On the design and optimization of a free space optical access network

Abstract

Although having high potential for broadband wireless access, wireless mesh networks are known to suffer from throughput and fairness problems, and are thus hard to scale to large size. To this end, hierarchical architectures provide a solution to this scalability problem. In this paper, we address the problem of design and optimization of a tiered wireless access network that exploits free space optical (FSO) communications. The lower tier consists of mesh routers that are clustered based on traffic demands and delay requirements. The cluster heads are equipped with wireless optical transceivers and form the upper tier FSO network. For topology design and optimization, we first present a plane sweeping and clustering (PSC) algorithm aiming to minimize the total number of clusters. PSC sweeps the network area and captures cluster members under delay and traffic load constraints. For the upper tier FSO network, we present an algebraic connectivity-based formulation for topology optimization. We then develop a greedy edge-appending (GEA) algorithm, as well as its distributed version, that iteratively inserts edges to maximize algebraic connectivity. The proposed algorithms are analyzed and evaluated via simulations, and are shown to be highly effective as compared to the performance bounds derived in this paper.

On Maximizing Weighted Algebraic Connectivity for Synthesizing Robust Networks

“…A fundamental problem in VLSI circuit design [17] deals with designing a suitable network topology (i.e., the interconnects between the components) such that the specified performance objective is realized. The same problem also appears in disparate disciplines such as coding theory [20], image webs [21], air traffic management [22,23] and free space optical and communication networks [24], [25].…”

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“…Under the pointing mechanism, FSO node starts to coordinate the potential nodes existing in the free space prior connection procedure in mmWave networks [486], [487]. Therefore, synchronizing between coordinating nodes is an inherent network design issue related to the pointing mechanism.…”

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“…Wireless mesh network (WMN), also known as wireless ad hoc network, is a self-organized and decentralized network architecture, in which each node dynamically forwards data flows and maintains network connectivity (Akyildiz and Wang, 2005;Son et al, 2014a). In a multi-hop WMN, the path selection strategy and the routing protocol are the fundamental components that determine the network performance, especially when multimedia services with high requirements for data rate and delay are transporting over the WMN (Mao et al, 2003;Kompella et al, 2009).…”