Communication Protocol Stack Research Articles

PARSECS_RT: A real-time PARSECS-based communication protocol stack for critical sensing applications

The real-time characteristics of modular systems have been a long sought-after goal in many industries including automotive, aeronautics or mobile robotics. Yet scientists and practitioners are still struggling to find widespread implementation solutions that may accommodate diverse inter-modular real-time communication requirements. In an attempt to cover this research gap, the current paper proposes a real-time version of the PARSECS protocol for low-end devices. Our new protocol, coined as PARSECS_RT, was designed according to Open Systems Interconnection Reference Model. It offers a full communication stack from the physical layer to the application layer on top of the SPI interface in order to provide a stable, hard real-time communication platform. PARSECS_RT was evaluated in real and simulated environments providing promising results.

Research on Topology Recognition Technology Based on Intelligent Measurement Switches

Distribution network topology identification provides information on low-voltage station areas in a power system. However, it requires either heavy computation or additional measuring equipment. This paper proposes topology identification technology based on intelligent measurement switches. The topology is identified by using the characteristic current measured by the designed intelligent measurement switch. The modulation/demodulation method and information encoding method for the topology identification are presented. The communication protocol stack structure and message encapsulation format of the topology identification unit are designed. The experimental verification and analysis show that the topology identification technology proposed in this paper has a short identification time and an identification accuracy of 100%, and it can be widely promoted and applied in low-voltage distribution networks.

A peak detection based OOK photoacoustic modulation scheme for air to underwater communication

The popularity of underwater applications has been growing due to the major technological advances in the last few decades. Yet, direct communication from an airborne node to an underwater node remains challenging due to the inability of any known signal which propagates well in both the air and water mediums. Photoacoustic energy transfer is a promising mechanism for enabling such cross-medium communication. Although the use of the photoacoustic mechanism is quite common in medical imaging, little progress has been made on building the communication protocol stack. Most research studies have only focused on characterizing the channel and relating the laser and acoustic signals. Little attention has been given to developing suitable modulation and demodulation schemes. This paper fills such a technical gap and proposes a novel OOK modulation scheme using peak detection technique. We validate the effectiveness of our proposed scheme through simulation and lab experiments.

WIRELESS SENSOR NETWORK: KEY SECURITY ISSUE AND CHALLENGES

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are interconnected sensor nodes that communicate wirelessly to collect data about the surrounding environment. A typical sensor node is made up of different components to perform the task of sensing, processing and transmitting data. WSNs are used for many applications in diverse forms from indoor deployment to outdoor deployment. The basic requirement of every application is to use the secured network. Providing security to the sensor network is a very challenging issue along with saving its energy. Many security threats may affect the functioning of these networks. Because of their low cost and adaptability, wireless sensor networks are widely used in civil, military, and commercial fields and other fields. However, since the sensor node in the calculation of the capacity, battery capacity, and storage capacity are restricted by the limitations and inherent characteristics of the sensor networks, compared to traditional networks, which makes wireless sensor networks face more security threats. This paper summarized the various security issues and security threats in WSNs and solutions. It identifies various possible attacks at different layers of the communication protocol stack in a typical WSN and presents their possible countermeasures. A brief discussion on the future direction of research in WSN security is also included.

WIRELESS SENSOR NETWORK: KEY SECURITY ISSUE AND CHALLENGES

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are interconnected sensor nodes that communicate wirelessly to collect data about the surrounding environment. A typical sensor node is made up of different components to perform the task of sensing, processing and transmitting data. WSNs are used for many applications in diverse forms from indoor deployment to outdoor deployment. The basic requirement of every application is to use the secured network. Providing security to the sensor network is a very challenging issue along with saving its energy. Many security threats may affect the functioning of these networks. Because of their low cost and adaptability, wireless sensor networks are widely used in civil, military, and commercial fields and other fields. However, since the sensor node in the calculation of the capacity, battery capacity, and storage capacity are restricted by the limitations and inherent characteristics of the sensor networks, compared to traditional networks, which makes wireless sensor networks face more security threats. This paper summarized the various security issues and security threats in WSNs and solutions. It identifies various possible attacks at different layers of the communication protocol stack in a typical WSN and presents their possible countermeasures. A brief discussion on the future direction of research in WSN security is also included.

