Notes Unit 1
Notes Unit 1
INTRODUCTION
CELLULAR AND AD HOC WIRELESS NETWORKS
The current cellular wireless networks are classified as the infrastructure dependent network. The path setup
for a call between two nodes, say, node C to E, is completed through base station as illustrated in figure below.
Emergency Operations
Ad hoc wireless networks are very useful in emergency operations such as search and rescue, crowd
control and commando operations
The major factors that favour ad hoc wireless networks for such tasks are self-configuration of the
system with minimal overhead, independent of fixed or centralised infrastructure, the freedom and
flexibility of mobility, and unavailability of conventional communication infrastructure.
In environments, where the conventional infrastructure based communication facilities are destroyed
due to a war or due to natural calamities, immediate deployment of adhoc wireless networks would be
a good solution for co-ordinating rescue activities.
They require minimum initial network configuration with very little or no delay
Sensor nodes are tiny devices that have capability of sensing physical parameters processing the data
gathered, & communication to the monitoring system.
The issue that make sensor network a distinct category of adhoc wireless network are the following:
Mobility of nodes :
Mobility of nodes is not a mandatory requirement in sensor networks.
For example, the nodes used for periodic monitoring of soil properties are not required to be mobile
& the nodes that are fitted on the bodies of patients in a post -surgery ward of a hospital are
designed to support limited or partial mobility.
In general, sensor networks need not in all cases be designed to support mobility of sensor nodes.
Density of deployment :
The density of nodes in a sensor network varies with the domain of application.
For example, Military applications require high availability of the network, making redundancy a
high priority.
Power constraints :
The power constraints in sensor networks are much more stringent than those in ad hoc wireless
networks. This is mainly because the sensor nodes are expected to operate in harsh environmental
or geographical conditions, with minimum or no human supervision and maintenance.
In certain case, the recharging of the energy source is impossible.
Running such a network, with nodes powered by a battery source with limited energy, demands
very efficient protocol at network, data link, and physical layer.
The power sources used in sensor networks can be classified into the following 3 categories:
- Replenishable Power source: The power source can be replaced when the existing source is
fully drained.
- Non-replenishable Power source: The power source cannot be replenished once the network
has been deployed. The replacement of sensor node is the only solution.
- Regenerative Power source: Here, Power source employed in sensor network have the
capability of regenerating power from the physical parameter under measurement.
Traffic Distribution :
The communication traffic pattern varies with the domain of application in sensor networks.
For example, the environmental sensing application generates short periodic packets indicating the
status of the environmental parameter under observation to a central monitoring station.
This kind of traffic requires low bandwidth.
Ad hoc wireless networks generally carry user traffic such as digitized & packetized voice stream or
data traffic, which demands higher bandwidth.
Several techniques like cell sectoring, cell resizing and multi tier cells increase the capacity of cellular
networks.
MCNs combine the reliability & support of fixed base station of cellular network with flexibility & multi -
hop relaying adhoc wireless networks.
Major advantages are as follows:
o Higher capacity than cellular networks due to the better channel reuse.
o Increased flexibility & reliability in routing.
o Better coverage & connectivity in holes of a cell can be provided by means of multiple hops t hrough
intermediate nodes in a cell.
Routing
The responsibilities of a routing protocol include exchanging the route information; finding a feasible path to a
destination. The major challenges that a routing protocol faces are as follows:
1. Mobility :
The Mobility of nodes results in frequent path breaks, packet collisions, transient loops, stale
routing information, and difficulty in resource reservation.
2. Bandwidth constraint :
Since the channel is shared by all nodes in the broadcast region, the bandwidth available per
wireless link depends on the number of nodes & traffic they handle.
3. Error-prone and shared channel :
The Bit Error Rate (BER) in a wireless channel is very high [ 10-5 to 10 -3 ] compared to that in its
wired counterparts [ 10-12 to 10-9 ].
Consideration of the state of the wireless link, signal-to-noise ratio, and path loss for routing in ad
hoc wireless networks can improve the efficiency of the routing protocol.
