OpenUCT :: Browsing by Author "Dlodlo, Mqhele E"

Browsing by Author "Dlodlo, Mqhele E"

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Open Access
A variable threshold for an energy detector using GNU radio
(2018) Lechesa, Wahau Simon; Dlodlo, Mqhele E
Spectrum is a natural resource and should be treated as such. Spectrum has dual use applications that range from short distance communication links such as Bluetooth to health, power systems, transport, smart city applications and space communications and exploration. Next Generation Networks (NGNs) are designed to connect millions of devices seamlessly and with high throughput rates in the aforementioned sectors and others not mentioned. The use of spectrum has to be efficiently utilized and appropriated. Cognitive radio communications serve to improve use of dwindling spectrum availability. Spectrum sensing is the first and critical technology in cognitive radio meant to determine radio parameters. Energy Detection (ED) is a spectrum sensing technology that has a low computational and operational complexity, a relatively fast spectrum sensing technique to other spectrum sensing technologies, and requires no knowledge of the primary user’s transmit signal properties such as modulation or error correction schemes. In its classical case, ED compares the signal energy received with a fixed detection threshold, estimated with an expected noise level. Noise however in practice varies randomly due to thermal variations, non-uniform movement of electrons, imperfections of semiconductor materials and external noise sources to mention a few. This creates a noise uncertainty phenomenon which negatively affects the fixed threshold approach used in classical ED. Development of an out-of-tree module for a variable threshold energy detector using the estimated noise power at each sample point is presented in this dissertation. GNU Radio software and Ettus Universal Software Radio Peripheral (USRP) hardware were used to simulate the performance of the proposed variable threshold energy detector. The Neyman-Pearson theory was adopted in achieving the proposed variable threshold energy detector. The variable threshold energy detector successfully sensed the presence of a primary user signal at 1.25% less the spectrum sensing time of the constant threshold. An ROC curve plot also showed that the proposed variable threshold energy detector had a better performance in general as opposed to the constant threshold energy detector at low signal-to-noise ratio levels.
Open Access
Adaptive and autonomous protocol for spectrum identification and coordination in ad hoc cognitive radio network
(2017) Ohize, Henry Ohiani; Dlodlo, Mqhele E
The decentralised structure of wireless Ad hoc networks makes them most appropriate for quick and easy deployment in military and emergency situations. Consequently, in this thesis, special interest is given to this form of network. Cognitive Radio (CR) is defined as a radio, capable of identifying its spectral environment and able to optimally adjust its transmission parameters to achieve interference free communication channel. In a CR system, Dynamic Spectrum Access (DSA) is made feasible. CR has been proposed as a candidate solution to the challenge of spectrum scarcity. CR works to solve this challenge by providing DSA to unlicensed (secondary) users. The introduction of this new and efficient spectrum management technique, the DSA, has however, opened up some challenges in this wireless Ad hoc Network of interest; the Cognitive Radio Ad Hoc Network (CRAHN). These challenges, which form the specific focus of this thesis are as follows: First, the poor performance of the existing spectrum sensing techniques in low Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) conditions. Secondly the lack of a central coordination entity for spectrum allocation and information exchange in the CRAHN. Lastly, the existing Medium Access Control (MAC) Protocol such as the 802.11 was designed for both homogeneous spectrum usage and static spectrum allocation technique. Consequently, this thesis addresses these challenges by first developing an algorithm comprising of the Wavelet-based Scale Space Filtering (WSSF) algorithm and the Otsu's multi-threshold algorithm to form an Adaptive and Autonomous WaveletBased Scale Space Filter (AWSSF) for Primary User (PU) sensing in CR. These combined algorithms produced an enhanced algorithm that improves detection in low SNR conditions when compared to the performance of EDs and other spectrum sensing techniques in the literature. Therefore, the AWSSF met the performance requirement of the IEEE 802.22 standard as compared to other approaches and thus considered viable for application in CR. Next, a new approach for the selection of control channel in CRAHN environment using the Ant Colony System (ACS) was proposed. The algorithm reduces the complex objective of selecting control channel from an overtly large spectrum space,to a path finding problem in a graph. We use pheromone trails, proportional to channel reward, which are computed based on received signal strength and channel availability, to guide the construction of selection scheme. Simulation results revealed ACS as a feasible solution for optimal dynamic control channel selection. Finally, a new channel hopping algorithm for the selection of a control channel in CRAHN was presented. This adopted the use of the bio-mimicry concept to develop a swarm intelligence based mechanism. This mechanism guides nodes to select a common control channel within a bounded time for the purpose of establishing communication. Closed form expressions for the upper bound of the time to rendezvous (TTR) and Expected TTR (ETTR) on a common control channel were derived for various network scenarios. The algorithm further provides improved performance in comparison to the Jump-Stay and Enhanced Jump-Stay Rendezvous Algorithms. We also provided simulation results to validate our claim of improved TTR. Based on the results obtained, it was concluded that the proposed system contributes positively to the ongoing research in CRAHN.
