CAREER: Exploiting Antenna Capabilities in Wireless Mesh Networks: Theory, Protocols, and Practice

互联网的边缘在无线媒体上继续快速增长。保持这样的增长率并不是一件微不足道的事。无线信道的变幻莫测，再加上大规模网络的分布式特性，在容量、可扩展性、可靠性和安全性方面提出了各种挑战。必须最大限度地利用每一个新的机会，以应对不断升级的最终用户需求。新兴的天线能力提供了一个这样的机会。天线系统以及无线协议设计领域都取得了重大进展。早期证据表明，通过将天线感知有效地集成到网络协议堆栈中，可以获得显著的端到端性能优势。然而，这样的集成并不是微不足道的，它带来了一系列丰富的研究挑战。这个名为Spotlight的项目旨在通过理论、协议和原型演示来实现这一目标。该项目不是尝试无所不包的解决方案，而是明确针对无线Mesh网络体系结构。Spotlight在整合不同研究学科的自主创新方面迈出了积极的一步。具体地说，它将天线系统和无线网络这两个社区拉近了距离。研究成果正在通过技术出版物、研讨会和教程进行传播。此外，该项目致力于将研究和教育计划紧密结合起来。电气工程的技术正在与计算机科学的算法相结合，并在研究生和本科生的新课程中介绍。实践经验是这些课程不可或缺的组成部分，使学生能够欣赏到将理论转化为现实生活系统的过程。少年派：罗米特·罗伊·乔德赫里，杜克大学

The edge of the internet continues to grow rapidly over the wireless medium. Sustaining this growth rate is not trivial. The vagaries of the wireless channel, in conjunction with the distributed nature of large scale networks, raises diverse challenges in capacity, scalability, reliability, and security. Every new opportunity has to be maximally exploited to cope with the escalating end-user demands. Emerging antenna capabilities offer one such opportunity. Crucial advances have been made in antenna systems, as well as in the wireless protocol design community. Early evidence shows that significant end to end performance benefits can be extracted by effectively integrating antenna-awareness into the network protocol stack. However, such inte- gration is not trivial, and entails a rich set of research challenges. This project, named Spotlight, is oriented to achieve this goal, through theory, protocols, and a prototype demonstration. Instead of attempting all- encompassing solutions, the project categorically targets wireless mesh network architectures. Spotlight takes an active step towards integrating independent innovations from diverse research disciplines. Specifically, it brings the two communities of antenna systems and wireless networking closer to each other. Research results is being disseminated through technical publications, seminars, and tutorials. Moreover, the project is committed to tightly integrate research and educational plans. Techniques from Electrical Engi- neering is being unified with algorithms from Computer Science, and presented in new courses for graduates as well as undergraduates. Hands on experiences are integral components of these courses, enabling stu- dents to appreciate the translation of theory to real life systems. PI: Romit Roy ChoudhuryECE, Duke University