4. Location-dependent contention :
The load on the wireless channel varies with the number of nodes present in a given geographical
region.
This makes the contention for the channel high when the number of nodes increases.
The high contention for the channel results in a high number of collisions & a subsequent wastage of
bandwidth.
5. Other resource constraints :
The constraints on resources such as computing power, battery power, and buffer storage also limit
the capability of a routing protocol.
The major requirements of a routing protocol in adhoc wireless networks are the following.
1. Minimum route acquisition delay :
The route acquisition delay for a node that does not have a route to a particular destination node
should be as minimal as possible.
The delay may vary with the size of the network and the network load.
2. Quick route reconfiguration :
The unpredictable changes in the topology of the network require that the routing protocol be able
to quickly perform route reconfiguration in order to handle path breaks and subsequent packet
losses.
3. Loop-free routing :
This is a fundamental requirement to avoid unnecessary wastage of network bandwidth
In adhoc wireless networks, due to the random movement of nodes, transient loops may form in the
route thus established.
A routing protocol should detect such transient routing loops & take corrective actions.
4. Distributed routing approach :
An adhoc wireless network is a fully distributed wireless network & the use of centralized routing
approaches in such a network may consume a large amount of bandwidth.
5. Minimum control overhead :
The control packets exchanged for finding a new route, and maintaining existing routes should be
kept as minimal as possible.
6. Scalability :
Scalability is the ability of the routing protocol to scale well in a network with a large number of
nodes.
This requires minimization of control overhead & adaptation of the routing protocol to the network
size.
7. Provisioning of QoS:
The routing protocol should be able to provide a certain level of QoS as demanded by the nodes or
the category of calls.
The QoS parameters can be bandwidth, delay, jitter, packet delivery ratio, & throughput.
8. Support for time-sensitive traffic :
Tactical communications & similar applications require support for time-sensitive traffic.
The routing protocol should be able to support both hard real-time & soft real-time traffic.
9. Security and privacy :
The routing protocol in adhoc wireless networks must be resilient to threats and vulnerabilities.
It must have inbuilt capability to avoid resource consumption, denial-of-service, impersonation, and
similar attacks possible against an ad hoc wireless network.
Multicasting
It plays important role in emergency search & rescue operations & in military communication. Use of single-
link connectivity among the nodes in a multicast group results in a tree-shaped multicast routing topology.
Such a tree-shaped topology provides high multicast efficiency, with low packet delivery ratio due to the
frequency tree breaks. The major issues in designing multicast routing protocols are as follows:
1.Robustness :
The multicast routing protocol must be able to recover & reconfigure quickly from potential
mobility-induced link breaks thus making it suitable for use in high dynamic environments.
2. Efficiency :
A multicast protocol should make a minimum number of transmissions to deliver a data packet to
all the group members.
3. Control overhead :
The scarce bandwidth availability in ad hoc wireless networks demands minimal control overhead
for the multicast session.
4. Quality of Service :
QoS support is essential in multicast routing because, in most cases, the data transferred in a
multicast session is time-sensitive.
5. Efficient group management :
Group management refers to the process of accepting multicast session members and maintaining
the connectivity among them untill the session expires.
6 . Scalability :
The multicast routing protocol should be able to scale for a network with a large number of node
7. Security :
Authentication of session members and prevention of non-members from gaining unauthorized
information play a major role in military communications.
Transport Layer Protocol
o The main objectives of the transport layer protocols include :
Setting up & maintaining end-to-end connections,
Reliable end-to-end delivery of packets,
Flow control &
Congestion control.
Examples of some transport layers protocols are,
a. UDP ( User Datagram Protocol ) :
It is an unreliable connectionless transport layer protocol.
It neither performs flow control & congestion control.
It do not take into account the current network status such as congestion at the intermediate links,
the rate of collision, or other similar factors affecting the network throughput.
b. TCP (Transmission Control Protocol):
It is a reliable connection-oriented transport layer protocol.
It performs flow control & congestion control.
Here performance degradation arises due to frequent path breaks, presence of stale routing
information, high channel error rate, and frequent network partitions.