Open Access
Adaptive radio resource management schemes for the downlink of the OFDMA-based wireless communication systems
(2014) Isaac, Bernard Nyakundi; Dlodlo, Mqhele E
Due to its superior characteristics that make it suitable for high speed mobile wireless systems OFDMA has been adopted by next generation broadband wireless standards including Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) and Long Term Evolution – Advanced (LTE-A). Intelligent and adaptive Radio Resource Management (RRM) schemes are a fundamental tool in the design of wireless systems to be able to fully and efficiently utilize the available scarce resources and be able to meet the user data rates and QoS requirements. Previous works were only concerned with maximizing system efficiency and thus used opportunistic algorithms that allocate resources to users with the best opportunities to optimize system capacity. Thus, only those users with good channel conditions were considered for resource allocation and users in bad channel conditions were left out to starve of resources. The main objective of our study is to design adaptive radio resource allocation (RRA) algorithms that distribute the scarce resources more fairly among network users while efficiently using the resources to maximize system throughput. Four scheduling algorithms have been formulated and analysed based on fairness, throughputs and delay. This was done for users demanding different services and QoS requirements. Two of the scheduling algorithms, Maximum Sum Rate (MSR) and Round Robin (RR) are used respectively, as references to analyze throughput and fairness among network users. The other two algorithms are Proportional Fair Scheduling (PFS) and Margin Adaptive Scheduling Scheme (MASS).
Open Access
An adaptive threshold energy detection technique with noise variance estimation for cognitive radio sensor networks
(2015) Ngethe, Nixon Thuo; Dlodlo, Mqhele E
The paradigm of wireless sensor networks (WSNs) has gained a lot of popularity in the recent years due to the proliferation of wireless devices. This is evident as WSNs find numerous application areas in fields such as agriculture, infrastructure monitoring, transport, and security surveillance. Traditionally, most deployments of WSNs operate in the unlicensed industrial scientific and medical (ISM) band and more specifically, the globally available 2.4 GHz frequency band. This band is shared with several other wireless technologies such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, near field communication and other proprietary technologies thus leading to overcrowding and interference problems. The concept of dynamic spectrum access alongside cognitive radio technology can mitigate the coexistence issues by allowing WSNs to dynamically access new spectrum opportunities. Furthermore, cognitive radio technology addresses some of the inherent constraints of WSNs thus introducing a myriad of benefits. This justifies the emergence of cognitive radio sensor networks (CRSNs). The selection of a spectrum sensing technique plays a vital role in the design and implementation of a CRSN. This dissertation sifts through the spectrum sensing techniques proposed in literature investigating their suitability for CRSN applications. We make amendments to the conventional energy detector particularly on the threshold selection technique. We propose an adaptive threshold energy detection model with noise variance estimation for implementation in CRSN systems. Experimental work on our adaptive threshold technique based on the recursive one-sided hypothesis test (ROHT) technique was carried out using MatLab. The results obtained indicate that our proposed technique is able to achieve adaptability of the threshold value based on the noise variance. We also employ the constant false alarm rate (CFAR) threshold to act as a defence mechanism against interference of the primary user at low signal to noise ratio (SNR). Our evaluations indicate that our adaptive threshold technique achieves double dynamicity of the threshold value based on the noise variance and the perceived SNR.
