Malathi Veeraraghavan

Support of voice services in IEEE 802.11 wireless LANs

The IEEE 802.11 MAC protocol supports two modes of operation, a random access mode for non-real-time data applications, and a polling mode for real-time applications. We design and analyze a system that uses the polling mode for interactive voice traffic. With larger inter-poll periods, more voice calls can be accommodated, but at the expense of increased delay. For example, our analysis shows that with an inter-poll period of 90 ms, a maximum of 26 voice calls can be handled with a worst-case delay of 303 ms, whereas with an inter-poll period of 60 ms, a maximum of 17 voice calls can be handled with a worst-case delay of 213 ms. We also carry out an error analysis that demonstrates the need for error correction of voice packets.

Mobile location management in ATM networks

This paper presents two mobile location management algorithms for ATM (asynchronous transfer mode) networks based on the PNNI (private network-to-network interface) standard. The first solution is called the mobile PNNI scheme because it builds on the PNNI routing protocol. It uses limited-scope (characterized by a parameter S) reachability updates, forwarding pointers, and a route optimization procedure. The second solution is called the LR (location registers) scheme because it introduces location registers (such as the cellular home and visitor location registers) into the PNNI standards-based hierarchical networks. This scheme uses a hierarchical arrangement of location registers with the hierarchy limited to a certain level S. Analytical models are set up to compare the average move, search, and total costs per move of these two schemes for different values of the CMR (call-to-mobility ratio), and to provide guidelines for selecting parameters of the algorithms. Results show that at low CMRs (CMR<0.025), the LR scheme performs better than the mobile PNNI scheme. We also observe that the two schemes show a contrasting behavior in terms of the value to be used for the parameter S to achieve the least average total cost. At low CMRs, the parameter S should be high for the mobile PNNI scheme, but low for the LR scheme, and vice versa for high CMRs.

A wireless broadband ad-hoc ATM local-area network

We describe the theory, design and ongoing prototyping of a wireless ATM LAN/PBX capable of supporting mobile users with multi-Mb/s access rates and multi-Gb/s aggregate capacities. Our proposed LAN Consists of network nodes called Portable Base Stations (PBS) providing microcell coverage. The PBSs are designed to be low-cost, compact and high-speed and can be relocated conveniently. We employ a concept ofad-hoc networking in the layout of the PBS-to-PBS interconnection. That is, the PBSs can be distributed in an arbitrary topology to form a backbone network and can be reconfigured with relative ease. The PBS-to-PBS backbone links are high-speed (Gb/s) for supporting high system capacity. Although they can either be wired or wireless, our emphasis is on wireless implementations. The user-to-PBS links, on the other hand, are primarily for mobile access (e.g., 2–20 Mb/s) and therefore are wireless. Wired connections from stationary users to PBSs are also possible. Typical mobile users are assumed to be laptops or notebook computers. Services supported include conventional data applications (e.g., over TCP/IP or SPX/IPX) as well as multimedia (video, voice and data) applications with QoS (Quality-of-Service) guarantees. A “wireless ATM” concept is proposed so as to provide seamless internetworking with other wired ATM local and wide-area net-works. Algorithms and control in our network are highly distributed for simple implementations and ease of mobility management. A new wireless VP/VC concept and a Homing Algorithm are described to provide ATM cell routing and connections in the network. PBS hardware and software architectures are discussed. Call management, network management and signaling are designed for simplicity, high performance and modular implementations. A fast network restoration scheme is proposed to cope with the potential link or node failures in the ad-hoc network. Error control is addressed taking the unreliable wireless links into consideration. Finally, a prototyping project called BAHAMA (Broadband Ad Hoc ATM Anywhere) for demonstrating this network concept is briefly outlined.

Mobility and connection management in a wireless ATM LAN

This paper proposes algorithms for handoff, location, and connection management in a wireless asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) local-area network (LAN). Fast handoffs while maintaining cell sequence and quality-of-service (QoS) guarantees are achieved by distributing switching functionality to base stations, and using a networking scheme based on provisioned virtual trees. A new distributed location management scheme using a minimal registration procedure and broadcasts on wired links is proposed for this LAN. The detailed signaling procedures that support the algorithms for mobility and connection management are described. Finally, an implementation of these procedures and an analysis of the measured data is presented. Measurements of service times obtained from this implementation indicate that over 100 calls/s. can be handled by each node in 50-node network with a high-percentage of mobiles (75%) relative to fixed endpoints. This is comparable to current wired ATM switch call handling throughputs, in spite of the fact that these nodes perform additional handoff and location management functions. The data also indicates handoff latency times of 1.3 ms. This validates our proposal for maintaining cell sequence while performing handoffs.