Pricing Scheme
Assume that an optimal route from node A to node B passes through node C, & node C is not
powered on.
Then node A will have to set up a costlier & non-optimal route to B.
The non-optimal path consumes more resources & affects the throughput of the system.
As the intermediate nodes in a path that relay the data packets expend their resources such as
battery charge & computing power, they should be properly compensated.
Hence, pricing schemes that incorporate service compensation or service reimbursement are
required.
6.communication among the nodes in a sensor 6.Minimum energy consumption, battery life & energy
network conservation
QoS-aware routing :
i. Finding the path is the first step toward a QoS-aware routing protocol.
ii. The parameters that can be considered for routing decisions are,
Network throughput.
Packet delivery ratio.
Reliability.
Delay.
Delay jitter.
Packet loss rate.
Bit error rate.
Path loss.
QoS framework :
I. A framework for QoS is a complete system that attempts to provide the promised services to
each user or application.
II. The key component of QoS framework is a QoS service model which defines the way user
requirements are served.
Self-Organization
One very important property that an ad hoc wireless network should exhibit is organizing &
maintaining the network by itself.
The major activities that an ad hoc wireless network is required to perform for self-organization are,
Neighbour discovery.
Topology organization &
Topology reorganization (updating topology information)
Security
1) Security is an important issue in ad hoc wireless network as the information can be hacked.
2) Attacks against network are of 2 types :
I. Passive attack Made by malicious node to obtain information transacted in the network without
disrupting the operation.
II. Active attack They disrupt the operation of network.
Further active attacks are of 2 types :
o External attack: The active attacks that are executed by nodes outside the network.
o Internal attack: The active attacks that are performed by nodes belonging to the same network.
3) The major security threats that exist in ad hoc wireless networks are as follows :
Denial of service The attack affected by making the network resource unavailable for service to other
nodes, either by consuming the bandwidth or by overloading the system.
Resource consumption The scarce availability of resources in ad hoc wireless network makes it an
easy target for internal attacks, particularly aiming at consuming resources available in the network.
The major types of resource consumption attacks are,
Energy depletion :
- Highly constrained by the energy source
- Aimed at depleting the battery power of critical nodes.
Buffer overflow :
- Carried out either by filling the routing table with unwanted routing entries or by
consuming the data packet buffer space with unwanted data.
- Lead to a large number of data packets being dropped, leading to the loss of critical
information.
Host impersonation A compromised internal node can act as another node and respond with
appropriate control packets to create wrong route entries, and can terminate the traffic meant for the
intended destination node.
Information disclosure A compromised node can act as an informer by deliberate disclosure of
confidential information to unauthorized nodes.
Interference A common attack in defense applications to jam the wireless communication by creating
a wide spectrum noise.
Energy Management
Energy management is defined as the process of managing the sources & consumers of energy in a node or in
the network for enhancing the lifetime of a network.
Features of energy management are :
Shaping the energy discharge pattern of a node s battery to enhance battery life.
Finding routes that consumes minimum energy.
Using distributed scheduling schemes to improve battery life.
andling the processor & interface devices to minimize power consumption.
Energy management can be classified into the following categories :
a. Transmission power management :
o The power consumed by the Radio Frequency (RF) module of a mobile node is determined by
several factors such as
* The state of operation.
*The transmission power and
*The technology used for the RF circuitry.
o The state of operation refers to transmit,receive, and sleep modes of the operation.
o The transmission power is determined by
* Reachability requirement of the network.
* Routing protocol and
* MAC protocol employed.
b. Battery energy management :
o The battery management is aimed at extending the battery life of a node by taking advantage of
its chemical properties,discharge patterns, and by the selection of a battery from a set of batteries
that is available for redundancy.
c. Processor power management :
o The clock speed and the number of instructions executed per unit time are some of the processor
parameters that affect power consumption.
o The CPU can be put into different power saving modes during low processing load conditions.
o The CPU power can be completely turned off if the machines is idle for a long time.In such a cases,
interrupts can be used to turn on the CPU upon detection of user interaction or other events.
d. Devices power management :
o Intelligent device management can reduce power consumption of a mobile node significantly.
o This can be done by the operating system( OS) by selectively powering down interface devices
that are not used or by putting devices into different power saving modes, depending on their
usage.