Deployment of Polar Codes for Mission-Critical Machine-Type Communication Over Wireless Networks

Mission critical Machine-type Communication, also referred to as Ultra-reliable Low Latency Communication is primarily characterized by communication that provides ultra-high reliability and very low latency to concurrently transmit short commands to a massive number of connected devices. While the reduction in PHY layer overhead and improvement in channel coding techniques are pivotal in reducing latency and improving reliability, the current wireless standards dedicated to support mcMTC rely heavily on adopting the bottom layers of general-purpose wireless standards and customizing only the upper layers. The mcMTC has a significant technical impact on the design of all layers of the communication protocol stack. In this paper, an innovative bottom-up approach has been proposed for mcMTC applications through PHY layer targeted at improving the transmission reliability by implementing ultra-reliable channel coding scheme in the PHY layer of IEEE 802.11a bearing in mind short packet transmission system. To achieve this aim, we analyzed and compared the channel coding performance of convolutional codes, LDPC codes, and polar codes in wireless network on the condition of short data packet transmission. The Viterbi decoding algorithm, logarithmic belief propagation algorithm, and cyclic redundancy check - successive cancellation list decoding algorithm were adopted to CC, LDPC codes, and polar codes, respectively. Consequently, a new PHY layer for mcMTC has been proposed. The reliability of the proposed approach has been validated by simulation in terms of Bit error rate vs. SNR. The simulation results demonstrate that the reliability of IEEE 802.11a standard has been significantly improved to be at PER less 10e-5 with the implementation of polar codes. The results also show that the general-purpose wireless networks are prominent in providing short packet mcMTC with the modification needed.

RODENT: a flexible TOPSIS based routing protocol for multi-technology devices in wireless sensor networks

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) are efficient tools for many use cases, such as environmental monitoring. However WSN deployment is sometimes limited by the characteristics of the Radio Access Technologies (RATs) they use. To overcome some of these limitations, we propose to leverage the use of a Multiple Technologies Network (MTN). What we refer to as MTN is a network composed of nodes which are able to use several RAT and communicating wirelessly through multi-hop paths. The management of the RAT and routes must be handled by the nodes themselves, in a local and distributed way, with a
 suitable communication protocol stack. Nodes may reach multiple neighbors over multiple RAT. Therefore, each stack's layer has to take the technologies' heterogeneity of the devices into account. In this article, we introduce our custom Routing Over Different Existing Network Technologies protocol (RODENT), designed for MTN. It enables dynamic (re)selection of the best route and RAT based on the data type and requirements that may evolve over time, potentially mixing each technology over a single path. RODENT relies on a multi-criteria route selection performed with a custom lightweight TOPSIS method. To assess
 RODENT's performances, we implemented a functional prototype on real WSN hardware, Pycom FiPy devices. Unlike related prototypes, ours has the advantage not to rely on specific infrastructure on the operator's side. Results show that RODENT enables energy savings, an increased coverage as well as multiple data requirements support.

Joint use of DSRC and C‐V2X for V2X communications in the 5.9 GHz ITS band

Vehicular communications networks form the backbone of cooperative intelligent transport systems to support road safety and infotainment applications amongst users. IEEE 802.11p of the Dedicated Short-Range Communications protocol stack has been the technology of choice for Vehicle-to-Everything communications within the United States and Japan and has been extensively trailed in other countries such as Australia. With the advent of cellular technologies, a new, competing cellular-based Device-to-Device technology, known as Cellular Vehicle-to-Everything Sidelink, has emerged. Considering both technologies suffer from performance limitations, there is a current debate as to which of these technologies will eventually dominate the cooperative intelligent transport systems landscape if they cannot coexist. To investigate mechanisms of spectrum sharing between Dedicated Short-Range Communications and Cellular Vehicle-to-Everything for deployment in a common region, this paper initially reviews the background and technicalities of both technologies. The paper subsequently sets forth Vehicle-to-Everything platform models that allow not only spectrum sharing at the ITS band but also concurrent and simultaneous propagations of Dedicated Short-Range Communications and Cellular Vehicle-to-Everything messages. The transmission and reception mechanisms of hybrid Vehicle-to-Everything platforms are verified through a describing function model.

Mobile Communications-Enabled Smart Grid Cosimulator System Design

In this article, we present a system design approach for a simulator constructed in MATLAB/Simulink used to simulate power systems and the underlying communication system, i.e., device-to-device (D2D) communication protocol stack of long-term evolution (LTE). Emphasis is placed on the characterization of the continuous time-discrete event (CT-DE) cosimulation interface used to develop this simulator. We model the mapping of communication links between D2D nodes as a bipartite digraph, and proceed to characterize the dynamics of information exchange between power system signals and LTE nodes using the discrete event specification formalism. The joint CT-DE dynamics were tested with a simple fault location, isolation, and restoration application. The results indicated that the control signal shifts in the power system simulator were synchronized with the appropriate LTE messaging dynamics.