CHEETAH: circuit-switched high-speed end-to-end transport architecture testbed

We propose a circuit-switched high-speed end-to-end transport architecture (CHEETAH) as a networking solution to provide high-speed end-to-end circuit connectivity to end hosts on a dynamic call-by-call basis. Not only is it envisioned as a complementary service to the basic connectionless service provided by todays Internet; it also relies on and leverages the presence of this service. Noting the dominance of Ethernet in LANs and SONET/SDH in WANs, CHEETAH circuits consists of Ethernet segments at the ends and Ethernet-over-SONET segments in the wide area. In this article we explain the CHEETAH concept and describe a wide-area experimental network testbed we have deployed based on this concept. The network testbed currently extends between Raleigh, North Carolina, Atlanta, Georgia, and Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and uses off-the-shelf switches. We have created CHEETAH software to run on end hosts to enable automated use of this network by applications. Our first users of this network testbed and software is the terascale supernova initiative (TSI) project researchers, who plan to use this network for large file transfers and remote visualizations.

An improved algorithm for symbolic reliability analysis

The authors describe an efficient Boolean algebraic algorithm to compute the probability of a union of nondisjoint sets as applied to symbolic reliability analysis. Coherent networks and fault-trees with statistically-independent components characterized by their minimal pathsets or cutsets are used as examples for generating the nondisjoint sets. The algorithm uses the concept of multiple variable inversion originally proposed by A. Grnarov et al. (1979). The authors illustrate improvements in the use of the multiple variable inversion technique for this problem using two examples. The algorithm is extended to compute the reliability importance of a given component (sensitivity of system reliability to the component reliability). A computer program implementing the modified algorithm is used to solve and obtain measured time complexities for a large set of network and fault tree models. >

A survey of efficient reliability computation using disjoint products approach

Several algorithms have been developed to solve the reliability problem for nonseries-parallel networks using the sum of disjoint products (SDP) approach. This paper provides a general framework for most of these techniques. It reviews methods that help improve computer time and memory requirements in reliability computation. These parameters are generally used to compare SDP algorithms. We also overview three multiple variable inversion algorithms that result in sum of disjoint products expressions with fewer terms than that of algorithms that use only a single-variable inversion. One common network is solved for two-terminal network reliability using each of these algorithms. Finally, we have provided a comparison among these techniques.

Reliability modeling: an overview for system designers

The role of reliability models in system design is examined. Methods for predicting system reliability are discussed, covering the choice of metric for analysis, creating the system reliability model, and refining the model. A case study is presented to illustrate reliability modeling.<<ETX>>

Architectures and protocols that enable new applications on optical networks

This article first discusses how advances in networking architectures and protocols can complement advances in optical communications research to increase the overall value of optical networks by enabling more applications. A review of existing optical networking solutions is then provided along with a classification of different types of optical networks. Finally, we show how single-hop and multihop wavelength-routed networks can be used efficiently for fast end-to-end file transfers when these networks are equipped with a hardware-implementable signaling protocol, a routing protocol, and a simple transport protocol.

A combinatorial algorithm for performance and reliability analysis using multistate models

The need for the combined performance and reliability analysis of fault tolerant systems is increasing. The common approach to formulating and solving such problems is to use (semi-)Markov reward models. However, the large size of state spaces is a problem that plagues Markovian models. Combinatorial models have been used for modeling reliability and availability of complex systems without paying the price of large Markov models. However, assumptions of two-state behavior of components (and that of the system), independence assumptions of component state transitions, and restrictive repair assumptions decrease the potential of combinatorial models for realistic systems. The authors propose a combinatorial algorithm for the combined performance and reliability analysis of coherent repairable systems with multistate components, allowing interdependent component state transitions. An example illustrating the algorithm is also presented. >