Link and Network Layers Design for Ultra-High-Speed Terahertz-Band Communication Networks
Abstract
Over the last few years, wireless data traffic has drastically increased due to a change in the way today s society creates, shares and consumes information. This change has been accompanied by an increasing demand for higher speed wireless communication anywhere, anytime. Following this trend, wireless Terabit-per-second (Tbps) links are expected to become a reality within the next five to ten years. In this context, Terahertz (THz)-band 0.1-10 THz) communication is envisioned as a key technology to satisfy the need for Tbps links. For many years, the lack of compact and efficient ways to generate and detect THz-band signals has limited the feasibility of such communication systems. However, within the last five years, outstanding progress has been achieved towards the development of compact THz-band devices for communication. In parallel to the development of THz-band devices, there is a need to investigate new networking solutions for ultra-high-speed wireless data networks. There are many peculiarities in this novel networking paradigm that require the revision of common assumptions and well-established concepts when compared to traditional wireless communication networks. To some extent, the availability of an unprecedentedly large bandwidth relaxes many design constraints at the link and network layers, e.g., there is no need to contend for the bandwidth, but it introduces other challenges, such as the need for better link layer synchronization or routing techniques able to adapt to channel with different molecular composition. The objective of the proposed research is to develop new link and network layer policies and protocols for ultra-broadband communication networks in the THz band. In particular, the work has been divided into three intertwined thrusts with the following specific outcomes: Thrust 1: Link Layer Design for Ultra-high-speed Wireless Communication: A mathematical framework will be developed to analyze and optimize joint flow and error control strategies to prevent link-layer congestion problems, especially data loss, when transmitting at Tbps with limited computational resources. Then, a novel receiver-initiated Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol for ultra-high-speed data networks will be designed to guarantee that both the transmitter and the receiver are ready for the data transaction, while maximizing the link throughput. Thrust 2: Network Layer Design for Ultra-high-speed Wireless Communication: The mathematical framework developed in Thrust 1 will be extended to the case of multi-hop communication and utilized to identify optimal relaying strategies with active and/or passive relays. Then, a routing protocol for ultra-high-speed data networks will be developed by departing from the traditional store-and-forward approach. This is aimed at minimizing the end-to-end delay, while maximizing the end-to-end successful delivery probability and aggregated network throughput. Thrust 3: Network Simulation Platforms for THz-band Communication Networks: Two separate simulation platforms will be implemented and utilized to validate, refine and extend the developed networking solutions: a software-defined platform able to emulate the behavior of the THz-band channel and devices with perfect physics accuracy by combining and an extension to the widely-used ns-3 simulation platform.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Feb 11, 2016
- Source ID
- FA87501510050
Entities
People
- Josep Miguel Jornet
Organizations
- Research Foundation for the State University of New York
- Rome Laboratory
- United States Air Force