In this work we simulate the ad hoc mode of IEEE 802.11e for routing optimisation. We simulate the behaviour of routing algorithms at the network layer by using a custom-made cross-layer network simulator developed by our team, which simultaneously considers the physical and Medium Access Control (MAC) layers. Although the simulator also supports the infrastructure mode, in this paper we focus on the ad hoc feature which was introduced by the authors.We opted for the simulator approach over the theoretical analysis, butwe also present amathematical model for IEEE 802.11 ad hoc networks. Some initial tests were performed by using a simple routing algorithm (to evaluate the behaviour of the system in terms of selection of the path between a source and a destination, and the correctness of the calculated metrics,which include end-to-end delay, packets lost, packets delivered), but more advanced cross-layer design solutions were also tested. When information from the physical and MAC layers is used as an input to the routing algorithm, improvements are achieved in the performance of the network. Several functions were compared and the algorithm that privileges shorter links accounting with the metric “collision rate” achieves the best results. When compared with a standard routing solution, this cross-layer approach allows to increase the number of packets delivered, while not significantly affecting the end-to-end delay of the packets.

The conjugation of small nodes with sensing, communication and processing capabilities allows for the creation of wireless sensor networks (WSNs). These networks can be deployed to measure a very wide range of environmental phenomena and send data from remote locations back to users. They offer new and exciting possibilities for applications and research. This paper presents the background of WSNs by firstly exploring the different fields applications, with examples for each of these fields, then the challenges faced by these networks in areas such as energy-efficiency, node localization, node deployment, limited storage and routing. It aims at explaining each issue and giving solutions that have been proposed in the research literature. Finally, the paper proposes a practical scenario of deploying a WSN by autonomous robot path construction. The requirements for such a scenario and the open issues that can be tackled by it are exposed, namely the issues of associated with measuring RSSI, the degree of autonomy of the robot and connectivity restoration.

Vehicular Delay-Tolerant Networks (VDTNs) are a new approach for vehicular communications where vehicles cooperate with each other, acting as the communication infrastructure, to provide low-cost asynchronous opportunistic communications. These communication technologies assume variable delays and bandwidth constraints characterized by a non-transmission control protocol/ internet protocol architecture but interacting with it at the edge of the network. VDTNs are based on the principle of asynchronous communications, bundleoriented communication from the DTN architecture, employing a store-carryand- forward routing paradigm. In this sense, VDTNs should use the tight network resources optimizing each opportunistic contact among nodes. At the ingress edge nodes, incoming IP Packets (datagrams) are assembled into large data packets, called bundles. The bundle aggregation process plays an important role on the performance of VDTN applications. Then, this paper presents three aggregation algorithms based on time, bundle size, and a hybrid solution with combination of both. Furthermore, the following four aggregation schemes with quality of service (QoS) support are proposed: 1) single-class bundle with N = M, 2) composite-class bundle with N = M, 3) single-class bundle with N > M, and 4) composite-class bundle with N > M, where N is the number of classes of incoming packets and M is the number of priorities supported by the VDTN core network. The proposed mechanisms were evaluated through a laboratory testbed, called VDTN@Lab. The adaptive hybrid approach and the composite-class schemes present the best performance for different types of traffic load and best priorities distribution, respectively.

In this paper we present several different approaches to a routing calculation in an ad-hoc network. By using different weights for each link, each algorithm generates a different path, with its own number of hops and maximum throughput. Tests were performed in our own IEEE 802.11e simulator and the results allow to conclude that the cross-layer approach has advantages over the traditional one. In fact, our proposals delivers up to three times more packets than the standard one, whilst diminishing the end-to-end delay. Results show that the proposal which privileges users with a baud rate near the maximum possible achieves better performance than the others. A baud rate near the maximum corresponds to links with the highest signal to interference-plus-noise ratio. The proposed technique privileges the use of paths with a larger number of hops, and reduces the packet end-to-end delay.

Wireless networks are gaining more and more importance in our world. Cellular phones with GPRS/UMTS, Wi-Fi, and WiMAX networks are very common these days, and they share a common feature: they require some sort of backbone infrastructure in order to allow for packets from different communication peers to reach each other. For example, if someone makes a phone call, the conversation will always pass from the cell phone to the operators' infrastructure, and then to the receivers phone, even if they are both in the same building. Resources would be certainly saved if somehow the cell phones could connect directly to each other. In an ad-hoc network, all the participants (also called nodes) can communicate directly with their neighbours. Two nodes are considered neighbours if their communication devices can reach each other. Nodes wanting to communicate to others that are not neighbours will simply send a message to another node which is located nearer the destination. As so, a centralised infrastructure to establish the connectivity is not required, since each node will determine by itself to where it should forward its data. The specification IEEE 802.11 refers to this type of network as Independent Basic Service Set (IBSS). In this one first presents some background information about the previous simulator and about IEEE 802.11e. Then, the features of the new simulator, highlighting the modifications we performed, are described, followed by the presentation of the results of the initial simulations, Finally conclusions are drawn and suggestions for future work are presented.

A multifunctional router IC to be included in the nodes of a wearable body sensor network is described and evaluated. The router targets different application scenarios, especially those including tens of sensors, embedded into textile materials and with high data-rate communication demands. The router IC supports two different functionality sets, one for sensor nodes and another for the base node, both based on the same circuit module. The nodes are connected to each other by means of woven thick conductive yarns forming a mesh topology with the base node at the center. From the standpoint of the network, each sensor node is a four port router capable of handling packets from destination nodes to the base node, with sufficient redundant paths. The adopted hybrid circuit and packet switching scheme significantly improve network performance in terms of end-to-end delay, throughput and power consumption. The IC also implements a highly precise, sub-microsecond one-way time synchronization protocol which is used for time stamping the acquired data. The communication module was implemented in a 4-metal, 0.35 μm CMOS technology. The maximum data rate of the system is 35 Mbps while supporting up to 250 sensors, which exceeds current BAN applications scenarios.

