Cooperative utilization of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in public and military surveillance applications has attracted significant attention in recent years. Most UAVs are equipped with sensors and wireless communication equipment with limited ranges. Such limitations pose challenging problems to monitor mobile targets. This paper examines fulfilling surveillance objectives to achieve better coverage while building a resilient network between UAVs with an extended lifetime. The multiple target tracking problem is studied by including a relay UAV within the fleet whose trajectory is autonomously calculated in order to achieve a reliable connected network among all UAVs. Optimization problems are formulated for single-hop and multi-hop communications among UAVs. Three heuristic algorithms are proposed for multi-hop communications and their performances are evaluated. A hybrid algorithm, which dynamically switches between single-hop and multi-hop communications is also proposed. The effect of the time horizon considered in the optimization problem is also studied. Performance evaluation results show that the trajectories generated for the relay UAV by the hybrid algorithm can achieve network lifetimes that are within 95% of the maximum possible network lifetime which can be obtained if the entire trajectories of all targets were known a priori.

Abstract We investigate how multi‐hop routing affects the goodput and throughput performances of IEEE 802.11 distributed coordination function‐based wireless networks compared with direct transmission (single hopping), when medium access control dynamics such as carrier sensing, collisions, retransmissions, and exponential backoff are taken into account under hidden terminal presence. We propose a semi‐Markov chain‐based goodput and throughput model for IEEE 802.11‐based wireless networks, which works accurately with both multi‐hopping and single hopping for different network topologies and over a large range of traffic loads. Results show that, under light traffic, there is little benefit of parallel transmissions and both single‐hop and multi‐hop routing achieve the same end‐to‐end goodput. Under moderate traffic, concurrent transmissions are favorable as multi‐hopping improves the goodput up to 730% with respect to single hopping for dense networks. At heavy traffic, multi‐hopping becomes unstable because of increased packet collisions and network congestion, and single‐hopping achieves higher network layer goodput compared with multi‐hop routing. As for the link layer throughput is concerned, multi‐hopping increases throughput 75 times for large networks, whereas single hopping may become advantageous for small networks. The results point out that the end‐to‐end goodput can be improved by adaptively switching between single hopping and multi‐hopping according to the traffic load and topology. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

We propose a model for the energy consumption of a node as a function of its throughput in a wireless CSMA network. We first model a single-hop network, and then a multi-hop network. We show that operating the CSMA network at a high throughput is energy inefficient since unsuccessful carrier sensing attempts increase the energy consumption per transmitted bit. Operating the network at a low throughput also causes energy inefficiency because of increased sleeping duration. Achieving a balance between these two opposite operating regimes, we derive the energy-optimum carrier-sensing rate and the energy-optimum throughput which maximize the number of transmitted bits for a given energy budget. For the single-hop case, we show that the energy-optimum total throughput increases as the number of nodes sharing the channel increases. For the multi-hop case, we show that energy-optimum throughput decreases as the degree of the conflict graph corresponding to the network increases. For both cases, the energy-optimum throughput reduces as the power required for carrier-sensing increases. The energy-optimum throughput is also shown to be substantially lower than the maximum throughput and the gap increases as the degree of the conflict graph increases for multi-hop networks.

We analyze the performance of the CSMA protocol under propagation delays that are comparable with packet transmission times. We propose a semi-Markov model for the 2-node CSMA channel. For the 2-node case, the capacity reduces to 40% of the zero-delay capacity when the one-way propagation delay is 10% of the packet transmission time. We then extend this model and obtain the optimum symmetric probing rate that achieves the maximum network throughput as a function of the average propagation delay, d̅, and the number of nodes sharing the channel, N. The proposed model predicts that the total capacity decreases with d̅-1as N goes to infinity when all nodes probe the channel at the optimum rate. The optimum probing rate for each node decreases with 1/N and the total optimum probing rate decreases faster than d̅-1as N goes to infinity. We investigate how the short-term unfairness problem in CSMA worsens as the propagation delay increases and propose a back-off mechanism to mitigate this issue. The theoretical results presented in this paper can be used as a benchmark for the performance improvements provided by algorithms that have already been developed.