Open Access
An architecture for user preference-based IoT service selection in cloud computing using mobile devices for smart campus
(2015) Manqele, Lindelweyizizwe Siziwe; Dlodlo, Mqhele E; Williams, Quentin; Coetzee, Louis
The Internet of things refers to the set of objects that have identities and virtual personalities operating in smart spaces using intelligent interfaces to connect and communicate within social environments and user context. Interconnected devices communicating to each other or to other machines on the network have increased the number of services. The concepts of discovery, brokerage, selection and reliability are important in dynamic environments. These concepts have emerged as an important field distinguished from conventional distributed computing by its focus on large-scale resource sharing, delivery and innovative applications. The usage of Internet of Things technology across different service provisioning environments has increased the challenges associated with service selection and discovery. Although a set of terms can be used to express requirements for the desired service, a more detailed and specific user interface would make it easy for the users to express their requirements using high-level constructs. In order to address the challenge of service selection and discovery, we developed an architecture that enables a representation of user preferences and manipulates relevant descriptions of available services. To ensure that the key components of the architecture work, algorithms (content-based and collaborative filtering) derived from the architecture were proposed. The architecture was tested by selecting services using content-based as well as collaborative algorithms. The performances of the algorithms were evaluated using response time. Their effectiveness was evaluated using recall and precision. The results showed that the content-based recommender system is more effective than the collaborative filtering recommender system. Furthermore, the results showed that the content-based technique is more time-efficient than the collaborative filtering technique.
Open Access
DDoS defence for service availability in cloud computing
(2016) Osanaiye, Opeyemi Ayokunle; Dlodlo, Mqhele E; Choo, Kim-Kwang Raymond
Cloud computing presents a convenient way of accessing services, resources and applications over the Internet by shifting the focus of industries and organizations from the deployment and day-to-day running of their IT facilities, to provide an on-demand, self-service, and pay-as-you-go business model. Despite its increased popularity, ensuring security and availability of data, resources and services remains an ongoing research challenge. Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks are not a new threat but they remain a major security challenge in achieving a secure and guaranteed service and resources in cloud computing. Mitigating DDoS attack in cloud computing presents a new dimension to the solutions proffered in traditional computing, therefore, this work proposes DDoS defence solutions that identify and classify packet traffic as either legitimate or malicious, based on its attributes. This thesis has three objectives. Firstly, it investigates a major attribute of DDoS attack, the spoofing of source IP address that hides its identity to disallow easy traceback or deceive the cloud provider to enjoy certain services accrued to a trusted host. Secondly, due to the increased number and sophistication of DDoS attacks against cloud services and the magnitude of traffic that needs to be processed, the analysis of feature selection methods and classification techniques was carried out. Feature selection has been identified as a pre-processing phase in cloud DDoS attack defence that could potentially increase the classification accuracy and reduce the computational complexity, by identifying important features from the original dataset, during supervised learning. Finally, this thesis studies the packet inter-arrival time (IAT) feature of traffic traces, in order to determine the presence of an attack using a change-point detection. The DDoS attack pattern is detected by leveraging on the fact that most DDoS attacks are automated, thus exhibiting similar patterns. The main contributions are as follows: (i) This thesis proposes an IP spoofing detection technique that uses a passive and active host-based operating system (OS) fingerprinting to detect the true source of a packet during a spoofed DDoS attack; (ii) this thesis proposes an ensemble-based multi-filter feature selection (EMFFS) method that combines the output of four filter methods to achieve an optimum selection, and a decision-tree classifier to detect DDoS attacks; and (iii) this thesis proposes a change-point monitoring algorithm to detect DDoS flooding attacks against cloud services, by examining the packet IAT. A DDoS attack pattern is distinguished from normal traffic by using cumulative sum algorithm (CUSUM). The results obtained show a high detection rate and classification accuracy, when compared with other classification techniques in the literature.