Owing to the huge range of application scenarios for wireless networks, new prospects for the current and future applications of the Internet, making new communication paradigms such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and 5G networks. Two important networks are included in this scenery: Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) provide key devices for developing the IoT communication paradigm, such as the sensors used for collecting different kind of information, and the Wireless Mesh Network (WMN) that enable interoperability between heterogeneous network, covering large areas with at am low cost.Eeach one these networks have specific characteristics, for example, the WSN has serious restrictions (e.g. power consumption, low speed wireless links, interference) while the WMN offers high data rates through multiple radios and channels. In this context, it is necessary to find solutions that can ensure more efficient communication system based on the optimized utilization of the network resources. So it was created a multi-objective routing algorithm, called Routing-Aware of path Length, Link quality, and traffic Load (RALL). This seeks to strike a balance between three objectives: to minimize the network bottlenecks, to reduce path length, and to avoid links with low quality, for resolution the routing problem for WSN, Then the RALL approach was adapted to match the specialty of the WMN, entitled Routing Aware of path Length, Link quality, and traffic Load Weighted (RALLW). The results indicate that combining multiple objectives when performing routing can benefit networks performance. The RALL and RALLW results in a good performance with regard to the delivery rate, throughput, delay, and power consumption when compared to other approaches, however the RALLW approach did not significant differences when compared to the RALL.

The Future Internet concepts and designs of 4WARD project concerns a clean-slate architecture with various networking innovations, including a new connectivity paradigm called Generic Path (GP). In GP architecture, several facilities are designed to efficiently support complex value-added applications and services with assured Quality of Service (QoS). GPs mainly abstract underlying network heterogeneity, and any entity, regardless its scope (technology, location or architectural layer) communicate each other in a single way via a common interface. To that, cooperation with network-layer provisioning mechanisms is required in the sense to map data paths meeting session-demanded resources (QoS requirements - minimum bandwidth and maximum delay/loss experience) into appropriate GPs. In contrast as support today, robust and scalable QoS-provisioning facilities are strongly required for efficient GP allocations. Therefore, this dissertation introduces the QoS-Routing and Resource Control (QoSRRC), a set of GP-compliant facilities to cope with the hereinabove requirements. QoSRRC complements GP architecture with QoS-oriented routing, aided with load balancing, to select paths meeting session-demands while keeping residual bandwidth to increase user experience. For scalability, QoS-RRC operates based on an overprovisioning-centric approach, which places low state storage and network operations. Initial QoS-RRC performance evaluation was carried out in Network Simulator v.2 (NS2), demonstrating drastic improvements of flow delay experience and bandwidth use among a relevant state-of-the-art solution. Moreover, the impact of QoS-RRC compared to current IP QoS and routing standards on the user experience has been evaluated, by analysing main objective and subjective Quality of Experience (QoE) metrics, namely Peak Signal to Noise Ratio (PSNR), The Structural Similarity Index (SSIM), Video Quality Metric (VQM) and Mean Opinion Score (MOS).

O Estado do Rio de Janeiro possui indicadores de produção muito baixos na realização de exames de câncer de mama. Na tentativa de melhorar o acesso aos exames, principalmente em regiões com baixa densidade populacional onde a aquisição de mamógrafos não é custo-efetiva, o uso da mamografia móvel é uma alternativa para aumentar a execução de exames de rastreamento de câncer de mama. O objetivo desta pesquisa é a construção de um modelo computacional para definir a alocação de mamógrafos móveis. O Modelo considera as variáveis associadas com os custos e prazos, indicando quando, onde e por quanto tempo, as unidades móveis de mamografia devem permanecer em cada cidade. O modelo foi construído no software de modelagem e simulação Anylogic, usando técnicas de modelagem baseada em agentes. O principal resultado é determinar o percurso de cada veículo disponível, para oferecer a cobertura desejada em cada cidade. Todas as entradas são parametrizadas, permitindo simular diferentes cenários e fornecer informações importantes para o processo de tomada de decisão. O horizonte de tempo, número de mamógrafos (fixos e móveis), a cobertura desejada da população, a capacidade de produção de cada dispositivo, a adesão da população urbana e rural, entre outras variáveis, foram consideradas no modelo. Os dados da Região Serrana do Rio de Janeiro foram usados nas simulações, onde menos de metade das cidades possuem mamógrafos fixos. Com o modelo proposto foi possível determinar a distribuição de cada dispositivo físico e o número ótimo de unidades móveis de mamografia para oferecer cobertura à totalidade da população no ciclo de dois anos. O número de mamógrafos para oferecer cobertura de toda a população da região poderia ser reduzido pela metade com o modelo de alocação proposto neste trabalho. A utilização de mamografia móvel, em conjunto com a rede existente de mamógrafos fixos, procura maximizar a disponibilização de exames de testes de diagnóstico de câncer de mama no estado do Rio de Janeiro. O desenvolvimento de um modelo de roteamento que aperfeiçoa a cobertura de rastreio do câncer de mama é apresentado como um complemento importante na tentativa de melhorar o acesso à população residente em áreas urbanas e rurais dos municípios.