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Work Package 1

Service Differentiation at the Radio Access Level

Activities within this WP are organized in three tasks, devised to account for three major topics determining quality in the radio access network: detailed MAC level differentiation mechanisms (T11), spatial (multi-cellular) extension in large scale radio access networks (T12), and the vertical interaction among different layers (T13).

T11 - MAC Level Service Differentiation Mechanisms

Task T11 will assess the performance effectiveness of the service differentiation mechanisms currently being proposed in the 802.11e task group (EDCA and HCCA). Moreover, it will propose new prioritized access mechanisms, as well as advanced traffic control solutions such as admission control mechanisms and HCF scheduling algorithms. A concrete goal of task T11 is to provide open-software, public domain analytical and simulation tools to the international scientific community.

T12 - Multi-cell and Mesh-networks: planning and traffic control for Service Differentiation Support

Task T12 will explore the service differentiation issues arising in large access networks, characterized by a multi-cellular structure composed of overlapping 802.11 “cells,” where their interconnection may be realized, other than a wired infrastructure, also by a Wireless multi-hop (Mesh network) implementation of the Distribution Service (WDS). It will tackle the fundamental issue of how to deploy a robust multi-cellular WLAN coverage, that is i) capable of self-configuration to detect and mitigate mutual interference, ii) adaptive to dynamically changing load conditions, and, most important, iii) capable to simultaneously satisfy differentiated traffic needs while maximizing the network utilization to exploit at best the very scarce spectrum resources.

T13 - Cross-Layer Solutions for Enhanced and Differentiated Service Performance

Task 13 will focus on the interaction among layers. It will assess the effectiveness of cross-layer solutions devised to export channel-quality information into IP scheduling and to enable (service differentiated – e.g., weighted) fair sharing of the channel resources among TCP flows. Moreover, this task will also propose integrated PHY/MAC approaches to effectively support Space Division Multiple Access in 802.11 networks. This is a primary research challenge in the ongoing activities carried out in the recently activated 802.11n (higher data rate) task group: studies carried out in this task will attempt to complement 802.11n activities by taking service differentiation into account too.