Faqir Zarrar Yousaf

An accurate and extensible mobile IPv6 (xMIPV6) simulation model for OMNeT

MIPv6 is the IPv6 based mobility management protocol and it is expected to become the mobility management protocol of choice for the Next Generation Wireless Access Networks. In order to develop the understanding of the protocols behavior, its suitability for deploying in a wireless environment and in order to be able to propose and develop appropriate improvements and optimizations, it is imperative to have an accurate, reliable and scalable simulation model for the MIPv6 protocol which is fully compliant to the IETF standards and specifications. This paper presents the logic, design and performance results of an extensible MIPv6 (xMIPv6) simulation model integrated into the INET20061020 framework for the OMNeT++ discrete event simulator.

Performance Evaluation of IEEE 802.16 WiMAX Link With Respect to Higher Layer Protocols

The WiMAX technology based on the IEEE802.16-d standard is a broadband wireless access (BWA) technology and considered to be an important ingredient of the composition of the next generation networks (NGN). Till date, due to lack of deployment, not enough data is available in terms of its operational capabilities and efficiencies. The main objective of this paper is to evaluate, analyze and compare the performance of a WiMAX link under different load and traffic conditions. For this purpose an experimental WiMAX test-bed has been deployed at the Communication Network Institute (CNI), University Dortmund and several experiments and stress tests are carried out over this CNI WiMAX test-bed in the uplink and downlink directions for various service and traffic types and at various distances from the base station. The results of these experiments are presented in this paper.

CSH-MU: Client based secure handoff solution for Mobile Units

The success and efficiency of managing an emergency situation (such as rescue operation, fire fighting etc.) depends on enabling a system that would ensure the timely availability of high-quality and latest information to the emergency Mobile Units (MU). The system must ensure the provisioning of relevant information in a secure manner irrespective of the location and/or mobility of the MU. The enabling of secure and ubiquitous communication services, while the MUs are on the move, becomes more of a challenge in heterogeneous network environments due to the fact that the present public cellular network infrastructure does not support IP based mobility management functions (MIPv6, mSCTP etc.) and moreover, the interoperability between different access technologies is not well defined. In view of these restrictions, we present in this paper a novel client-based secure handoff management solution that is self-sufficient, does not require and/or rely on any changes on part of the underlying network infrastructure and enables the use of standard web browsers as well. We will present the operational details of our proposed approach and also analyze its performance based on the real implementation over the public network infrastructure. The performance will also be analyzed with respect to the influence of security mechanism such as authentication and encryption on the performance of the vertical handover process and compare the results with the standard mobility solutions such as MIPv6/NEMO and mSCTP based on experimental test beds.

NERON: A Route Optimization Scheme for Nested Mobile Networks

To manage the mobility of mobile networks, IETF has proposed MIPv6 based Network Mobility (NEMO) Basic Support protocol. However the NEMO protocol has severe performance limitations and does not specify the route optimization method for mobile networks and does not take into account the operational and functional complexities involving nested mobile networks. The Next Generation Network (NGN) however warrants and demands optimized protocol operation capabilities in terms of supporting nested mobile networks that would meet the stringent quality of service requirements imposed by NGN. This paper presents NERON: NEst Route Optimization for NEMO, an efficient and scalable approach that aims at enabling nodes behind nested mobile networks to use optimized communication paths with zero tunneling overhead and end-to-end delay, irrespective of the depth of the nest, with minimum changes to the base MIPv6 protocol and without introducing any new network entities. The performance results are validated using an accurate simulation model.

RFID Based Secure Mobile Communication Framework for Emergency Response Management

The present day challenge during emergency response is the lack of availability of latest and detailed information to the emergency personnel about the incident scene. The success of the fire mission planning depends critically on the ubiquitous availability of high-quality information (e.g., building plans, aerial photos, hazardous material databases, medical patient data) while the fire fighters are on the move. The information in question is usually distributed over several public authorities offices and, as of today, is requested of them via the traditional time-consuming postal services. Thus to ensure a secure and reliable access to such distributed databases while on the move, we present a comprehensive mobile framework that enables the interoperability of diverse information providers by using a newly proposed emergency Role based Authentication/Authorization Protocol (eRAAP). Moreover, we extend and integrate some important services in the proposed framework; such as the RFID fOr emergencY (ROY) feature that will enhance the system usability for fire brigades during rescue missions. For enabling seamless mobility support to such a system, the Network Mobility (NEMO) protocol is integrated in our framework. Besides providing functional details of the proposed framework, we will also provide performance analysis in terms of the response time and handover process based on our experimental testbed.

