Networking Research GroupCurrent Research on Next Generation Networks (NGNs)

Group Leaders:

Prof. Krys Pawlikowski1, Prof. Harsha Sirisena2, Dr Allan McInnes2

1 Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering 2 Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Group Members:  

PhD: Sayan K. Ray, Huan Zhang, William LiuME/MSc: Yuxuan Tim Hong, Adam Chang, Geoffrey Clark

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Broad Themes

Mobility

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Broad Themes

Dependability

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Broad Themes

Scalability

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Mobility

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Research Topic:

Mobility and Handover Performance Management in Wireless Metropolitan Area Networks (WMAN)

Identified Research Problem:

Both the pre-handover and actual handover phases of Mobile WiMAX suffer from drawbacks related to latency, resource usage, excessive scanning and ranging, and unnecessary handover management messages

Mobility Management in WMAN

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Mobile Station Controlled Fast Handover Algorithms Selection of next NBS based on self-tracking of movement trajectory Reduces scanning and ranging activities as well as overall packets loss

Base Station Controlled Fast Handover Algorithms Smart selection of NBS for handover Reduces scanning and ranging activities

Network-Assisted Fast Handover Algorithm Reuse of previous handover information with help of backbone network Reduces inter-handover connection gap and IP-connectivity delay

Research Tools : Qualnet Network Simulator & PlanetLab

Approach and Tools

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Enhanced MIPv6 Handover

Research Topic:

Enhancing the handover process in Mobile IPv6 networks

Identified Research Problem:

• Handover duration in Mobile IPv6 is too long for time-sensitive applications. Even with existing proposals, handover latency is still observable by users.

MAG1

2001:0d:3:0:1:2:3:4 2001:0d:5:2:5:6:7:8 2001:0d:5:3:9:3:7:2

Network A Network CNetwork B

HA CN 1

HoA: 2008:1d:3:2:A:B:C:D

MN

HoA: 2008:1d:3:2A:B:C:D

MN

LMA2001:0d:5:1:1:2:3:4

MAG2 MAG3

2008:1d:3:2:1:2:3:4

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Identification of problems with MIPV6 handover

Break down the handover process to find shortcomings

Survey the existing proposed solutions

Proposed modifications to MIPV6

Eliminate the duplicate-address-detection process during handover by using a unique global IPv6 address

Modify edge router tables to map from global IPV6 to MAC addresses

Research Tools: Omnet++4.0, INET Framework and PlanetLab

Approach and Tools

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Dependability

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Research Topic:

Network Resiliency and Service Availability Modelling in NGNs

Identified Research Problem:

• Network resiliency (or survivability) design in a multi-service NGNs environment includes two components: survivable routing scheme and spare capacity allocation strategy

• It is a combinatorial optimization problem and NP-Hard

Network Resiliency in NGNs

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Approach and Tools

Quantifying network robustness Use Fiedler value instead of average node degree to characterize

network connectivity

Working and spare capacity allocation strategies ILP solution: Shared Backup Path Protection as benchmark Scalable heuristic Ant Colony Optimization

Capacity-aware distributed routing algorithm Smart routing based on the bandwidth usage information Distributed routing using ant agent

Simulation Tools : OMNeT++ and AMPL/CPLEX Testbed: NGN Measurement on PlanetLab

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Research Topic:

Process algebraic modelling and analysis of wireless sensor networks

Identified Research Problem:

• WSNs are becoming ubiquitous, and moving into mission critical application domains, but there is a lack of theoretical tools for analyzing and understanding their behaviour

Process Algebraic Analysis of WSNs

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Detailed models of node-level application code Mapping from nesC language constructs to the process algebra CSP Models of TinyOS scheduling and preemption

Abstracted models of network-level interactions State-space reduction through predicate abstraction and bounded values Abstract models of MAC-layer contention resolution

Verifiable correspondence between models Refinement relations establish validity of abstractions

Analysis Tools : CSP and the FDR2 refinement checker

Approach and Tools

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Dynamic WSN Optimisation

Research Topic:

Dynamic optimisation of a heterogeneous WSN

Identified Research Problem:

• Industrial wireless sensor networks require energy efficient routing and reliable, robust data transmission in a dynamically changing environment

