CAREER: Design and Control of Wireless Networks on Network-Information-Theoretic Foundations

Ohio State University, The, Columbus OH

Investigators

Abstract

Network resource allocation deals with efficiently managing the scarce resources available with the objective of providing us with practical algorithms to achieve high performance in wireless networks. On the other hand, network information theory develops conceptual tools to build new mechanisms to exploit the full capacity of wireless networks. Currently there is a significant gap between the information theoretic capacities of wireless networks and the performances achieved by existing resource allocation schemes. This project aims to bridge these two separate perspectives to close this performance gap. To that end, it develops practical network algorithms over an underlying infrastructure of multiuser channels along with the appropriate information theoretic mechanisms. To achieve this task, it proceeds along the following main research thrusts: (1) network design, which involves the optimal construction and dynamic update of multiuser channels; (2) network control, based on joint optimization of physical and the network layers and the development of the necessary stochastic optimization tools; (3) design of low-complexity multiuser channel schedulers with a near-optimal performance; (4) performance evaluation of the developed algorithms through real link-level measurements. The outcome of the research has the potential to give us performance gains by more than an order of magnitude, which will enable the design and implementation of faster, more reliable, and more robust wireless networks operating under a variety of conditions. Dissemination of the research will be achieved by submitting the results for publication in refereed scholarly journals, presentation in conferences and symposia, and lectures and workshops in academic and industrial settings.