We present an analytical model for the IEEE 802.11 DCF in multihop wireless networks that considers hidden terminals and accurately works for a large range of traffic loads. An energy model, which considers energy consumption due to collisions, retransmissions, exponential backoff and freezing mechanisms, and overhearing of nodes, and the proposed IEEE 802.11 DCF analytical model are used to analyze the energy consumption of various relaying strategies. The results show that the energy-efficient relaying strategy depends significantly on the traffic load. Under light traffic, energy spent during idle mode dominates, making any relaying strategy nearly optimal. Under moderate traffic, energy spent during idle and receive modes dominates and multihop transmissions become more advantageous where the optimal hop number varies with processing power consumed at relay nodes. Under very heavy traffic, where multihopping becomes unstable due to increased collisions, direct transmission becomes more energy efficient. The choice of relaying strategy is observed to affect energy efficiency more for large and homogeneous networks where it is beneficial to use multiple short hops each covering similar distances. The results indicate that a cross-layered relaying approach, which dynamically changes the relaying strategy, can substantially save energy as the network traffic load changes in time.

In this paper, we present OA-TDMA (OLSR-Aware TDMA), a TDMA based cross-layer channel access scheduling scheme which uses the information collected by the OLSR routing protocol. In OA-TDMA, each node makes decisions in a distributed manner with no central control, using the local information disseminated by the OLSR protocol. The distinctive feature of the OA-TDMA protocol lies in its weighting scheme where OA-TDMA approximates the traffic passing through each node by using the local topology information collected by OLSR. Our simulations on ns-2 confirm the significant performance improvement achieved by the combination of OLSR and OA- TDMA over other scheduling schemes considered in this paper.

Increasing demand for bandwidth and proliferation of packet based traffic represent a challenge for today's metro networks, which have been traditionally designed to carry circuit- switched connections. The problem is further complicated by the constraints of cost efficiency and traffic adaptability, imposed by the limited customer base in the metro area. Recently, several architectures have been proposed for future metro access networks. Nearly all of these solutions support dynamic reconfigurability, however reconfiguration policies have not been fully explored yet. In this paper, reconfiguration policies for IP/WDM metro access networks with switching delays are considered, where dynamic reconfiguration corresponds to dynamic allocation of wavelengths to access nodes. Exact formulation of the dynamic wavelength allocation (DWA) problem is developed as a Markov Decision Process (MDP) and a new cost function is proposed to attain both throughput efficiency and fairness. For larger problems, a heuristic approach based on first passage probabilities is developed and shown to yield nearly optimum performance through simulations.

In this paper, we study an asynchronous optical packet switching node equipped with a number of limited range or full range wavelength converters shared per node. The packet traffic is realistically modeled by a superposition of a finite number of on-off sources as opposed to the traditional Poisson model which ignores the limited number of ports on a switch. We both study circular and non-circular limited range wavelength conversion schemes. In our simulations, we employ the far conversion policy where the optical packet is switched onto the farthest available wavelength in the tuning range, which is known to outperform the random conversion policy. We propose an approximate analytical method based on block tridiagonal Markov chains and fixed point iterations to solve for the blocking probabilities in share per node wavelength conversion systems. The method provides an accurate approximation for full range systems and acceptable results for limited range systems.

Burst assembly mechanism is one of the fundamental factors that determine the performance of an optical burst switching (OBS) network. In this paper, we investigate the influence of number of burstifiers on TCP performance for an OBS network. An ns2-based OBS network simulator is developed for simulating the optical network. The goodput of TCP flows between an ingress and an egress nodes traveling through an optical network is studied for different values of the number of assembly buffers per destination. First, the losses resulting from the congestion in the core OBS network are modeled using a burst independent Bernoulli loss model. Then, a background burst traffic is generated to create contention at a core node in order to realize a burst dependent loss model. Simulation results show that for an OBS network employing timer-based assembly algorithm, TCP goodput increases as the number of burst assemblers is increased for both types of loss models. The improvement from one burstifier to moderate number of burst assemblers is significant (15-50% depending on the burst loss probability, processing delay and the TCP version), but the goodput difference between moderate number of buffers and per- flow aggregation is relatively small, implying that a cost-effective OBS edge switch implementation should use moderate number of assembly buffers per destination for enhanced TCP performance.