Solving pinball routing, race condition and loop formation issues in nested mobile networks

In order to manage the mobility of Mobile Network, IETF has specified NEMO protocol. However, the standard NEMO solution does not specify any Route Optimization mechanism, as a result of which the data is always exchanged over a bi-directional tunnel maintained between the MNet and its respective Home Agent. This in-efficient routing of packets imposes several performance issues that gets compounded for nested Mobile Networks, where data packets will be tunneled/detunneled multiple times undergoing repeated levels of encapsulations/decapsulations. Such routing of packets, commonly termed as pinball routing, is considered a serious performance limitation and its adverse effect is maximum during intra-nest communication, i.e., between two inter-communicating nodes existing within the same MNet domain. Another issue concerned with nested mobile networks is loop formation and race condition between two competing Mobile Routers. Previously, we had proposed a basic RO solution called NERON. In this paper we extend the base NERON protocol solution to solve issues due to Pinball routing phenomena, and to avoid loop formation and race condition between contending Mobile Routers.

A comprehensive mobility management solution for handling peak load in cellular network scenarios

First responders are suffering from insufficient information about the incident during alerting and operations at the scene itself. Particularly at major incident operations detailed and up-to-date multimedia information are indispensable and have to be provided as fast and reliable as possible to the rescue forces. Thus, challenging requirements on the mobile communication system like traffic prioritization, seamless handover and everywhere connectivity arise from this use case. In this paper we present a holistic approach for a suitable heterogeneous communication architecture considering the complete mobility management process that consists of mobility modeling, handover trigger algorithms and IP-based handover protocols applied on a big public event at a stadium.

Shortest Processing Time Scheduling to Reduce Traffic Congestion in Dense Urban Areas

Traffic congestion is not only a cause of nuisance for general commuters but also a factor that has a measurable impact on the economy if not handled proactively. When congestion increases, the waiting time for commuters increases which results in wasted fuel and wasted time. Wasted fuel adds to the import bill of a country and lost time results in loss of productivity. Traffic can be regulated at various points in order to reduce congestion and eliminate bottleneck areas. In this paper, we propose the use of conventional scheduling to regulate traffic at intersections in order to reduce congestion. We propose minimum destination distance first (MDDF) and minimum average destination distance first (MADDF) algorithms and compare them with some of the relevant existing scheduling algorithms. The proposed algorithms can not only be easily implemented on low cost hardware but also show better performance and outperform the existing algorithms that are considered, based on simulation results. Simulation results show that the MDDF and MADDF algorithms reduce the traffic congestion at intersections by up to 80% in some cases compared to static traffic lights.

A comprehensive MIPv6 based mobility management simulation engine for the next generation network

Mobility management is one of the core requirements of the IPv6 based NGN to provide seamless handover services to mobile entities. In this regard, IETF has proposed protocols like Mobile IPv6 (MIPv6), Fast MIPv6 (FMIPv6) and Hierarchical MIPv6 (HMIPv6) to provide efficient mobility services. Due to the lack of deployment, there is not enough empirical data available to determine the efficacy of these protocols in the context of NGN. For this purpose, there is a need to develop an accurate and reliable simulation framework with the help of which the users can quickly test the validity of such protocols under a variety of network and load conditions. The simulation framework should also allow the user to rapidly develop and test prototype solutions and algorithms for attaining optimum performance goals. In this paper we present the logic, design and performance results of an OMNeT++ based Mobility Management Simulation Engine for IPv6 networks, which enables the user to accurately test the performance of protocols such as MIPv6, FMIPv6 and HMIPv6, and their possible combination on a single unified platform.

Feasibility of deploying wireless sensor based road side solutions for Intelligent Transportation Systems

The effectiveness of Intelligent Transportation Systems depends on the accuracy and timely reliable provisioning of real time data supplied by traffic data collection mechanisms. Data collection through wireless sensor networks is a very effective approach due to their easy installation, low cost, processing capabilities, small size, flexibility, and wireless communication capabilities. WSN are used in ITS for smart parking lots, adaptive traffic light control, accident avoidance and traffic estimation etc. In this paper we propose a WSN based road side communication architecture and system that can be utilized for the intelligent control and management of vehicular traffic at road intersections. In the proposed architecture, the end nodes are carried by vehicles that communicate with road side units, which in turn send the data to the coordinator module at the intersection. We introduce a reliable and robust channel switching technique that reduces the response time, energy consumption and connectivity delay while increasing the reliability of packet delivery. We perform sensitivity analysis of the proposed system architecture by varying various communication parameters to determine optimum system configuration. The results prove the integrity and feasibility of the deployment of our proposed architecture.