CAREER: Multiple-Layer Modeling and Design of Wireless Ad Hoc Networks

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy NY

Investigators

Abstract

Wireless ad-hoc networks enable high utility applications for disaster recovery or military situations, mesh networks of homes, and wireless sensing networks. This work considers multiple-layer modeling, optimization, and design of multi-hop wireless ad hoc networks. It includes the two, currently debated, architectural choices - cross-layer and layered. The project contributes to practical design as well as fundamental/theoretical understanding. It considers three canonical problems: optimal correlated data aggregation, (cooperative) data relaying, and delay-throughput optimality. Mathematical tools used include information theory, stochastic decision processes, queuing theory and algorithm complexity. Simulations of the new models complement the mathematical analysis. Some of the resulting designs are prototyped experimentally. The project involves undergraduate and graduate students, a jointly developed outreach plan with a high school teacher, and course/laboratory development. Results, including software code, are disseminated through the project web page as well as regular publications.