Open Access
A design of variable transmission power control for wireless ad-hoc network
(2015) Akinsolu, Ojuetimi Ifedayo; Dlodlo, Mqhele E
Wireless Ad-hoc Network has emanated to be a promising network paradigm that can handle last mile technology due to unprecedented growth of internet users. This network is promising because it extends network to remote areas such as congested environments, rural environments etc. It is known that nodes involved in Wireless Ad-hoc Network rely on battery energy as their source of power. Energy consumption has become one of the major challenges experienced in Wireless Ad-hoc Network, which must be properly tackled. This could be traced to the effect of transmission power on the nodes in the network. Transmission power largely determines the amount of energy consumed by each node in the network. Therefore, a power control technique must be adopted in order to manage and select the optimal transmission power with respect to distance. This transmission power must be sufficient to transfer information from one node to another. Literature have proposed different algorithms for power control technique in Wireless Ad-hoc Network. Some researchers looked at the power control technique in terms of minimising energy consumed from different perspectives, which include power aware routing and power control topology management. However, most of these algorithms were applied at different layers in OSI model such as physical layer, data link layer, network layer and application layer. To achieve a reduced energy consumption at each node in the network, a novel algorithm for transmission power control was designed to select optimal transmission power. The proposed algorithm was designed in such a way that it selects transmission power based on the distance between the nodes without affecting the network throughput. Graph theory is used in this research to model the network topology, and transmission power with respect to the distance.
Open Access
Energy-detection based spectrum sensing for cognitive radio on a real-time SDR platform
(2016) Rwodzi, McBath John; Dlodlo, Mqhele E
There has been an increase in wireless applications due to the technology boom; consequently raising the level of radio spectrum demand. However, spectrum is a limited resource and cannot be infinitely subdivided to accommodate every application. At the same time, emerging wireless applications require a lot of bandwidth for operation, and have seen exponential growth in their bandwidth usage in recent years. The current spectrum allocation technique, proposed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is a fixed allocation technique. This is inefficient as the spectrum is vacant during times when the primary user is not using the spectrum. This strain on the current available bandwidth has revealed signs of an upcoming spectrum crunch; hence the need to find a solution that satisfies the increasing spectrum demand, without compromising the performance of the applications. This work leverages on cognitive radio technology as a potential solution to the spectrum usage challenge. Cognitive radios have the ability to sense the spectrum and determine the presence or absence of the primary user in a particular subcarrier band. When the spectrum is vacant, a cognitive radio (secondary user) can opportunistically occupy the radio spectrum, optimizing the radio frequency band. The effectiveness of the cognitive radio is determined by the performance of the sensing techniques. Known spectrum-sensing techniques are reviewed, which include energy detection, entropy detection, matched-filter detection, and cyclostationary detection. In this dissertation, the energy sensing technique is examined. A real-time energy detector is developed on the Software-Defined Radio (SDR) testbed that is built with Universal Software Radio Peripheral (USRP) devices, and on the GNU Radio software platform. The noise floor of the system is first analysed to determine the detection threshold, which is obtained using the empirical cumulative distribution method. Simulations are carried out using MATrix LABoratory (MATLAB) to set a benchmark. In both simulations and the SDR development platform, an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) signal with Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) modulation is generated and used as the test signal.
