations room in the plant or from any location with internet access. We further present our experimental methodology and show some exemplary results from the refinery testbed.

Advances in MANEMO: Definition of the Problem Domain and the Design of a NEMO-Centric Approach

The integration of MANET and NEMO technologies to produce what are commonly termed MANEMO solutions is a burgeoning concept that has the possibility to provide IP connectivity across many diverse problem areas. However, even in research terms MANEMO is in a very early stage of development and consequently no standardised understanding of what MANEMO specifically refers to has yet been decided upon. In this paper we introduce the MANEMO concept as a whole and identify what we believe to be the two main solution areas contained in the MANEMO problem domain, namely NEMO-centric MANEMO (NCM) and MANET-centric MANEMO (MCM). In addition to defining these two instances of MANEMO we also highlight the design decisions and implementation considerations that are encountered when developing an NCM protocol through the introduction of our NCM protocol implementation that we are currently producing at Lancaster University

Applying NEMO to a mountain rescue domain

In an effort to provide a solution to the problem of internetworking mountain rescue workers without the use of a fixed infrastructure, our group has explored the use of a network model based on the concept of Network Mobility and the use of the NEMO Basic Support Protocol In this paper we consider the feasibility of this approach through the design, configuration and testing of a working example of this scenario using an implementation of the NEMO Basic Support Protocol made available to us by Cisco Systems (running on their 3200 Series Mobile Access Router platform) We provide the results from performance testing carried out over our testbed that highlights the real impact of the scalability problems of the NEMO Basic Support Protocol in a scenario which results in a nested NEMO topology In addition we present results that illustrate the performance improvements achievable in our scenario through using the NEMO Route Optimisation (RO) solution, Reverse Routing Header (RRH).

Using NEMO to Extend the Functionality of MANETs

Network mobility is an established topic of research which has the potential capability to support many valuable scenarios. Specifically, the ability to support the mobility of entire networks of IP enabled devices that are oblivious to the changing network conditions beneath them is particularly useful to numerous scenarios such as vehicle based networks and personal area networks (PAN). In this paper, we present an efficient and scalable approach that allows mobile networks to intercommunicate and be reachable via the Internet both directly (via their own Internet connection) and indirectly (via another mobile network with an Internet connection). The implemented approach is based on the concept of combining the beneficial features of mobile ad-hoc networking (MANET) protocols and the network mobility basic support (NEMO BS) protocol to develop what is known as a MANEMO solution. In the paper we highlight the key performance characteristics of our protocol through analysis of our implementation in a testbed environment.

Network transparency in a mountain rescue domain

Purpose – This paper aims to discuss network transparency in a mountain rescue domain and aims to introduce the relatively new research concept of MANEMO (MANET + NEMO) and the mountain rescue IP network model developed at Lancaster University.Design/methodology/approach – An analysis of IP mobility techniques that have been designed for use in the Internet today is provided as background, as well as an overview of the whole MANEMO domain. Highlights the importance of the MANEMO concept by working with real scenarios and developing practical implementations (as opposed to simulation).Findings – During the research it was found that combining the localised multi‐hop behaviour of MANET techniques and the global reachability of NEMO can be a mutually beneficial process. The benefits afforded by using MANET techniques can bring advantages to NEMO scenarios and vice‐versa. Identifying this fact has given rise to the development of two distinct MANEMO scenarios, MANET‐Centric and NEMO‐Centric MANEMO. Finally, t...

Supporting Nested NEMO networks with the Unified MANEMO Architecture

The NEMO Basic Support protocol is a Home Agent based technique (derived from Mobile IPv6) that permits the mobility of a network of IPv6 devices to be supported through the use of a dedicated Mobile Router. This NEMO Mobile Router accepts connections from IPv6 nodes and transparently manages any IP mobility on their behalf, which means that as well as individual hosts, a NEMO Mobile Router can also accept connections from other NEMO mobile networks. When this occurs, the inter-connected NEMO mobile networks form a highly inefficient topology known as a Nested NEMO network. In this paper we describe this concept and examine the properties of Nested NEMO networks. In particular we highlight how their communication patterns differ from typical Mobile Ad hoc Networks (MANET) and present example scenarios which demonstrate their potential application domain. We present the Unified MANEMO Architecture (UMA), a solution which has been developed in order to efficiently support these Nested NEMO scenarios. Through varying experimental testbed configurations, we provide an evaluation of the protocols performance and demonstrate how our approach is able to be deployed over the current Internet architecture without requiring any augmentation to access networks or the core Internet infrastructure.

A collaborative AAA architecture to enable secure real-world network mobility

Mobile Networks are emerging in the real world in various scenarios, from networks in public transportation to personal networks in consumer electronics. The NEMO BS protocol provides constant network connectivity and reachability for the nodes of these Mobile Networks in a seamless manner despite their roaming. However, NEMO BS has yet to show its advantages in real world deployment because it lacks troublefree and secure network access for the whole network, and secure data transmission for the nodes it provides connectivity for. On the other hand, Access Networks provide connectivity for Mobile Networks, but currently lack a robust AAA service which would enable network mobility support in a fast, trouble-free, but also secure and authenticated manner. Our paper describes a collaborative Unified Architecture that satisfies the requirements of both Mobile Networks and Access Networks, and our evaluation proves its efficiency and applicability for real world deployment in todays Internet infrastructure.