Fundamental Limits in Delay-Constrained Wireless Communication

Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station, College Station TX

Investigators

Abstract

Wireless technology offers a unique mixture of connectivity, flexibility, and freedom. It plays an instrumental role in bridging the gap between mobile devices and established communication infrastructures. Today, wireless technology is being embraced with increasing vigor. This trend is reflected in the growing interest in multihop wireless networks. Wireless systems have the potential to fulfill the long-standing promise of pervasive computing and ubiquitous network access. This research initiative seeks to provide a foundation for the next radical advance in information technology: building reliable wireless multihop networks that can support delay-sensitive applications such as voice over internet protocol, video conferencing, remote control and gaming. The overarching goal of this project is to combine the concepts of queueing analysis and coding theory to enable reliable service for delay-sensitive traffic. An information theoretic perspective on wireless communication has traditionally ignored the bursty nature of practical sources and channels. By focusing on asymptotic throughput limits, information theory often overlooks the role of delay in service quality. Delay distributions, probabilities of decoding failure, and buffer occupancy profiles all have major impacts on the perceived quality of communication links. Understanding the interplay between resource allocation, code design, and system performance necessitates a new mindset and a different system perspective. Queueing-aware communication and code design are especially important in emerging multihop wireless networks, where the adverse effects of channel variations and delay get compounded by the successive relaying of information packets. This project seeks to identify a new methodology for the analysis and the design of wireless communication systems and networks based, in part, on large-deviation theory and novel coding paradigms.