The present invention is generally directed to a system for monitoring a variety of environmental and/or other conditions within a defined remotely located region. In one aspect, a system is configured to monitor utility meters (613) in a defined area. The system is implemented by using a plurality of wireless transmitters (614), each integrated into a sensor (612) adapted to monitor a particular data input. The system also includes a plurality of transceivers (221) that are dispersed throughout the region at defined locations. The system uses a local gateway (210) to translate and transfer information from the transmitters to a dedicated computer (260) on a network (230). The dedicated computer collects, compiles and stores the data for retrieval upon client demand across the network. The computer further includes means for evaluating the received information and identifying an appropriate control signal to be applied at a designated actuator.

System and method for monitoring and controlling remote devices

Telephone calls, data and other multimedia information is routed through a hybrid network which includes transfer of information across the internet. A media order entry captures complete user profile information for a user. This profile information is utilized by the system throughout the media experience for routing, billing, monitoring, reporting and other media control functions. Users can manage more aspects of a network than previously possible, and control network activities from a central site. The hybrid network also contains logic for responding to requests for quality of service and reserving the resources to provide the requested services.

System and method for providing requested quality of service in a hybrid network

This paper presents a new, simple and bandwidth-efficient distributed routing protocol to support mobile computing in a conference size ad-hoc mobile network environment. Unlike the conventional approaches such as link-state and distance-vector distributed routing algorithms, our protocol does not attempt to consistently maintain routing information in every node. In an ad-hoc mobile network where mobile hosts (MHs) are acting as routers and where routes are made inconsistent by MHs‘ movement, we employ an associativity-based routing scheme where a route is selected based on nodes having associativity states that imply periods of stability. In this manner, the routes selected are likely to be long-lived and hence there is no need to restart frequently, resulting in higher attainable throughput. Route requests are broadcast on a per need basis. The association property also allows the integration of ad-hoc routing into a BS-oriented Wireless LAN (WLAN) environment, providing the fault tolerance in times of base stations (BSs) failures. To discover shorter routes and to shorten the route recovery time when the association property is violated, the localised-query and quick-abort mechanisms are respectively incorporated into the protocol. To further increase cell capacity and lower transmission power requirements, a dynamic cell size adjustment scheme is introduced. The protocol is free from loops, deadlock and packet duplicates and has scalable memory requirements. Simulation results obtained reveal that shorter and better routes can be discovered during route re-constructions.

/pdf/associativity-based-routing-for-ad-hoc-mobile-networks-4o1ppilfh0.pdf

Associativity-Based Routing for Ad Hoc Mobile Networks

This paper describes current and proposed protocols for mobility management for public land mobile network (PLMN)-based networks, mobile Internet protocol (IP) wireless asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) and satellite networks. The integration of these networks will be discussed in the context of the next evolutionary step of wireless communication networks. First, a review is provided of location management algorithms for personal communication systems (PCS) implemented over a PLMN network. The latest protocol changes for location registration and handoff are investigated for mobile IP followed by a discussion of proposed protocols for wireless ATM and satellite networks. Finally, an outline of open problems to be addressed by the next generation of wireless network service is discussed.

http://www.cs.tcd.ie/~htewari/papers/ieee99.pdf

Mobility management in next-generation wireless systems

Mobile IP is the current standard for supporting macromobility of mobile hosts. However, in the case of micromobility support, there are several competing proposals. We present the design, implementation and performance evaluation of HAWAII (handoff-aware wireless access Internet infrastructure), a domain-based approach for supporting mobility. HAWAII uses specialized path setup schemes which install host-based forwarding entries in specific routers to support intra-domain micromobility. These path setup schemes deliver excellent performance by reducing mobility related disruption to user applications. Also, mobile hosts retain their network address while moving within the domain, simplifying quality-of-service (QoS) support. Furthermore, reliability is achieved through maintaining soft-state forwarding entries for the mobile hosts and leveraging fault detection mechanisms built in existing intra-domain routing protocols. HAWAII defaults to using Mobile IP for macromobility, thus providing a comprehensive solution for mobility support in wide-area wireless networks.

/pdf/hawaii-a-domain-based-approach-for-supporting-mobility-in-3g42k1k4sk.pdf

HAWAII: a domain-based approach for supporting mobility in wide-area wireless networks

A system and method for optimizing usage of a communications transmission medium. The transmission medium may be sliced into time and frequency domains so as to create time-frequency slices for assignment to users having varying access rates and user-application requirements. Through scheduling of the various speed users within the frequency and time domains, the system and method can efficiently allocate and make use of the available spectrum, thereby accommodating higher rate users requiring greater bandwidths and time slot assignments while still preserving cost-efficient access for lower speed users. Depending on the signal modulation scheme, the time-frequency slices may be allocated on non-contiguous frequency bands. The system and method is also applicable to code-division multiple access (CDMA) techniques by slicing the available code space along time-code domains, frequency-code domains or, in three dimensions, along time-frequency-code domains. Users may be efficiently scheduled based on code space requirements so as to optimize use of the communication medium.