A Multi-Layered Reliability Approach in Vehicular Ad-Hoc Networks

Vehicular ad-hoc networks (VANETs) have been an important part of intelligent transport systems (ITS). Developing a reliable network for vehicle-to-vehicle communication is a crucial part of network deployment. In the present paper, the authors are discussing a layered approach towards reliability of VANETs. This paper will consider different layers of the dedicated short-range communications (DSRC) protocol stack and discuss key reliability indicators in each layer. This layered approach towards computing reliability results in more practical probability calculations and improves the minimum probability of reliability achievable by the VANETs. The authors discuss about different techniques to increase the reliability of VANETs. In the future works, the goal is to calculate probability density and distribution functions of reliability at each layer and derive combined reliability and availability of a given vehicular ad-hoc network (VANET).

Design and Study UAV Data Link Terminal with One Station Controls Several Vehicles Dynamic Networking

Considering that there are UAVdynamic networking and collaborative communication requirements under complex mission planning conditions, this paper designs a UAV data link communication terminal with One Station Controls Several Vehicles dynamic networking. Firstly, this paper analyzes the structure of One Station Controls Several Vehicles dynamic networking and cooperative communication system in UAV data link, and combines the characteristics of dynamic networking and task cooperative communication to design a One Station Controls Several Vehicles dynamic networking communication protocol stack and design the structure and function of the man-machine data link, the terminal device hardware is realized by the FPGA chip. This paper focuses on digital zero-IF signal processing unit design and hardware implementation process. Finally, combined with the terminal to build an indoor test environment, this paper tests the network function and performance. The test results prove that the UAV data link terminal in One Station Controls Several Vehicles dynamic networking is effective, and it is practical.

Fabrication-as-a-Service: A Web-Based Solution for STEM Education Using Internet of Things

Recently, fabrication laboratories (Fab Labs) have been shown to have a great impact on learners' academic and personal progress. As a result, an increasing effort is being put to integrate Fab Labs into schools' curricula. Yet, owing to the high cost of setting up and maintaining Fab Labs as well as the lack of sufficient funding for most schools and universities, only a limited number of institutions can afford them. In this article, we propose a new concept called Fabrication-as-a-Service (FaaS) that uses Internet of Things to democratize access to Fab Labs via enabling a wide learning community to remotely access these computer-controlled tools and equipment over the Internet. It employs a two-tier architecture consisting of a hub, deployed in the cloud, and a network of distributed Fab Labs. Each Fab Lab interacts with the hub and other digital labs via a Fab Lab Gateway. This is to support scalability and high availability of fabrication services as well as ensure the system's security. FaaS also adopts an innovative master-slave approach that uses inexpensive external hardware to monitor and control the activity of expensive fabrication equipment. This article also describes the FaaS deployment in the context of the European Union Horizon 2020 NEWTON project. Multiple scenarios have been deployed to fully illustrate the benefits of the FaaS architecture and to assess the performance of its communication protocol stack.

Software implementation details of the secure data communication protocols stack based on the dynamic network topology

Secure data communication protocols stack based on the dynamic network topology is a set of protocols designed for secure data communication over a network. It is based on the principles of moving target technology along with cryptography, avalanche routing and group broadcasting. The data transfer protocol implemented in the protocols stack allows to transfer data not only hiding the data itself, but also its sender and receiver. The paper covers the software implementation details of the secure data communication protocols stack.

Guest Editorial Special Issue on Low-Latency High-Reliability Communications for the IoT

As one of the key enabling technologies of emerging smart societies and industries (i.e., industry 4.0), the Internet of Things (IoT) has evolved significantly in both the technologies and applications. It is estimated that more than 25 billion devices will be connected by wireless IoT networks by 2020. In addition to ubiquitous connectivity, many envisioned applications of the IoT, such as industrial automation, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) networks, smart grids, and remote surgery, will have stringent transmission latency and reliability requirements, which may not be supported by the existing systems. Thus, there is an urgent need for rethinking the entire communication protocol stack for wireless IoT networks.

High-Reliability and Low-Latency Wireless Communication for Internet of Things: Challenges, Fundamentals, and Enabling Technologies

As one of the key enabling technologies of emerging smart societies and industries (i.e., industry 4.0), the Internet of Things (IoT) has evolved significantly in both technologies and applications. It is estimated that more than 25 billion devices will be connected by wireless IoT networks by 2020. In addition to ubiquitous connectivity, many envisioned applications of IoT, such as industrial automation, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) networks, smart grids, and remote surgery, will have stringent transmission latency and reliability requirements, which may not be supported by existing systems. Thus, there is an urgent need for rethinking the entire communication protocol stack for wireless IoT networks. In this tutorial paper, we review the various application scenarios, fundamental performance limits, and potential technical solutions for high-reliability and low-latency (HRLL) wireless IoT networks. We discuss physical, MAC (medium access control), and network layers of wireless IoT networks, which all have significant impacts on latency and reliability. For the physical layer, we discuss the fundamental information-theoretic limits for HRLL communications, and then we also introduce a frame structure and preamble design for HRLL communications. Then practical channel codes with finite block length are reviewed. For the MAC layer, we first discuss optimized spectrum and power resource management schemes and then recently proposed grant-free schemes are discussed. For the network layer, we discuss the optimized network structure (traffic dispersion and network densification), the optimal traffic allocation schemes and network coding schemes to minimize latency.

