to facilitate research on networked sensing applications at scale. Kansei embodies a unique combination of characteristics as a result of its design focus on sensing and scaling: (i) Heterogeneous hardware infrastructure with dedicated node resources for local computation, storage, data exfiltration and back-channel communication, to support complex experimentation. (ii) Time accurate hybrid simulation engine for simulating substantially larger arrays using testbed hardware resources. (iii) High fidelity sensor data generation and real-time data and event injection. (iv) Software components and associated job control language to support complex multi-tier experiments utilizing real hardware resources and data generation and simulation engines. In this paper, we present the elements of Kansei testbed architecture, including its hardware and software platforms as well as its hybrid simulation and sensor data generation engines. I.

In this two-parts paper we propose a decentralized strategy, based on a game-theoretic formulation, to find out the optimal precoding/multiplexing matrices for a multipoint-to-multipoint communication system composed of a set of wideband links sharing the same physical resources, i.e., time and bandwidth. We assume, as optimality criterion, the achievement of a Nash equilibrium and consider two alternative optimization problems: 1) the competitive maximization of mutual information on each link, given constraints on the transmit power and on the spectral mask imposed by the radio spectrum regulatory bodies; and 2) the competitive maximization of the transmission rate, using finite order constellations, under the same constraints as above, plus a constraint on the average error probability. In Part I of the paper, we start by showing that the solution set of both noncooperative games is always nonempty and contains only pure strategies. Then, we prove that the optimal precoding/multiplexing scheme for both games leads to a channel diagonalizing structure, so that both matrix-valued problems can be recast in a simpler unified vector power control game, with no performance penalty. Thus, we study this simpler game and derive sufficient conditions ensuring the uniqueness of the Nash equilibrium. Interestingly, although derived under stronger constraints,

Abstract—In IEEE 802.11-based wireless mesh networks a user is associated with an access point (AP) in order to communicate and be part of the overall network. The association mechanism specified by the IEEE 802.11 standard does not consider the channel conditions and the AP load in the association process. Employing the mechanism in its plain form in wireless mesh networks we may only achieve low throughput and low user transmission rates. In this paper, we propose an association mechanism that is aware of the uplink and downlink channel conditions. We introduce a metric that captures the channel conditions and the load of the APs in the network. The users use this metric in order to optimally associate with the available APs. We then extend the functionality of this mechanism in a cross-layer manner taking into account information from the routing layer. The novelty of the mechanism is that the routing QoS information of the backhaul is available to the end users. This information can be combined with the uplink and downlink channel information for the purpose of supporting optimal endto-end communication and providing high end-to-end throughput values. We evaluate the performance of our system through simulations and we show that 802.11-based mesh networks that use the proposed association mechanism are more capable in meeting the needs of QoS-sensitive applications. I.

Abstract—This paper presents a new fair scheduling scheme for orthogonal frequency-division multiple-access-based wireless mesh networks (WMNs), which fairly allocates subcarriers and power to mesh routers (MRs) and mesh clients to maximize the Nash bargaining solution fairness criterion. In WMNs, since not all the information necessary for scheduling is available at a central scheduler (e.g., MR), it is advantageous to involve the MR and as many mesh clients as possible in distributed scheduling based on the limited information that is available locally at each node. Instead of solving a single global control problem, we hierarchically decouple the subcarrier and power allocation problem into two subproblems, where the MR allocates groups of subcarriers to the mesh clients, and each mesh client allocates transmit power among its subcarriers to each of its outgoing links. We formulate the two subproblems by nonlinear integer programming and nonlinear mixed integer programming, respectively. A simple and efficient solution algorithm is developed for the MR’s problem. Also, a closed-form solution is obtained by transforming the mesh client’s problem into a time-division scheduling problem. Extensive simulation results demonstrate that the proposed scheme provides fair opportunities to the respective users (mesh clients) and a comparable overall end-to-end rate when the number of mesh clients increases. Index Terms—Distributed control, fairness, orthogonal frequency-division multiple-access (OFDMA), resource management, wireless mesh network (WMN). I.

Abstract—Cargo containers whichtransport 90 percentof the world’s trade transit the countries of the world daily. Despite the vulnerability of cargo containers, only about 5 percent of the over 10 million cargo containers entering the U.S. each year can be inspected now. Our primary goal is to develop the smart container security system using RFID and Wireless Sensor Networks in order to enhance the cargo container security. In addition, the end-to-end visibility via this networked tracking and sensing capability can bring additional commercial benefits to supply chain and chain of custody. In this paper, we first propose a dynamic mesh container network among neighboring containers. Since a group of containers moves together, we can take advantages of interaction between them via this mesh container network instead of focusing an individual container. Second, we introduce the concept of Mobile Edge Computing Devices (MECD) which is the interface between distributed sensors and the end server in order to reduce processing and bandwidth requirements to the end servers. MECDs can give scalability, flexibility, reliability, and cost-efficiency to our cargo container security system. I.