Open Access
An energy-efficient routing protocol for Hybrid-RFID Sensor Network
(2011) Boneke Nokonoko, Dulce-Maira; Dlodlo, Mqhele E; Bagula, Antoine
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) systems facilitate detection and identification of objects that are not easily detectable or distinguishable. However, they do not provide information about the condition of the objects they detect. Wireless sensor networks (WSNs), on the other hand provide information about the condition of the objects as well as the environment. The integration of these two technologies results in a new type of smart network where RFID-based components are combined with sensors. This research proposes an integration technique that combines conventional wireless sensor nodes, sensor-tags, hybrid RFID-sensor nodes and a base station into a smart network named Hybrid RFID-Sensor Network (HRSN).
Open Access
Evaluating the effectiveness of Cooperative/Coordinated Multipoint (CoMP) LTE feature in uplink and downlink transmissions
(2017) Charangwa, Mark; Dlodlo, Mqhele E
Shannon demonstrated that the channel capacity depends of the ratio of the received signal power to interference plus noise power (SINR). Inter-cell interference caused by neighbouring base stations (BSs) has been identified as one of the most severe problem towards the deployment of LTE technology as it can significantly deteriorate the performance of cellside User Equipment (UE). However, because of regulatory and radiation restrictions as well as operational costs, signal power may only be increased only up to a certain limit to reduce the interference. The other common radio propagation impairment is multipath. Multipath refers to a scenario where multiple copies of a signal propagate to a receiver using different paths. The paths can be created due to signal reflection, scattering and diffraction. As will be discussed later the effects of multipath contribute little to intercell interference because multipath characteristics such as delay spread are compensated for using cyclic prefixes. In this work, we will limit our scope to interference as it has been identified as the main cause of performance degradation for cell edge users due to the full frequency reuse technique used in LTE. To mitigate interference 3GPP devised options of increasing the capacity in LTEAdvanced Release 12 which include the use of spectral aggregation, employing Multiple Input and Multiple Output (MIMO) Antenna techniques, deploying more base stations and micro and femto cells, increasing the degree of sectorisation and Coordinated Multipoint (CoMP). We are primarily interested in evaluating performance improvements introduced when uplink (UL) and downlink (DL) coordinated/cooperative multipoint (CoMP) is enabled in LTE Advanced Release 12 as a way of reducing interference among sites. The CoMP option of reducing interference does not require deployment of new equipment compared to the other options mentioned above hence network deployment costs are minimal. CoMP in theory is known to reduce interference especially for cell edge users and therefore improves network fairness. With CoMP, multiple points coordinate with each other such that transmission of signals to and from other points do not incur serious interference or the interference can even be exploited as a meaningful signal. In September 2011 work on specifications for CoMP support was started in 3GPP LTEAdvanced as one of the core features in LTE-Advanced Release 11 to improve cell edge user throughput as well as the average network throughput. We set to do field measurements in the evaluation of the effectiveness of CoMP in LTE. 3GPP LTE Release 12 was used and cell edge users' performance was the focus. The network operates in 2330 - 2350 MHz band (Channel 40). From the field measurements, it was demonstrated that the CoMP (Scenario 2) feature indeed effective in improving service quality/user experience/fairness for cell edge users. CoMP inherently improves network capacity. A seven (7) percent throughput was noticed.
Open Access
Fast implementation of integer transforms in H.264/AVC video encoders
(2011) Lubobya, Smart Charles; Dlodlo, Mqhele E; De Jager, Gerhard
The Integer Discrete Cosine Transform (IDCT) and Hadamard transforms are adopted in the H.264/AVC standard encoder for the compression of residual video signals. Other video standards such as the H.261, H.262 and H.263 use Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT).
Open Access
Fast implementations of block motion estimation algorithms in video encoders
(2011) Koduri, Naga Rohini; Dlodlo, Mqhele E; De Jager, Gerhard
This research is aimed at designing and implementing novel fast algorithms for speeding up the encoding process. The objective of this study was to come up with algorithms which can estimate the data significantly faster than the existing algorithms, whilst ensuring acceptable video quality.