System and method for optimizing spectral efficiency using time-frequency-code slicing

The present invention is a signaling and control architecture for establishing a connection between mobile users in a wireless ATM LAN. The ATM LAN includes a plurality of portable base station (PBS) switching nodes coupled together to enable communication between said nodes, wherein the nodes are configurable in an arbitrary topology to form an ad-hoc network. The present invention includes network management techniques for configuration of data tables used for connection control. Mobility management techniques are disclosed to handle mobile sign-ons and idle handoffs, locate mobile users during connection and setup and perform handoffs when a mobile is actively involved in a connection. Connection control procedures are also included for setting up and releasing connections on demand.

Signaling and control architecture for an ad-hoc ATM LAN

We describe the theory, design and ongoing prototyping of a wireless ATM LAN/PBX capable of supporting mobile users with multi-Mb/s access rates and multi-Gb/s aggregate capacities. Our proposed LAN consists of network nodes called portable base stations (PBS) providing microcell coverage. The PBSs are designed to be low-cost, compact and high-speed and can be relocated conveniently. We employ a concept of ad-hoc networking in the layout of the PBS-to-PBS interconnection. That is, the PBSs can be distributed in an arbitrary topology to form a backbone network and can be reconfigured with relative ease. The PBS-to-PBS backbone links are high-speed (Gb/s) for supporting high system capacity. Although they can either be wired or wireless, our emphasis is on wireless implementations. The user-to-PBS links, on the other hand, are primarily for mobile access (e.g., 2-20 Mb/s) and therefore are wireless. Wired connections from stationary users to PBSs are also possible. Typical mobile users are assumed to be laptops or notebook computers. Services supported include conventional data applications (e.g., over TCP/IP or SPX/IPX) as well as multimedia (video, voice and data) applications with QoS (quality-of-service) guarantees. A "aireless ATM" concept is proposed so as to provide seamless internetworking with other wired ATM local and wide-area networks. Algorithms and control in our network are highly distributed for simple implementations and ease of mobility management. A new wireless VP/VC concept and a homing algorithm are described to provide ATM cell routing and connections in the network. PBS hardware and software architectures are discussed. Call management, network management and signaling are designed for simplicity, high performance and modular implementations. A fast network restoration scheme is proposed to cope with the potential link or node failures in the ad-hoc network. Error control is addressed taking the unreliable wireless links into consideration. Finally, a prototyping project called BAHAMA (broadband ad hoc ATM anywhere) for demonstrating this network concept is briefly outlined.

BAHAMA: a broadband ad-hoc wireless ATM local-area network

We describe the theory, design and ongoing prototyping of a wireless ATM LAN/PBX capable of supporting mobile users with multi-Mb/s access rates and multi-Gb/s aggregate capacities. Our proposed LAN consists of network nodes called Portable Base Stations (PBS) providing microcell coverage. The PBSs are designed to be low-cost, compact and high-speed and can be relocated conveniently. We employ a concept of ad-hoc networking in the layout of the PBS-to-PBS interconnection. That is, the PBSs can be distributed in an arbitrary topology to form a backbone network and can be reconfigured with relative ease. The PBS-to-PBS backbone links are high-speed (Gb/s) for supporting high system capacity. Although they can either be wired or wireless, our emphasis is on wireless implementations. The user-to-PBS links, on the other hand, are primarily for mobile access (e.g., 2-20 Mb/s) and therefore are wireless. Wired connections from stationary users to PBSs are also possible. Typical mobile users are assumed to be laptops or notebook computers. Services supported include conventional data applications (e.g., over TCP/IP or SPX/IPX) as well as multimedia (video, voice and data) applications with QoS (Quality-of-Service) guarantees. A “wireless ATM” concept is proposed so as to provide seamless internetworking with other wired ATM local and wide-area networks. Algorithms and control in our network are highly distributed for simple implementations and ease of mobility management. A new wireless VP/VC concept and a Homing Algorithm are described to provide ATM cell routing and connections in the network. PBS hardware and software architectures are discussed. Call management, network management and signaling are designed for simplicity, high performance and modular implementations. A fast network restoration scheme is proposed to cope with the potential link or node failures in the ad-hoc network. Error control is addressed taking the unreliable wireless links into consideration. Finally, a prototyping project called BAHAMA (Broadband Ad Hoc ATM Anywhere) for demonstrating this network concept is briefly outlined.

A wireless broadband ad-hoc ATM local-area network

A communications system for transporting connectionless datagrams over a connection-oriented network is arranged to remove the address resolution function and the connection setup function from a sending host and combine them in a third-party connection server in conjunction with channel management at connection-oriented routing points. The third party request protocol can be used for Classical connectionless over a connection oriented network, legacy LAN emulation and Routing Over Large Clouds.

Clark Woodworth

Papers

System and method for optimizing spectral efficiency using time-frequency-code slicing

Signaling and control architecture for an ad-hoc ATM LAN

BAHAMA: a broadband ad-hoc wireless ATM local-area network

A wireless broadband ad-hoc ATM local-area network

Communications system for transmission of datagram packets over connection-oriented networks