This papers reports the advances in optical core networks research coordinated in the framework of the e- photon/ONe and e-photon/ONe+ networks of excellence.

In this paper, we study the blocking probabilities in a wavelength division multiplexing-based asynchronous bufferless optical packet/burst switch equipped with a bank of tuneable wavelength converters dedicated to each output fiber line. Wavelength converter sharing, also referred to as partial wavelength conversion, corresponds to the case of a number of converters shared amongst a larger number of wavelength channels. In this study, we present a probabilistic framework for exactly calculating the packet blocking probabilities for optical packet/burst switching systems utilizing wavelength converter sharing. In our model, packet arrivals at the optical switch are first assumed to be Poisson and later generalized to the more general Markovian arrival process to cope with very general traffic patterns whereas packet lengths are assumed to be exponentially distributed. As opposed to the existing literature based on approximations and/or simulations, we formulate the problem as one of finding the steady-state solution of a continuous-time Markov chain with a block tridiagonal infinitesimal generator. To find such solutions, we propose a numerically efficient and stable algorithm based on block tridiagonal LU factorizations. We show that exact blocking probabilities can be efficiently calculated even for very large systems and rare blocking probabilities, e.g., systems with 256 wavelengths per fiber and blocking probabilities in the order of 10-40. Relying on the stability and speed of the proposed algorithm, we also provide a means of provisioning wavelength channels and converters in optical packet/burst switching systems.

In this paper, we study the blocking probabilities in a wavelength division multiplexing-based asynchronous bufferless optical burst switch equipped with a bank of tuneable wavelength converters that is shared per output link. The site of this bank is generally chosen to be less than the number of wavelengths on the link because of the relatively high cost of wavelength converters using current technologies; this case is referred to as partial wavelength conversion in the literature. We present a probabilistic framework for exactly calculating the blocking probabilities. Burst durations are assumed to be exponentially distributed. Burst arrivals are first assumed to be Poisson and later generalized to the more general phase-type distribution. Unlike existing literature based on approximations and/or simulations, we formulate the problem as one of finding the steady-state solution of a continuous-time Markov chain with a block tridiagonal infinitesimal generator. We propose a numerically efficient and stable solution technique based on block tridiagonal LU factorizations. We show that blocking probabilities can exactly and efficiently be found even for very large systems and rare blocking probabilities. Based on the results of this solution technique, we also show how this analysis can be used for provisioning wavelength channels and converters.

We discuss an energy-efficient, distributed Bluetooth scatternet formation algorithm based on device and link characteristics (SF-DeviL). SF-DeviL forms multihop scatternets with tree topologies and increases the battery lifetimes of devices by using device types, battery levels, and received signal strengths. The topology is dynamically reconfigured in SF-DeviL by depleting the battery levels and it is shown through simulations that the network lifetime is increased by at least 32% compared to LMS algorithm [C. Law et al., 2003].

Bluetooth has become very popular owing to the fact that it is a promising ad-hoc networking technology for short ranges. Although construction and operation of piconets is well defined in Bluetooth specifications, there is no unique standard for scatternet formation and operation. In this paper, we propose a distributed Bluetooth scatternet formation algorithm based on device and link characteristics (SF-DeviL). SF-DeviL handles energy efficiency using class devices and the received signal strength. SF-DeviL forms scatternets that are robust to position changes and battery depletions.

In this paper we study traffic engineering of restorable paths in multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) networks. We consider off-line computation of working and restoration paths with path rerouting as the restoration scheme. First we compute a link-disjoint path set for given set of demands. Using this path set we study four approaches for selecting working and restoration paths, and formulate each method as an integer linear programming (ILP) problem. A traffic uncertainty model is developed in order to compare these approaches based on their robustness with respect to changing traffic patterns. We obtain numerical results and compare these design approaches based on the number of additional demands carried and the distribution of residual capacity over the network.

