NeTS: Small: Theory and Practice of Coooperative Wireless Networks

虽然理论结果预测节点协作可以获得显著的收益，但当前的无线系统完全建立在点对点通信的基础上，其中传输在时间、频率或空间上是分开的。在实现协作技术之前，需要解决两个关键问题：它们在更大的网络环境中如何表现，以及它们在实际实验中如何表现？本项目旨在通过理论和实验工作相结合的方式为这两个问题提供答案。在理论方面，研究人员使用了一种严格的分析方法，结合了随机几何和信息论的工具。随机几何方法允许关于网络集合的声明，而不仅仅是单个固定的网络几何，这通常更容易处理，并导致更一般的结果。在实验方面，在软件无线电设备的小型协作网络上进行了性能测试。在理论和实验研究的基础上，提出了一种新的无线网络协作协议，以期显著提高无线系统的性能，从而克服频谱稀缺性。研究结果将以会议、期刊文章、教程和短期课程的形式传播，一些想法有望获得专利。

Although theoretical results predict that significant gains can beachieved from node cooperation, current wireless systems are exclusivelybuilt on point-to-point communication, where transmissions are separatedin time, frequency, or space. Before cooperative techniques can beimplemented, two key questions need to be addressed: How do they performin the context of a larger network, and how do they perform in actualexperiments?This project aims at providing answers to both these questions bycombining theory and experimental work. On the theory side, theinvestigators use a rigorous analytic approach that combines tools fromstochastic geometry and information theory. The stochastic geometryapproach permits statements about ensembles of networks, rather thanjust a single fixed network geometry, which is often more tractable andleads to more general results. On the experimental side, performancemeasurements are taken on small cooperative networks of softwareradio devices. They are used to derive analytical models that can beused at higher layers in the protocol stack and to determine the overheadand control traffic required to set up the cooperation.Based on the insight gained from both theory and experiments, novelcooperative protocols for wireless networks are derived.It is expected that the project will enable significant improvements in theperformance of wireless systems, thereby helping to overcome thespectrum scarcity. The results are be disseminated in form of conferenceand journal articles, tutorials, and short courses, and some ideas willhopefully lead to patents.