Yimeng Yang

Closed-loop control in wireless ad-hoc networks

Description of research

Research and development in wireless ad-hoc networks has reached a point where initial deployment of this type of network can be done. Applications in the a.o. emergency and rescue operations are being experimented with. However, to enable widespread use in a variety of application domains, a lot of research still has to be performed. One of the key issues to be solved is to let the same wireless devices operate in ad-hoc networks under a wide range of node densities, and a wide range of traffic patterns. For certain device may be required to operate in a network where the average distance between nodes is a few hundred meters, just as well as in a network where the average distance between nodes is a few meters.

To this end, various algorithms and protocols at different layers of the protocol stack should be adaptive w.r.t. to e.g., node density and traffic pattern. As examples, the use of transmit power control, adaptivity of CSMA/CA, interference-based routing, and flooding approaches that take node density into account can be mentioned.

Control theory might be suitable to model, and further develop such adaptive wireless ad-hoc networks. Closed-loop feedback control systems have been used successfully to model certain aspects of communication systems, e.g., transmit power control and congestion control. The purpose of this research is to investigate the potential of using control theory to model adaptive wireless ad-hoc networks, and to develop such adaptive networks.>

Advisor(s)

Dr. ir. Geert Heijenk

Prof. dr. ir. Boudewijn Haverkort

Duration

2006 - 2010

Project

Closed-loop control in wireless ad-hoc networks

Sponsor

CTIT

Strategic Research Orientation: WiSe- Wireless and Sensor Systems

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