Mobile Networking
Our explorations in mobile networking are focused on highly dynamic environments -- areas where infrastructure is in place (i.e., infrastructure-based mobile networks) as well as battlefields and remote or undeveloped locations where the "infrastructure" is carried by users or vehicles (i.e., mobile ad hoc networks).
In both environments, we provide solutions to "support mobility" -- keeping networks running and communications flowing reliably, efficiently, and securely.
Innovation in Action:
- Working with the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center (CERDEC), we led the effort to design a "network on the fly" that can self-heal, keep war fighters connected, and maintain performance as nodes move, and conditions and applications change, even in the face of network damage.
- We were the first to demonstrate the IEEE 802.21 Media Independent Handover Services standard, which allows mobile phones equipped with both cellular and Wi-Fi interfaces to roam from one type of network to another without disrupting service.
- Working for the Army Research Labs we developed techniques to analyze mobile network protocols, including various versions of Mobile IP, DNS, routing, and clustering protocols, and recommended improved designs.
- We were first to demonstrate SIP/Non-SIP integration with route optimization and Proxy-Call Session Control Function (P-CSCF) fast handoff and security. This work shows that it is possible to integrate a mobile SIP VoIP call and RTSP video-on-demand session and maintain continuity on the move.
Innovation on the Horizon:
- Rapidly adapting high-speed optical backbone topology in response to application and environmental changes could greatly improve network performance. We're evaluating current Internet addressing and routing architecture, and developing a new, flexible approach based on landmark and geographic routing.
- Based on our feasibility study of the IMS Service Broker in 3GPP, we're developing a reference architecture that facilitates IMS service integration/orchestration across multiple application servers, providers, and IMS and non-IMS applications.
- Applied Communication Sciences is developing insights on how to design hybrid wireless networks that mix ad hoc and fixed infrastructures. Such networks have the potential to maintain reliable connections if ad hoc assets are utilized as "leaf nodes" and are connected to the infrastructure (cellular) network to provide extended "reach-back" to hard-to-connect regions.
- Current IP multicast capability and QoS mechanisms need to be enhanced significantly for the highly stochastic wireless environment of today. We're creating ways to design network topologies optimized for multicast applications with heterogeneous QoS needs.
For more information:
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