Scalability
Scalability is the ability of the routing protocol to scale well in a network with a large number of nodes.
It requires minimization of control overhead & adaptation of the routing protocol to the network size.
Deployment Considerations
The deployment of a commercial ad hoc wireless network has the following benefits when compared to wired
networks
a) Low cost of deployment :
o The use of multi-hop wireless relaying eliminatesthe requirement of cables & maintenance in
deployment of communication infrastructure.
o The cost involved is much lower than that of wired networks.
b) Incremental deployment :
o Deployment can be performed incrementally over geographical regions of the city.
o The deployed part of the network starts functioning immediately after the minimum configuration
is done.
c) Short deployment time :
o Compared to wired networks, the deployment time is considerably less due to the absence of any
wired links.
d) Reconfigurability :
o The cost involved in reconfiguring a wired network covering a Metropolitan Area Network(MAN) is
very high compared to that of an ad hoc wireless network covering the same service area.
The following are the major issues to be considered in deploying an ad hoc wireless network :
a) Scenario of deployment :
The scenario of deployment has significance because the capability required for a mobile node varies
with the environment in which it is used.
The following are some of the different scenarios in which the deployment issues vary widely :
- military deployment :
It can be either,
Data-centric network : Handle a different pattern of data traffic & can be partially comprised of
static nodes.
Eg : a wireless sensor network.
User-centric network: Consists of highly mobile nodes with or without any support from any
infrastructure.
Eg :soldiers or armored vehicles carrying soldiers equipped with wireless
communication devices.
- Emergency operations deployment :
o Demands a quick deployment of rescue personnel equipped with hand-held communication
equipment.
o The network should provide support for time-sensitive traffic such as voice & video.
o Short data messaging can be used in case the resource constraints do not permit voice
communication.
- Commercial wide-area deployment :
o Eg : wireless mesh networks.
o The aim of the deployment is to provide an alternate communication infrastructure for
wireless communication in urban areas & areas where a traditional cellular base station
cannot handle the traffic volume.
- Home network deployment :
o Deployment needs to consider the limited range of the devices that are to be connected by
the network.
o Eg : short transmission range avoid network patitions.
b) Required longevity of network :
If the network is required for a short while, battery-powered mobile nodes can be used.
If the connectivity is required for a longer duration of time, fixed radio relaying equipment with
regenerative power sources can be deployed.
c) Area of coverage :
Determined by the nature of application for which the network is set up.
Eg : the home area network is limited to the surroundings of a home.
The mobile nodes capabilities such as the transmission range & associated hardware, software, &
power source should match the area of coverage required.
d)Service availability :
Defined as the ability of an ad hoc wireless network to provide service even with the failure of certain
nodes.
Has significance in a Fully mobile ad hoc wireless network used for tactical communication & in
partially fixed ad hoc wireless network used in commercial communication infrastructure such as
wireless mesh networks.
e)Operational integration with other infrastructure :
Considered for improving the performance or gathering additional information, or for providing better
QoS.
In military environment, integration of ad hoc wireless networks with satellite networks or unmanned
aerial vehicles(UAVs) improves the capability of the ad hoc wireless networks.
f)Choice of protocol :
The choice of protocols at different layers of the protocol stack is to be done taking into consideration
the deployment scenario.
A TDMA-based & insecure MAC protocol may not be the best suited compared to a CDMA-based MAC
protocol for a military application.
Random Waypoint
Random Direction
Random Walk:
The Random Walk Mobility Model was first described mathematically by Einstein in 1926.
In this mobility model, an MN moves from its current location to a new location by randomly
choosing a direction and speed.
The MNs are initially distributed randomly around the simulation area.
The high variability in average MN neighbor percentage will produce high variability in
performance results.
First, save the locations of the MNs after a simulation has executed long.
Second, initially distribute the MNs in a manner that maps to a distribution more common to the
model.