Abstract — Wireless mesh networks (WMNs) are expected to support various types of applications with different quality of service (QoS) requirements. Existing works are limited to layered approaches that overlook the interaction between medium access control (MAC) and routing algorithms and often fail to satisfy these requirements in such dynamic wireless environments. The inefficiency of current layered schemes to guarantee these demands has recently triggered the interest for new cross-layered approaches. In this paper, we propose a distributed, multiconstrain, cross-layer QoS routing algorithm for wireless mesh networks that can simultaneous satisfy multiple QoS requirements. Studies with different scheduling algorithms and routing protocols have shown that our algorithm successfully guarantees various QoS requirements and achieves higher network throughput when compared with other standard techniques. I.

Abstract — Recovery of traffic in connectionless pure IP networks has traditionally been handled by a full re-convergence of the network state. This process operates in a time scale that is not compatible with new real time and highly dependable services. Recently, schemes for fast local and proactive recovery in connectionless IP networks have been proposed. All these schemes are designed to guarantee recovery of the failure of one component. As IP protocols are used to carry more highly dependable services and new wireless infrastructures are approaching, guaranteed failure coverage of more than one failure becomes necessary. In this paper we present and evaluate a scheme that guarantees to handle any two concurrent failures in a network. We are not aware of any other schemes that addresses such guarantees. We evaluate and compare it with other known recovery schemes, and we show how it gives substantially better recovery success rates

A major barrier for the adoption of wireless mesh networks is severe limits on throughput. Many in-network packet mixing techniques at the network layer [1], [2], [3] as well as the physical layer [4], [5], [6] have been shown to substantially improve throughput. However, the optimal mixing algorithm that maximizes throughput is still unknown. In this paper, we propose iP ack, an algorithm for in-network generation of composite packets that integrates coding at two different layers of the protocol stack: XOR-based network coding and physical layer superposition coding. Using extensive simulations, we find that the throughput gain of the joint coding iP ack algorithm is 30 % more than the better performer of network coding and superposition coding in a wide range of scenarios, and automatically takes advantage of the best available coding opportunities. In a typical wireless mesh network when more traffic is between the clients and access points, the average throughput improvement of iP ack, our joint optimization scheduler, can be 324%, while there can be little gain (less than 10%) if network coding alone is used. We also validate our results by implementing iP ack on a small-scale testbed based on GNU Radio.

Abstract—Wireless networking enabled vehicles can form vehicular ad hoc mesh networks (VMesh). By cooperative communication among VMeshes, a local transient information could be ”retained ” within a given geographic region for a certain period of time, without any infrastructure help. In this paper, we formulate and analyze this ”storage capability ” of VMesh. We analyze the scenarios of highway traffic (both one-way and two-way highway free flow traffic), and vehicular traffic in a city environment. For highway traffic, we develop analytical models to determine the lifetime of the VMesh storage. Using a simulation tool that accurately models the freeway vehicular mobility, we validate our analytical model and study the impact of various parameters such as traffic density and transmission range on lifetime of the VMesh storage. For city traffic, we first examine a general case with a Random Way Point (RWP) mobility model. Finally, we perform simulations based on real traffic trace of San Francisco Yellow Cabs to evaluate the accuracy of the RWP model’s results. Our results show that while transmission range has higher impact on the storage lifetime for one-way highway traffic, the size of the region in which we want the information stored has higher impacts for all other traffic scenarios. The lifetime of the storage can also benefit from the relative speed changes of the vehicles. For city-wide traffic based on San Francisco Yellow Cab mobility, the lifetime of the VMesh storage has very large variance and low global density at macroscopic level. At microscopic level, the storage’s lifetime is shorter than that obtained using the RWP mobility model. This arises due to the regular movement of the cabs as compared to the random node movement in the RWP model. I.

Abstract—The increased deployment of wireless mesh networks (WMNs) should be complemented by a robust resource management scheme that can provide performance guarantees to mission-critical applications. Several admission control schemes have been presented for wireless LANs and wireless ad-hoc networks. However, wireless mesh networks, with static wireless back-bone and multihop communication, pose new design challenges. Evaluation of existing admission control schemes has been done primarily via simulations, which often do not have accurate models for capturing interference between adjacent wireless links and nodes. In this paper, we develop light-weight monitoring modules to measure current network/traffic conditions and estimate end-to-end path delay, which is then incorporated in our admission control decision. We utilize a novel layer-2 packet forwarding mechanism, based on the Wireless Distribution System (WDS) for WMNs. We evaluate our scheme via experiments conducted on a testbed consisting of IEEE 802.11a-based nodes that form a wireless mesh. Results show that our proposed scheme can provide performance assurance without incurring too much control overhead. I.