Terahertz-Enabled Wireless System for Beyond-5G Ultra-Fast Networks: A Brief Survey

With 5G Phase 1 finalized and 5G Phase 2 recently defined by 3GPP, the mobile communication community is on the verge of deciding what will be the Beyond-5G (B5G) system. B5G is expected to further enhance network performance, for example, by supporting throughput per device up to terabits per second and increasing the frequency range of usable spectral bands significantly. In fact, one of the main pillars of 5G networks has been radio access extension to the millimeter-wave bands. However, new envisioned services, asking for more and more throughput, require the availability of one order of magnitude more spectrum chunks, thus suggesting moving the operations into the THz domain. This move will introduce significant new multidisciplinary research challenges emerging throughout the wireless communication protocol stacks, including the way the mobile network is modeled and deployed. This article, therefore, provides a brief survey of the challenges and opportunities of THz band operation in wireless communication, along with some potential applications and future research directions.

Research on 4G And 5G Authentication Signaling

In recent years, the development and standardization of 5G networks have received extensive attention. 3GPP officially confirmed that Service-Based Architecture (SBA) is the unified infrastructure of the 5G core network (5GC). The Service-Based Interface (SBI) is an important part of the SBA for interaction between network function services within the 5GC. The fifth generation mobile network will support a range of use cases and requirements that are completely different from traditional 4G networks, such as providing a high level of authentication mechanisms. This paper is organized as follows: First, we compare the difference between 4G authentication and 5G authentication in three aspects including the 4G architecture, authentication process, and communication protocol stack, then implement the simulation environment, and finally evaluate the performance by comparing the delay.

Physical Layer Security for the Internet of Things: Authentication and Key Generation

A low-complexity, yet secure framework is proposed for protecting the IoT and for achieving both authentication and secure communication. In particular, the slight random difference among transceivers is extracted for creating a unique radio frequency fingerprint and for ascertaining the unique user identity. The wireless channel between any two users is a perfect source of randomness and can be exploited as cryptographic keys. This can be applied to the physical layer of the communications protocol stack. This article reviews these protocols and shows how they can be integrated to provide a complete IoT security framework. We conclude by outlining the future challenges in applying these compelling physical layer security techniques to the IoT.

Diagnostic Agent Based Inter-Process Communication Aware Monitoring System for Wireless Sensor Networks

Process failures are instigated by underlying errors and faults in various layers of WSN (Wireless Sensor Network) communication protocol stack. Therefore, efficient and effective monitoring systems for fault detection and diagnosis are imperative for fault tolerance and robust operation of WSN to meet critical application requirements for reliability and throughput. Existing detection-diagnosis regimen are either centralized or distributed and network monitoring is performed passively or actively. This work presents a diagnostic agent based inter-process communication aware monitoring system for WSNs. Diagnostic agent actively performs probe-based process execution tracking and examines the effects of errors, omissions and channel misbehavior on process execution at node, link and network levels to implement failure detection and fault diagnosis. Such diagnosis is performed through the inference of inter-process communication of stacked and peer layer processes on sender and receiver side. The monitoring system has been implemented in Castalia simulator for WSN. Local diagnostic agent is implemented on sensor nodes for self-monitoring and network wide fault diagnosis is performed by global diagnostic agent on cluster head. Simulation results show that the system performs robust root cause analysis of critical process failures due to errors in stacked and peer layer processes. The decentralized distribution of diagnostic load on sensor nodes and cluster head produces lesser communication overhead and is energy efficient.

Age-of-Information-Aware Decentralized Congestion Control in VANETs

Decentralized Congestion Control (DCC) is one the central components of the inter-vehicular communications protocol stack enabling Cooperative Intelligent Transportation System (C-ITS). In this letter, we first present an analytical model for the evaluation of DCC in IEEE 802.11p/ITS-G5 vehicular networks. Then, we use it to tune the DCC algorithm specified by ETSI, and suggest two approaches which allow to not only avoid channel congestion, but also to meet C-ITS application requirements on age-of-information, what makes our approach practically relevant for safety critical C-ITS.