This collaborative research proposal is focused on the creation of a large-scale wireless network testbed which will facilitate a broad range of experimental research on next-generation protocols and application concepts. It is recognized that powerful technology and market trends towards portable computing and communication imply an increasingly important role for wireless access in the next-generation Internet. At the same time, new sensor and pervasive computing applications are expected to drive large-scale deployments of embedded computing devices interconnected via new types of short-range wireless networks. The speed of technology innovation in the wireless networking field can be significantly increased with the development of a flexible, open-access wireless network testbed that can be shared by experimental researchers across the networking community.
The proposed ORBIT (Open Access Research Testbed for Next-Generation Wireless Networks) system is a two-tier laboratory emulator/field trial network testbed designed to achieve reproducibility of experimentation, while also supporting evaluation of protocols and applications in real-world settings. In particular, the laboratory-based wireless network emulator will be constructed using a novel approach involving a large two-dimensional grid of static and mobile 802.11x radio nodes which can be dynamically interconnected into specified topologies with reproducible wireless channel models. All radio devices in the system provide open API's that permit end-users to download radio link, MAC and network layer protocols to construct a specific networking scenario. Once the basic protocol or application concepts have been validated on the lab emulator platform, users can migrate their experiments to the field test network which provides a configurable mix of both high-speed cellular (3G) and 802.11x wireless access in a real-world setting. Extensive measurement tools will be provided to support research evaluation, including both network traffic and radio link/spectrum usage aspects.
In addition to the development of the ORBIT wireless testbed infrastructure, this project includes a comprehensive set of "experimental work packages" intended to generate design requirements and serve as end-user application drivers for the system being developed. Specific research topics to be covered during the course of this project are:
1. Ad hoc networking in 802.11x WLAN scenarios [Raychaudhuri, Seskar; Rutgers & Acharya; IBM] 2. Message-based multimedia delivery [Schulzrinne, Columbia; Yates, Rutgers] 3. XML-based content multicasting for mobile information services [Ott, Raychaudhuri; Rutgers] 4. Location-based mobile network services [Schulzrinne; Columbia] 5. Pervasive computing software models for sensor networks [Parashar, Zhang; Rutgers] 6. Security protocols for next-generation wireless networks [Kobayashi; Princeton & Trappe; Rutgers] 7. Intelligent network middleware (INM) for mobile services [Paul; Lucent Bell Labs] 8. Peer-to-peer infrastructure for VoIP and IM [Acharya, Saha; IBM Research] 9. Power/bandwidth efficient media delivery to portable platforms [Ramaswamy, Wang; Thomson R&D]
The project will be conducted as a collaborative effort between several university research groups in the NY/NJ region: Rutgers, Columbia, and Princeton, along with industrial partners Lucent Bell Labs, IBM Research and Thomson. The wireless network testbed will be developed and operated by Rutgers WINLAB, using facilities located at the Rutgers New Brunswick campus and at partner sites in the area. The testbed will be available for remote or on-site access by other research groups nationally, subject to NSF guidelines for use. Additional partners will be sought during the course of the program both for testbed infrastructure development and for research collaboration.
The scientific/technical merits of the proposed project are: advancing the state-of-the-art in design and implementation of flexible and scalable wireless network testbeds, and experimental investigation of novel architectures, protocols and service concepts for next-generation wireless networks. Broader impacts are in acceleration of the R & D cycle for wireless networking by providing the research community with a shared-use experimental platform, and in fostering increased use of experimental methods in both research and teaching.
