Entropy Rate of Time-Varying Wireless Networks

Abstract

In this paper, we present a detailed framework to analyze the evolution of the random topology of a time-varying wireless network via the information theoretic notion of entropy rate. We consider a propagation channel varying over time with random node positions in a closed space and Rayleigh fading affecting the connections between nodes. The existence of an edge between two nodes at given locations is modeled by a Markov chain, enabling memory effects in network dynamics. We then derive a lower and an upper bound on the entropy rate of the spatiotemporal network. The entropy rate measures the shortest per-step description of the stationary stochastic process defining the state of the wireless system and depends both on the maximum Doppler shift and the path loss exponent. It characterizes the topological uncertainty of the wireless network and quantifies how quickly the underlying topology is varying with time.

Quantifying Link Stability in Ad Hoc Wireless Networks Subject to Ornstein-Uhlenbeck Mobility

“…In our previous work [16], we used the entropy rate to analyze the topological uncertainty due to the variations in the propagation channel. In this paper, we present an informationtheoretic framework for characterizing the uncertainty of the link connectivity due to node mobility and model the onoff transition as a stationary discrete-time Markov Chain.…”