Wavelength division multiplexed point-to-point transport is becoming commonplace in wide area networks. With the expectation that the next step is end-to-end networking of wavelengths (in the optical domain without conversion to electronics), there is a need for new design techniques, a new understanding of the performance issues, and a new performance evaluation methodology in such networks. This paper describes approaches to that end, summarizes research results, and points to open problems.

We propose and analyze layered switch architectures that possess high design flexibility, greatly reduced switch size, and high expandability. The improvement in loss and crosstalk due to the reduced switch size is also discussed. Theoretical models have been developed to compute the network blocking probability using these architectures. Low blocking probability and high network utilization are achieved because of the capability of communication between layers in adjacent switches. The results show that the proposed layered switch architectures are very attractive for high-capacity optical transport networks.

Wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) technology is emerging as the transmission and switching mechanism for future optical mesh networks. In these networks it is desired that a wavelength can be routed without electrical conversions. Two technologies are possible for this purpose: wavelength selective cross-connects (WSXC) and wavelength interchanging cross-connects (WIXC), which involve wavelength conversion. It is believed that wavelength converters may improve the blocking performance, but there is a mix of results in the literature on the amount of this performance enhancement. We use two metrics to quantify the wavelength conversion gain: the reduction in blocking probability and the increase in maximum utilization, compared to a network without converters. We study the effects of wavelength routing and selection algorithms on these measures for mesh networks. We use the overflow model to analyze the blocking probability for wavelength-selective (WS) mesh networks using the first-fit wavelength assignment algorithm. We propose a dynamic routing and wavelength selection algorithm, the least-loaded routing (LLR) algorithm, which jointly selects the least-loaded route-wavelength pair. In networks both with and without wavelength converters the LLR algorithm achieves much better blocking performance compared to the fixed shortest path routing algorithm. The LLR produces larger wavelength conversion gains; however, these large gains are not realized in sufficiently wide utilization regions and are diminished with the increased number of fibers.

Broadband network are developed to carry a wide range of traffic which has different characteristics and grade-of-service (GoS) requirements. To meet these distinct requirements, we propose to decompose each network component into multiple sub-components. Each sub-component has a dedicated bandwidth and buffer, and it only carries traffic which has a similar GoS requirement. Thus it will reduce the interference from other types of traffic which has totally different GoS requirements. First, we develop a GoS-based pricing scheme which will entail the resources are efficiently utilized. The equilibrium stability is also studied. Then we address the problem of how to optimally allocate available resources among the sub-components. Resource expansion becomes necessary when the network is congested. Two kinds of routing schemes are proposed. One is least cost routing for GoS-insensitive traffic and the other is best GoS routing for GoS-sensitive traffic.

We consider the use of large buffers and feedback as a mechanism to maintain loosely coupled synchronization between a multimedia server and a client. The multimedia stream is modeled as a fluid flow through rate controlled valves and buffers with multiple thresholds. These thresholds are used to control the rates upstream. The quality of service for the multimedia connection is characterized in terms of the jitter in the received media stream due to buffer underflow and overflow. This quality of service is used to exercise rate and admission control in the presence of congestion. The feedback mechanism is, implemented in GRAMS (gopher-style real time ATM multimedia system), an adaptive multimedia client-server system. Experimental statistics are gathered for the purpose of traffic engineering. We employ a fluid flow and first passage time analysis to understand the traffic process through the pipelines and the buffers and to estimate the amount of signaling required by the feedback mechanism.

We propose a thermodynamic theory for broadband networks relating quantities such as grade of service (GoS), bandwidth assignment, buffer assignment, and bandwidth demand. We propose a scalability postulate for these four quantities. Useful thermodynamic type relationships are then derived. The scalability postulate and thermodynamic type relations are then reexamined via statistical methods using the moment generating function. Large deviations theory is applied, and in the process, notions such as effective bandwidth are defined. We apply this theory to networks which allow dynamic routing of different call types. The probability of rare events expressed in conjunctive forms is characterized using large deviations theory. Based on this theory, a new dynamic routing method called effective bandwidth network routing (EBNR) is proposed.>