Open Access
Improving fractional frequency reuse (FFR) for interference mitigation in Multi-tier 4G wireless networks
(2015) Adeyemo, Oluwadamilare Daniel; Dlodlo, Mqhele E
The need to provide quality indoor coverage for mobile network users in an indoor environment has become paramount to communication service providers (CSPs). Femto-cells due to their low capital expenditure (CAPEX) and operating expenditure (OPEX) have seen widespread adoption as a possible solution to the indoor coverage challenge. The major drawback of its adoption is the possibility of erratic but significant interference to both the Femto-cell and the Macro-cell tiers owing to their Ad-hoc mode of deployment. The Fractional Frequency Reuse (FFR) is an interference mitigation scheme, due to its effectiveness and low complexity; it has been proposed to be an efficient technique of solving the problem of interference in the cross-boundary region. In this study, a critical analysis of the existing schemes revealed that Femto-cell users at the border between the cell centre region (CCR) and the cell edge region (CER) suffer cross-boundary interference. An algorithm that integrates a buffer zone between the existing CCR and CER has been developed to solve the cross-boundary interference challenge experienced by the Femto-cell users. A system level simulation implemented in MATLAB was used to evaluate the developed algorithm. The network performance (in terms of user-achieved signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) and its daughter metrics such as channel capacity and throughput) was estimated. In terms of the SINR, the performance improvement recorded for Femto-cell users at the border region after the implementation of the buffer zone was more than eighty per cent (80%). There were significant improvements in terms of the channel capacity and throughput for the Femto-users present at the buffer region with the implementation of the developed algorithm.
Open Access
Improving Inter-service bandwidth fairness in Wireless Mesh Networks
(2013) Moyo, Vusumuzi; Dlodlo, Mqhele E; Falowo, Olabisi E
We are currently experiencing many technological advances and as a result, a lot of applications and services are developed for use in homes, offices and out in the field. In order to attract users and customers, most applications and / or services are loaded with graphics, pictures and movie clips. This unfortunately means most of these next generation services put a lot of strain on networking resources, namely bandwidth. Efficient management of bandwidth in next generation wireless network is therefore important for ensuring fairness in bandwidth allocation amongst multiple services with diverse quality of service needs. A number of algorithms have been proposed for fairness in bandwidth allocation in wireless networks, and some researchers have used game theory to model the different aspects of fairness. However, most of the existing algorithms only ensure fairness for individual requests and disregard fairness among the classes of services while some other algorithms ensure fairness for the classes of services and disregard fairness among individual requests.
Open Access
Improving the scalability of MAC protocols in wireless mesh network
(2010) Velempini, Mthulisi; Dlodlo, Mqhele E
Efficient utilization of multi-channels is critical for the success of multi-channel MACprotocols. Unfortunately, current multi-channel MAC protocols are not efficient in the utilization of the multiple channels. The poor utilization of the available channels is also affected by the following: channel coordination, channel selection, and channel scheduling strategies, which do not lend themselves to scalability and the efficient use of the multiple channels. Good channel coordination and selection techniques are therefore required to improve the efficiency of the multi-channel MAC protocols. These techniques should be coupled with effective and scalable signalling techniques, which reduce substantial signalling overhead. A multi-channel Cyclical Scheduling Algorithm (CSA) is proposed to address these challenges.
