This project develops a theory for understanding the requirements for control overheads in wireless networks and mechanisms for reducing the amount of these overheads. Network control mechanisms, such as scheduling, routing, and flow control, ensure effective data transport in a communication network, but also require the exchange of network state information, such as channel conditions and queue-length information, which amounts to 'control overhead'. The project investigates the tradeoffs between the rate of sending such control information, and the ability to effectively control the network in terms of performance metrics such as throughput, stability, delay and network utility. The project takes a two-pronged approach: First, a rate-distortion framework is being developed for understanding the impact of degraded network state information on network performance. Second, mechanisms are being developed for reducing the amount of control overhead and the impact of these mechanisms on network performance is being investigated.
The project develops a fundamental understanding of the requirements for protocol overhead, which will lead to more efficient network control policies, with reduced overheads. Such improvements will have a significant impact on network performance, especially in wireless networks, which experience large overheads due to protocol inefficiencies. The results will be widely disseminated through publication in conferences, journals and the web to help advance the wireless networking field. The broader impacts include training of graduate and undergraduate students and technology transfer to industry and government laboratories.
