Wireless ad hoc networking has become a critical technology enabling node communications without network infrastructure. However, current technologies do not provide satisfactory performance in terms of capacity, connectivity, and delay. Recently, several cooperation schemes have been proposed to improve the network performance. They significantly depart from the traditional point-to-point link abstraction and conventional network architectures and will have a profound impact on the network performance and design.
The goal of this research is to develop the foundations and practical algorithms for applying emerging cooperation schemes in wireless ad hoc networks. These schemes include (i) cooperative communications where multiple nodes intentionally transmit concurrently at the physical layer, for example, cooperative diversity, distributed multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), and distributed beamforming, (ii) network coding where nodes combine data received from neighbors and then transmit these combinations to their neighbors to reduce the number of transmissions and improve throughput, (iii) cooperative infrastructure where infrastructure (e.g., wired base stations) is overlaid over wireless ad hoc networks. This research will develop fundamental performance bounds for cooperative networks, as well as new algorithms and mechanisms for providing network-level services.
The broader impacts of this project include the dissemination of research results through journal and conference publications, and a strong education component that promotes teaching, training, and learning through the active involvement of research students. Education materials will be developed and disseminated for a new course to be taught jointly at the two universities.
