NeTS-WN: New Technologies for Real-Time Wireless Mesh Networks with Transportation Applications

无线Mesh网络最初被提出用于连接住宅或大都市地区的WLAN，以提供无处不在的无线接入和共享互联网连接。在未来，Mesh网络肯定会远远超出上述应用场景。该项目旨在将Mesh网络推向实时应用领域。在无线Mesh网络中支持实时数据传输比在有线网络中支持实时数据传输要困难得多，这是由于资源受限、共享无线信道、有损通信和高度动态的业务。它需要从底层到网络协议栈顶部的系统支持。该项目的目标是在MAC层和网络层开发新技术，以支持无线Mesh网络中端到端的实时数据传输。研究内容包括：1)具有有限媒体访问延迟和最小化信道空闲时间的实时MAC协议；2)多服务类别的排队管理和实时业务的分布式接纳控制；3)实时流的端到端公平性、带宽保证和服务质量(Qos)路由。预计研究成果将产生重大的学术和实践影响。这些新技术不仅将为实时Mesh网络中的一系列基本问题提供解决方案，而且将把Mesh网络的应用范围从接入网络扩展到交通、战场监控/指挥/控制、无线多媒体通信等不同领域的分布式实时系统。

Wireless mesh networks were originally proposed for connecting WLANs in residential or metropolitan areas to provide pervasive wireless access and share Internet connections. In the future, mesh networks will surely go far beyond the above application scenarios. This project aims to push mesh networks into the arena of real-time applications. Supporting real-time data delivery in wireless mesh networks is much more difficult than its counterpart in the wired networks due to resource constraints, shared wireless channels, lossy communication, and highly dynamic traffic. It requires system support from the bottom all the way to the top of the network protocol stack. The objective of this project is to develop new technologies at the MAC and network layers to support end-to-end, real-time data transport in wireless mesh networks. The research includes 1) real-time MAC protocols with bounded media access delay and minimized channel idle time, 2) queuing management for multiple service classes and distributed admission control of real-time traffic, and 3) end-to-end fairness, bandwidth assurance, quality-of-service (QoS) routing for real-time flows. The research results are expected to have significant intellectual and practical impact. Not only will the new technologies provide solutions to an array of fundamental problems in real-time mesh networks, but also they will expand the application scope of mesh networks from access networks to distributed real-time systems in diverse domains such as transportation, battlefield surveillance/command/control, and wireless multimedia communications.