(A triangle distribution)
A scenario with slow MNs and long pause times actually produces a more stable network than a
scenario with fast MNs and shorter pause times.
If the Random Waypoint Mobility Model is used in a performance evaluation, appropriate
parameters need to be evaluated.
With such slow speeds, and large pause times, the network topology hardly changes.
Random Direction:
The Random Direction Mobility Model was created to overcome density waves .
A density wave is the clustering of nodes in one part of the simulation area.
To alleviate this type of behavior and promote a semi-constant number of neighbors throughout
the simulation, the Random Direction Mobility Model was developed.
The MN has reached a border, paused, and then chosen a new direction.
The average hop count : the Random Direction > other mobility(RW)
Gauss-Markov
The Gauss-Markov Mobility Model was originally proposed for the simulation of a PCS.
The Gauss-Markov Mobility Model was designed to adapt to different levels of randomness via
one tuning parameter.
Initially each MN is assigned a current speed and direction.
At fixed intervals of time, n, movement occurs by updating the speed and direction of each MN.
The value of speed and direction at the nth instance is calculated using the following equations.
At each time interval the next location is calculated based on the current location, speed, and
direction of movement.
To ensure that an MN does not remain near an edge of the grid for a long period of time, the MNs
are forced away from an edge by changing the values of mean direction.
The Gauss-Markov Mobility Model can eliminate the sudden stops and sharp turns.
State 2 : the next position if the MN continues to move in the same direction.
The probability matrix used is that an MN will go from state a to state b.
( P(a,b)).
With the values defined, an MN may take a step in any of the four possible direction.
The probability of the MN continuing to follow the same direction is higher than The probability
of the MN changing directions.
Lastly, the values defined prohibit movements between the previous and next positions without
passing through the current location.
This model is realistic more than purely random movements but choosing appropriate values of
P(a,b) may prove difficult.
The MN moves in straight lines for periods of time and does not show the highly variable direction
seen in the Random Walk Mobility Model.
UNIT 2
MEDIUM ACCESS PROTOCOLS
ISSUES IN DESIGNING MAC PROTOCOL FOR AD HOC WIRELESS NETWORK
The main issues in designing MAC protocol for ad hoc wireless network are:
Bandwidth efficiency
Bandwidth must be utilized in efficient manner
Minimal Control overhead
BW = ratio of BW used for actual data transmission to the total available BW
Quality of service support
Essential for supporting time-critical traffic sessions
They have resource reservation mechanism that takes into considerations the nature of wireless
channel and the mobility of nodes
Synchronisation
MAC protocol must consider synchronisation between nodes in the network
Synchronisation is very important for BW (time slot) reservation by nodes
Exchange of control packets may be required for achieving time synchronisation among nodes
Hidden and exposed terminal problems
The hidden terminal problem refers to the collision of packets at a receiving node due to the
simultaneous transmission of those nodes that are not within the direct transmission range of the
sender but are within the transmission range of the receiver.
Collision occurs when both nodes transmit packets at the same time without knowing about the
transmission of each other.
S1 and S2 are hidden from each other & they transmit simultaneously to R1 which leads to collision
The exposed terminal problem refers to the inability of a node, which is blocked due to transmission by
a nearby transmitting node, to transmit to another node
If S1 is already transmitting to R1, then S3 cannot interfere with on-going transmission & it cannot
transmit to R2.
The hidden & exposed terminal problems reduce the throughput of a network when traffic load is high
Error-prone shared broadcast channel
When a node is receiving data, no other node in its neighbourhood should transmit
A node should get access to the shared medium only when its transmission do not affect any ongoing
session
MAC protocol should grant channel access to nodes in such a manner that collisions are minimized
Protocol should ensure fair BW allocation
Distributed nature/lack of central coordination
Do not have centralised coordinators
Nodes must be scheduled in a distributed fashion for gaining access to the channel
MAC protocol must make sure that additional overhead, in terms of BW consumption, incurred due to
this control information is not very high
Mobility of nodes
Nodes are mobile most of the time
The protocol design must take this mobility factor into consideration so that the performance of the
system is not affected due to node mobility