NeTS-NBD: WLAN Resource Management Using Multi-Agent Systems

University Of North Carolina At Charlotte, Charlotte NC

Investigators

Abstract

This research investigates cooperative resource management among multiple WLANs (wireless local area networks) in WLAN/WPAN (wireless personal area networks) interference environments. The proliferation of WLAN deployments causes frequent geographical coverage overlap among multiple networks. When this occurs, the lack of cooperative resource management results in significant performance degradation due to inter-WLAN interference. Moreover, unbalanced loads among multiple networks can incur congestion in a few WLANs while there are unused resources in others. The objective of this research is to manage shared system resources fairly among multiple WLANs to optimize the overall performance. This research emphasizes the underlying predictability of network conditions and promotes management solutions tailored to different interference environments. A multi-agent system-based approach is proposed to achieve information sharing and decision distribution among multiple WLANs in a distributed manner. This research addresses the distributed constraint optimization problem (DCOP) in WLANs and studies the effectiveness of DCOP algorithms to find the optimal resource assignment through communications between distributed agents. Expected results from the project will have a significant impact on next generation WLAN network management based on employing algorithms of agent interaction and coordination to facilitate resource management, predictive models for parameter estimation, and dynamic load balancing algorithms. Research results could be used to support the FCC initiative to improve spectrum utilization as well as to support incident management. Research results will be broadly disseminated and made available to the public by constructing and maintaining a web-site to archive all reports, software, and research papers developed as part of this research.