Open Access
Load balancing using cell range expansion in LTE advanced heterogeneous networks
(2016) Nyembe, Wiseman Nkosingiphile; Dlodlo, Mqhele E
The use of heterogeneous networks is on the increase, fueled by consumer demand for more data. The main objective of heterogeneous networks is to increase capacity. They offer solutions for efficient use of spectrum, load balancing and improvement of cell edge coverage amongst others. However, these solutions have inherent challenges such as inter-cell interference and poor mobility management. In heterogeneous networks there is transmit power disparity between macro cell and pico cell tiers, which causes load imbalance between the tiers. Due to the conventional user-cell association strategy, whereby users associate to a base station with the strongest received signal strength, few users associate to small cells compared to macro cells. To counter the effects of transmit power disparity, cell range expansion is used instead of the conventional strategy. The focus of our work is on load balancing using cell range expansion (CRE) and network utility optimization techniques to ensure fair sharing of load in a macro and pico cell LTE Advanced heterogeneous network. The aim is to investigate how to use an adaptive cell range expansion bias to optimize Pico cell coverage for load balancing. Reviewed literature points out several approaches to solve the load balancing problem in heterogeneous networks, which include, cell range expansion and utility function optimization. Then, we use cell range expansion, and logarithmic utility functions to design a load balancing algorithm. In the algorithm, user and base station associations are optimized by adapting CRE bias to pico base station load status. A price update mechanism based on a suboptimal solution of a network utility optimization problem is used to adapt the CRE bias. The price is derived from the load status of each pico base station. The performance of the algorithm was evaluated by means of an LTE MATLAB toolbox. Simulations were conducted according to 3GPP and ITU guidelines for modelling heterogeneous networks and propagation environment respectively. Compared to a static CRE configuration, the algorithm achieved more fairness in load distribution. Further, it achieved a better trade-off between cell edge and cell centre user throughputs. [Please note: this thesis file has been deferred until December 2016]
Open Access
Media independent handovers : network selection for mobile IP nodes in heterogeneous wireless networks
(2008) Sibanda, Clifford Clifton Leonard; Dlodlo, Mqhele E
In Next Generation Networks (NGN), also known as 4G, Beyond 3G, Converged, Integrated and Interworked Network, user node mobility in wireless and wired environments will seamlessly cross disparate network boundaries. The effort to offer ubiquitous computing, providing access to services anywhere and anytime, strongly encourages the ability to roam across the different existing and future networks. Literature shows investigation of concepts such as Always Best Connected (ABC) when heterogeneous networks co-exist , which will work or compete with other schemes like Home Network Default (HND), Compatibility and Network Operator Agreements (CNOA) to guide network selection or access . With the variety of available networks, the mobile node may be faced with having to decide which network to connect to. We concentrate on the network selection aspects of these envisaged mobile, overlay and integrated environment in heterogeneous networks. The standard developments by the IEEE802.21 Working group and the IETF Networking group form the base of our approach that seeks to see mobility across heterogeneous networks a reality. We propose an IEEE802.21 Media Independent Handover Function (MIHF) based network discovery and network selection, leading to a handover. The selection may be further assisted by an MIHF capable Broker Node that is Third party to the Network Providers to provide a central yet distributed database of the available networks as encountered by the Mobile Node, to cater for Nodes with no prior knowledge of networks and software repository. A Mobile Node (MN) in our solution uses 802.21 communication messages to obtain information about foreign networks encountered before selecting the networks to connect to. Our evaluation through simulations, shows that network selection in heterogeneous wireless networks environment for the appropriately equipped devices is greatly enhanced by the use of the Media Independent Handover Protocol. In scenarios where the mobile node has no prior knowledge of the encountered different network architectures, the use of a Broker node can, for an optimal number of available networks also greatly enhance the mobile node’s network selection by reducing the delay associated and the packet losses incurred.
Open Access
Multi-stage queuing with iterative probabilistic scheduling of IP traffic for QoS provisioning
(2006) Salami, Oladayo M; Chan, H Anthony; Dlodlo, Mqhele E
Queuing and scheduling are packet processing functions which provide quality of service (QoS) at the first level of the QoS architecture where routers reside. With the continued increase in network speed, queuing and scheduling of traffic needs to be performed at higher speed. In addition, processing co-existing IP traffic from different applications requiring QoS may complicate these functions. Virtual Output Queuing (VOQ) is a strategy that can queue traffic at line rate and achieve 100% throughput with an effective scheduling algorith. It maintains a separate queue for each output port at each inputport. With N input ports and N output ports in the router ther are N² such virtual output queues at the input. The challenge is to schedule the packets at the head on these N² queues.