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Approach and Tools

Routing algorithms for robust, energy-efficient operation Manage traffic to maximize sensor node battery life and balance load on

mains-powered routers Network topology must adapt to environmental changes

Simulation tool for deployment planning Extend existing simulation tools to aid evaluation of proposed deployments

Validation of simulation results against real-world testbeds Work with industrial partner to check the accuracy of simulations

Simulation Tools : OMNeT++ with 802.15.4 framework

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Scalability

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Research Topic:

Parallelization of packet-inspection-based Intrusion Detection/Prevention System

Identified Research Problem:

• Network speeds are increasing, so IPS software must also execute more quickly. But modern processor design is focused on increasing speed through multi-core processing, while existing IPS programs are designed for single-core execution.

Parallelization of IDS/IPS

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Pipelined execution of IPS stages

Stream-level parallelization by packet classification

Parallelization of packet classification

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Approach and Tools

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Research Topic:

Evaluation of search algorithms in structured and unstructured P2P networks

Identified Research Problem:

• P2P network architecture, protocol design, network scaling, and churn effects impact the efficiency of file lookups, but these effects have not been well-characterized and the trade-offs between different architectures are not clear

Search algorithms in P2P networks

An example of a GIA P2P network

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Approach and Tools

Examine performance of different P2P architectures Chord (Ring) Kademlia (Tree) GIA (Unstructured)

Study variation in key protocol performance parameters Bandwidth consumption Hop count Latency

Simulation Tools : OMNeT++ with INET and OverSim Testbed: NGN Measurement on PlanetLab

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Publications in 2009

Sayan Kumar Ray, Krzysztof Pawlikowski and Harsha Sirisena, "Handover in Mobile WiMAX Networks: The State of Art and Research Issues", To Appear in IEEE Communications Surveys and Tutorials Journal, 3rd Quarter, 2010.

Sayan Kumar Ray, Krzysztof Pawlikowski and Harsha Sirisena, "A Fast Predictive Handover Mechanism for IEEE 802.16e Systems", in Proc. of New Zealand Computer Science Research Student Conference (NZCSRSC '09), 6-9 April, 2009, Auckland, New Zealand.

A. I. McInnes, "Using CSP to Model and Analyze TinyOS Applications", Proceedings of the 16th Annual IEEE International Conference and Workshop on the Engineering of Computer Based Systems (ECBS'09), Apr. 13-16, 2009.

A. I. McInnes, "Model-checking the Flooding Time Synchronization Protocol", Proceedings of the 7th IEEE International Conference on Control and Automation (ICCA'09), Dec. 9-11, 2009.

William Liu, Harsha Sirisena and Krzysztof Pawlikowski, FoF-R Ant-based Survivable Routing Using Distributed Resilience Matrix, 21st International Teletraffic Congress ( ITC 21), Traffic and Performance Issues in Networks of the Future, September 15-17, 2009, Paris

William Liu, Harsha Sirisena and Krzysztof Pawlikowski, Efficacy of Fiedler Value versus Nodal Degree in Spare Capacity Allocation, 15th Asia-Pacific Conference on Communications (APCC2009), October 5-10, 2009, Shanghai

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Publications in 2009

William Liu, Harsha Sirisena and Krzysztof Pawlikowski, A Novel Resilience Matrix for Survivable Routing in a Distributed Control Architecture, 15th Asia-Pacific Conference on Communications (APCC2009), October 5-10, 2009, Shanghai

William Liu, Harsha Sirisena and Krzysztof Pawlikowski, Weighted Algebraic Connectivity Metric for Non-Uniform Traffic in Reliable Network Design, International Workshop on Reliable Networks Design and Modeling (RNDM2009) collocated with International Conference on Ultra Modern Telecommunications (ICUMT2009), October 12-14, 2009, St. Petersburg

William Liu, Harsha Sirisena, Krzysztof Pawlikowski and Allan McInnes, Utility of Algebraic Connectivity Metric in Topology Design of Survivable Networks, 7th International Workshop on the Design of Reliable Communication Networks (DRCN 2009), Washington DC, October 25-28, 2009.

William Liu, Harsha Sirisena and Krzysztof Pawlikowski, A Novel Distributed Resilience Matrix for Arbitrary Failures in Spare Capacity, 7th International Conference on Information, Communications and Signal Processing (ICICS 2009), December 7-10, 2009, Macau