Peng-Yong Kong

Analysis on generalized stochastically bounded bursty traffic for communication networks

We introduce the concept of generalized stochastically bounded burstiness (gSBB) for Internet traffic, the tail distribution of whose burstiness can be bounded by a decreasing function in a function class with few restrictions. This new concept extends the concept of stochastically bounded burstiness (SBB) introduced by previous researchers to a much larger extent - while the SBB model can apply to Gaussian self-similar input processes, such as fractional Brownian motion, gSBB traffic contains non-Gaussian self-similar input processes, such as /spl alpha/-stable self-similar processes, which are not SBB in general. We develop a network calculus for gSBB traffic. We characterize gSBB traffic by the distribution of its queue size. We explore the property of sums of gSBB traffic and the relation of input and output processes. We apply this calculus to a work-conserving system shared by a number of gSBB sources, to analyze the behavior of output traffic for each source and to estimate the probabilistic bounds for delays. We expect this new calculus to be of particular interest in the implementation of services with statistical qualitative guarantees.

TRITON: High speed maritime mesh networks

This paper details a novel approach of developing a low-cost and high speed maritime ship-to-ship/shore mesh network to complement or replace satellite communications in narrow water channels or traffic lanes close to shorelines. To design the system, we gathered requirements from typical users of the system. We then carried out preliminary studies such as radio channel propagation over sea water, ship movement patterns, ship rocking and its effect on radio transmission and network connectivity to determine the feasibility of using a mesh network for maritime networks. We present the architecture and detail some of our routing and scheduling design considerations that address the unique challenges of the maritime environment and provide us with framework for providing fair and equal opportunity access to users.

Information Quality Aware Routing in Event-Driven Sensor Networks

Upon the occurrence of a phenomenon of interest in a wireless sensor network, multiple sensors may be activated, leading to data implosion and redundancy. Data aggregation and/or fusion techniques exploit spatio-temporal correlation among sensory data to reduce traffic load and mitigate congestion. However, this is often at the expense of loss in Information Quality (IQ) of data that is collected at the fusion center. In this work, we address the problem of finding the least-cost routing tree that satisfies a given IQ constraint. We note that the optimal least-cost routing solution is a variation of the classical NP-hard Steiner tree problem in graphs, which incurs high overheads as it requires knowledge of the entire network topology and individual IQ contributions of each activated sensor node. We tackle these issues by proposing: (i) a topology-aware histogram-based aggregation structure that encapsulates the cost of including the IQ contribution of each activated node in a compact and efficient way; and (ii) a greedy heuristic to approximate and prune a least-cost aggregation routing path. We show that the performance of our IQ-aware routing protocol is: (i) bounded by a distance-based aggregation tree that collects data from all the activated nodes; and (ii) comparable to another IQ-aware routing protocol that uses an exhaustive brute-force search to approximate and prune the least-cost aggregation tree.

High Speed Maritime Ship-to-Ship/Shore Mesh Networks

This paper gives an overview of the TRITON project that aims to develop a high-speed maritime ship-to-ship/shore mesh network. We present the general architecture of the TRITON system and detail our preliminary studies and findings that will help us determine the feasibility of using ships and shoreline base stations to form a mesh network.

Wireless Broadband Networks

This book combines theory with advanced practical applications in wireless broadband networks, presenting the reader with a standard reference that covers all aspects of the technology. It discusses the key theories underlying wireless broadband networks and shows readers how these theories are applied to real-world systems. It is an ideal resource for researchers in electrical engineering and computer science, as well as for students in advanced undergraduate and graduate courses in these fields.

A Performance Comparison of Routing Protocols for Maritime Wireless Mesh Networks

We envisage coverage extension of the high bit rate terrestrial communication networks to the ships to reduce the cost in maritime communications. The coverage extension is achieved by forming a mobile wireless mesh network amongst neighboring ships, marine beacons and buoys. The wireless mesh network will be connected to the terrestrial networks across multiple hops via land stations at shore. In such a multi-hop wireless network, routing protocol is important. This paper compares the performance of three existing routing protocols in a maritime communication environment. The three routing protocols are OLSR, AODV and AOMDV. The performance comparison is done via simulation. In the simulation, the wireless mesh network is formed using WiMAX mesh MAC protocol. Also, the random sea surface movement and maritime communication link characteristic are simulated. From the simulation results, we found that OLSR is not as efficient as AODV and AOMDV. Also, compared to AODV, the performance of AOMDV is less affected by sea condition.