Open Access
Performance analysis and application development of hybrid WiMAX-WiFi IP video surveillance systems
(2017) Lubobya, Smart Charles; Dlodlo, Mqhele E; De Jager, Gerhard; Zulu, Ackim
Traditional Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) analogue cameras installed in buildings and other areas of security interest necessitates the use of cable lines. However, analogue systems are limited by distance; and storing analogue data requires huge space or bandwidth. Wired systems are also prone to vandalism, they cannot be installed in a hostile terrain and in heritage sites, where cabling would distort original design. Currently, there is a paradigm shift towards wireless solutions (WiMAX, Wi-Fi, 3G, 4G) to complement and in some cases replace the wired system. A wireless solution of the Fourth-Generation Surveillance System (4GSS) has been proposed in this thesis. It is a hybrid WiMAX-WiFi video surveillance system. The performance analysis of the hybrid WiMAX-WiFi is compared with the conventional WiMAX surveillance models. The video surveillance models and the algorithm that exploit the advantages of both WiMAX and Wi-Fi for scenarios of fixed and mobile wireless cameras have been proposed, simulated and compared with the mathematical/analytical models. The hybrid WiMAX-WiFi video surveillance model has been extended to include a Wireless Mesh configuration on the Wi-Fi part, to improve the scalability and reliability. A performance analysis for hybrid WiMAX-WiFi system with an appropriate Mobility model has been considered for the case of mobile cameras. A security software application for mobile smartphones that sends surveillance images to either local or remote servers has been developed. The developed software has been tested, evaluated and deployed in low bandwidth Wi-Fi wireless network environments. WiMAX is a wireless metropolitan access network technology that provides broadband services to the connected customers. Major modules and units of WiMAX include the Customer Provided Equipment (CPE), the Access Service Network (ASN) which consist one or more Base Stations (BS) and the Connectivity Service Network (CSN). Various interfaces exist between each unit and module. WiMAX is based on the IEEE 802.16 family of standards. Wi-Fi, on the other hand, is a wireless access network operating in the local area network; and it is based on the IEEE 802.11 standards.
Open Access
Performance analysis of FBMC over OFDM in Cognitive Radio Network
(2017) Agoni, Amakan Elisha; Dlodlo, Mqhele E
Cognitive Radio (CR) system is an adaptive, reconfigurable communication system that can intuitively adjust its parameters to meet users or network demands. The major objective of CR is to provide a platform for the Secondary User (SU) to fully utilize the available spectrum resource by sensing the existence of spectrum holes without causing interference to the Primary User (PU). However, PU detection has been one of the main challenges in CR technology. In comparison to traditional wireless communication systems, due to the Cross-Channel Interference (CCI) from the adjacent channels used by SU to PU, CR system now poses new challenges to Resource Allocation (RA) problems. Past efforts have been focussed on Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) based CR systems. However, OFDM technique show various limitations in CR application due to its enormous spectrum leakage. Filter Bank based Multicarrier (FBMC) has been proposed as a promising Multicarrier Modulation (MCM) candidate that has numerous advantages over OFDM. In this dissertation, a critical analysis of the performance of FBMC over OFDM was studied, and CR system was used as the testing platform. Firstly, the problem of spectrum sensing of OFDM based CR systems in contrast to FBMC based were surveyed from literature point of view, then the performance of the two schemes was analysed and compared from the spectral efficiency point of view. A resource allocation algorithm was proposed where much attention was focused on interference and power constraint. The proposed algorithms have been verified using MATLAB simulations, however, numerical results show that FBMC can attain higher spectrum efficiency and attractive benefit in terms of spectrum sensing as opposed to OFDM. The contributions of this dissertation have heightened the interest in more research and findings on how FBMC can be improved for future application CR systems.