CS595 S06 - Analysis of Wireless Network Deployments

Faculty: Elizabeth Belding
Dates/Time: Thursdays 10-11:30am
Location: CS Conference Room
Course ID: Contact Sandy Jacobs (jacobs@cs.ucsb.edu)

Wireless networks of all shapes and sizes are being rapidly deployed for a variety of purposes. The target use of these networks varies from mesh networks in urban cities, to impromptu wireless LANs during conferences, to mesh and WLANs across college campus, to single access point hot-spot networks in coffee shops, hotels, and airports.

Unfortunately, though there is a rapid rise in deployment, understanding of the operation and use of these networks has lagged. While in some cases these networks still perform quite well, this lack of understanding and analysis has often resulted in suboptimal deployments and poor performance. Further, simulation models for wireless networks are often outdated and completely unrealistic, in terms of traffic profiles and mobility models.

In this seminar, we will seek to understand the performance of deployed wireless systems by reviewing recent research that analyzes such network deployments. We will study user, traffic, and mobility patterns in a variety of wireless network deployments, and endeavor to understand the impact of the models on protocol development, network deployment, and simulation modeling.

Students will be expected to read the assigned paper each week so that the papers can be discussed by all participants. Each student enrolled in the seminar will also be expected to present a paper. Because the seminar is intended to be interactive, to earn a satisfactory grade in the course students will be required to both present a paper, and to participate in the discussion. Students that do not participate and contribute to the discussion on a regular basis will not receive a passing grade.

Papers