A Novel Framework to Simulate Maritime Wireless Communication Networks

We developed a framework for simulating wireless communications in the ocean environment, The framework incorporates three unique maritime features: the wave motion and its effect on wireless transmissions, the ocean surface path loss characteristics, and the mobility pattern of the ships conducting wireless transmissions. We implemented our design in the Qual-Net network simulator. Using the enhanced simulator, we were able to produce simulation results comparable to experimental measurements carried out under similar settings. In addition, we observed the expected communication quality changes as the sea condition worsens in the network simulator.

TCP Performance in IEEE 802.11-Based Ad Hoc Networks with Multiple Wireless Lossy Links

We propose a packet-level model to investigate the impact of channel error on the transmission control protocol (TCP) performance over IEEE-802.11-based multihop wireless networks. A Markov renewal approach is used to analyze the behavior of TCP Reno and TCP Impatient NewReno. Compared to previous work, our main contributions are listed as follows: 1) modeling multiple lossy links, 2) investigating the interactions among TCP, Internet Protocol (IP), and media access control (MAC) protocol layers, specifically the impact of 802.11 MAC protocol and dynamic source routing (DSR) protocol on TCP throughput performance, 3) considering the spatial reuse property of the wireless channel, the model takes into account the different proportions between the interference range and transmission range, and 4) adopting more accurate and realistic analysis to the fast recovery process and showing the dependency of throughput and the risk of experiencing successive fast retransmits and timeouts on the packet error probability. The analytical results are validated against simulation results by using GloMoSim. The results show that the impact of the channel error is reduced significantly due to the packet retransmissions on a per-hop basis and a small bandwidth delay product of ad hoc networks. The TCP throughput always deteriorates less than ~ 10 percent, with a packet error rate ranging from 0 to 0.1. Our model also provides a theoretical basis for designing an optimum long retry limit for IEEE 802.11 in ad hoc networks.

A Routing Protocol for WiMAX Based Maritime Wireless Mesh Networks

We envisage extending radio coverage of the existing terrestrial wireless broadband networks to the sea to provide ships with high speed connection to the Internet. This is achieved by forming a WiMAX-based maritime wireless mesh network where ships are network nodes connected to the land station across multiple hops. In such a wireless mesh network, routing protocol plays an important role in providing efficient and reliable communications. This paper proposes a routing protocol, called MRPT (MAC-based Routing Protocol for TRITON), that piggybacks routing information on WiMAX mesh MAC control messages. This provides proactiveness and readily available multi-path for traffic from ship to land station. For traffic from land station to ship, the proposed routing protocol uses a bitmap encoding to efficiently inform land station of the constructed routing tree. Simulation results confirm that MRPT outperforms AODV, AOMDV and OLSR in terms of delay and throughput.

Wireless Neighborhood Area Networks With QoS Support for Demand Response in Smart Grid

In order to support various innovative demand response programs, smart grid needs a wireless communication network with quality-of-service (QoS) support. This paper studies the issue of providing QoS in terms of packet delay, packet error probability, and outage probability to a large number of sensors and smart meters in a neighborhood area network of a densely populated urban area. We assume the network is based on the IEEE 802.15.4g Standard. Given that bandwidth is limited, we propose to divide smart meters into groups and each group will take a turn to access a shared wireless channel in a time-division-multiplexing manner. Within each allocated time duration, a group of smart meters will compete for channel access using a simple slotted Aloha protocol. We have developed an analytical model to quantify the QoS metrics. Through the analytical model, we can determine the minimum concentrator density that is required to support a given smart meter density. We have verified the analytical model through simulations. The results show that we need less than ten concentrators per km