Networking Technologies for Future Home Networks Using 60 GHz Radio

Networking Technologies for Future Home Networks Using 60 GHz Radio

Wang, J.

Niemegeers, I.G.M.M. (promotor)

Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science

Telecommunications

2010-05-17

Networking technologies have been changing the life of people in their private residential space. With the arrival of high definition (HD) multimedia services and broadband communications into the living space, future home networks are expected to support high speed device-to-device connectivity with Quality-of-Service (QoS) provisioning. There is no prize for guessing that it has to be wireless communication which creates maximal freedom. Nevertheless, it is doubtful that today's home networking technologies can sufficiently lead to the expected future of HD multimedia. Especially the maximum data rate and QoS that the network is expected to deliver have being pushed to the limits, which leads to users experience far from satisfying. In response to the critical throughput demands, the 60 GHz radio technology presents itself as an ideal solution for short-range Gbps speed indoor communication. However, from the networking point of view, the transmission range limitation and high line-of-sight (LOS) dependency are impediments for reliable connectivity at 60GHz. This leads us to critically examine current networking architecture (Chapter 3) and propose newer ones. We proposed two types of communication infrastructure with emphasis on deployment and capacity to overcome the range limitation of 60 GHz radio. The cell based infrastructure employs the radio-over-fiber (ROF) technique and brings great exibility for integrating 60 GHz radio into a multi-radio home networking environment. The ad hoc infrastructure creates a strictly wireless home networking environment, which provides maximum freedom in terms of usability. Further to resolve the dilemma of the increased network complexity and higher expectation of users on the quality of experience, we proposed functional network architecture focusing introducing "Cognitive Plane". It is expected to help in realizing more advanced control and management functions for enhancing service provisioning and ultimately usability of a home network to meet the expectations of users. The network architecture has sought to provide the fundamental communication means to provide in-home device-to-device 60 GHz connectivity. It leads us further towards the network protocol issues to provide reliable end-to-end connectivity with QoS. However, before setting out on specific solutions, it is of great importance to understand the features of the 60 GHz radio link in the home environment. First, we built a link stability model to understand the influence of a single link on LOS dependency under different channel conditions, antenna configurations and movement patterns of people (Chapter 4). Further to understand the performance starting from single hop to multiple hops, we studied the IEEE 802.15.3 MAC protocol and extended it to enable connectivity on the proposed ad hoc communication infrastructure (Chapter 5). To offset the influence of LOS dependency we further studied the potential use of multiple paths (Chapter 6). We proposed a cross-layer approach for assessing the multipath capacity with regard to high quality video transport. We also used the possible video coding techniques for video source and evaluating traffic allocation schemes for their abilities to make use of the capacity of multiple paths. In the cell based communication infrastructure, which is designed to support multiple radio systems, the dip in signal strength due to blocking of a 60 GHz link can be alleviated by vertical handover of a communication session to another radio to maintain the continuity of the session. However, neither the residential users nor the third party are practically able to manage such network operations in such a detail. The irregular blocking due to the presence of people throws a further challenge - solving the incertitude during handover. With the help of Artificial Intelligence (AI) based cognitive techniques, we investigated two decision making approaches utilizing Decision Theory (DT) and Markov Decision Process (MDP) (Chapter 7). Both of them are able to take into account multiple factors to make decisions in uncertain situations based on an evaluation of the candidate actions, but with different time horizons. The techniques within the cognitive networking framework can help in establishing reliable connection and application provisioning adaptively. The communication sessions are transported seamlessly without the intervention of users. Cognitive network is considered as one of the most distinguishing features of a future-proof home networking paradigm. Therefore, we looked into the proposed cognitive plane with special focus on provisioning location context information (Chapter 8). The 60 GHz radio LOS is largely influenced by the movement of people around, network devices and surrounding objects such as furniture and partitions. Thus awareness of location sustains important functionalities such as optimal radio and route selection, session transfer, self-organization and maintenance of the network etc. We designed and demonstrated an indoor positioning system using wireless sensor network as an important auxiliary component in the design of cognitive home network architecture of the future. In this dissertation we concentrated on investigating the feasible networking technologies for future homes supporting high quality high data rate multimedia services. At the same time, we are seeking approaches for embracing cognitive networks in the home network domain to assure a better user experience. Our contributions in this dissertation are in the right direction for future-proof inhome networks, by addressing both radio and network, from both architectural and protocol perspectives.

60 GHz radio
Home network

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:7d5376aa-597b-4c51-bd31-477dff682218

Ipskamp Drukkers

2010-06-03

9789461130044

Institutional Repository

doctoral thesis

(c) 2010 Wang, J.