Current wireless networks still employ techniques originally designed for their xed wired counterparts. These techniques make assumptions (such as a xed topology, a static enviroment and non-mobile nodes) that are no longer valid in the wireless communication environment. Furthermore, the techniques and protocols used in wireless networks should take the number of users of a network into consideration, since the channel is a shared and limited resource. This study deals with nding an optimal solution to resource allocation in wireless mesh networks. These networks require a solution to fair and optimal resource allocation that is decentralised and self-con guring, as users in such networks do not submit to a central authority. The solution presented is comprised of two sections. The rst section nds the optimal rate allocation, by making use of a heuristic. The heuristic was developed by means of a non-linear mixed integer mathematical formulation. This heuristic nds a feasible rate region that conforms to the set of constraints set forth by the wireless communication channel. The second section nds a fair allocation of rates among all the users in the network. This section is based on a game theory framework, used for modelling the interaction observed between the users. The fairness model is de ned in strategic form as a repeated game with an in nite horizon. The rate adaptation heuristic and fairness model employs a novel and e ective information distribution technique. The technique makes use of the optimized link state routing protocol for information distribution, which reduces the overhead induced by utilising multi-point relays. In addition, a novel technique for enforcing cooperation between users in a network is presented. This technique is based on the Folk theorem and ensures cooperation by threat of punishment. The punishment, in turn, is executed in the form of banishment from the network. The study describes the performance of the rate adaptation heuristic and fairness model when subject to xed and randomised topologies. The xed topologies were designed to control the amount of interference that a user would experience. Although these xed topologies might not seem to re ect a real-world scenario, they provide a reasonable framework for comparison. The randomised network topology is introduced to more accurately represent a real-world scenario. Furthermore, the randomised network topologies consist of a signi cant number of users, illustrating the scalability of the solution. Both data and voice tra c have been applied to the rate adaptation heuristic and fairness model. It is shown that the heuristic e ectively reduces the packet loss ratio which drops below 5% after about 15 seconds for all xed topologies. Furthermore, it is shown that the solution is near-optimal in terms of data rate and that a fair allocation of data rates among all nodes is achieved. When considering voice tra c, an increase of 10% in terms of data rate is observed compared to data tra c. The heuristic is successfully applied to large networks, demonstrating the scalability of the implementation. / Dissertation (MEng)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2014 / Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering / unrestricted

De nos jours, l'authentification dans les réseaux maillés sans fils fait appel aux certificats ou aux secrets partagés. Dans les environnements sans fils, la gestion des certificats est désavantageuse. En effet, les certificats nécessitent le déploiement d'une infrastructure à clés publiques (ICP) et la définition d'une autorité de certification (AC). La AC définit toute une politique qui permet de contrôler la génération, la transmission et la révocation des certificats. Cette politique ne prend pas en considération les limites en termes de puissance et de mémoire que peuvent avoir les stations des clients dans un réseau maillé. Afin de ne pas utiliser les certificats et ne pas déployer une ICP, nous avons étudié dans cette thèse les utilisations possibles de la cryptographie basée sur l’identité (CBI) pour la définition de nouveaux schémas d’authentification pour les réseaux maillés sans fils. La CBI propose de dériver, directement, la clé publique d’une station à partir de son identité. Par conséquent, nous n’avons plus besoin de passer par des certificats pour associer l’identité de la station à sa paire de clés (publique et privée). Par contre, la CBI définit un générateur de clé privée (GCP) qui gère le calcul des clés privées des différentes stations sur le réseau. Par conséquent, ce GCP est capable de réaliser une attaque d’usurpation d’identité (escroc de clés) à l’encontre de toutes les stations légitimes. Pour diminuer le risque de cette attaque, les chercheurs ont tendance à supposer que le GCP est digne de confiance. Dans cette thèse, nous présentons tout d'abord un protocole d'authentification basée sur l’utilisation conjointe d’un mot de passe et de la CBI. En effet, nous proposons d'utiliser le serveur d’authentification de notre réseau maillé comme GCP. Ensuite, nous étudions une liste de mécanismes qui permettent de contrer l’attaque de l’escroc qui caractérise le GCP / Nowadays, authentication in Wireless Mesh Networks (WMNs) refers to IEEE802.1X standard authentication methods or a pre-shared key authentication, and makes use of certificates or shared secrets. In wireless environments, management of certificates is disadvantageous. Certificates require deploying a Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) and a Certification Authority (CA). The CA defines a certificate management policy to control the generation, transmission and revocation of certificates. Management of certificates is a cumbersome task and does not match the limited (power and memory) resources available at wireless nodes. Moreover, it does not match the non permanent connectivity to the CA. In order to get rid of PKI disadvantages, we investigate in this thesis; the use of ID-Based Cryptography (IBC) for authentication in WMNs. IBC proposes to derive an entity public key from its identity directly. As such, IBC avoids the deployment of the PKI and the CA. IBC relies on a Private Key Generator (PKG) for the computation of stations private keys. As such, the PKG is able to impersonate as any station by illegally generating signature or deciphering encrypted traffic. For mitigating that Key Escrow Attack (KEA), a strong assumption is usually made necessary that the PKG is a trustworthy entity. In this thesis, we first present an ID-Based Password Authentication Protocol (IBPAP) that relies on IBC and a shared secret to authenticate mesh station to the network Authentication Server (AS). We propose to use the AS as a PKG. As such, the AS generates the ID-based private key of the supplicant station at the end of a successful authentication. Meanwhile, the supplicant station uses the shared secret to authenticate the AS and its ID-based public parameters. The latter are needed for the good usage of ID-based signature and encryption algorithms. Second, we propose a Key Escrow Resistant ID-Based Authentication Protocol (KERIBAP). That is, we make each supplicant station participate to the generation of its ID-based private key. We show how to change the existing ID-based signature and encryption algorithms to take into consideration the new format of private keys. We discuss also the possibility of distributing the private key generation between a set of ASs in order to avoid the key escrow attack. We verify that our authentication protocols are all secure in the formal model using the protocol verification tool ProVerif. In addition, we discuss their security resistance to some well-known attacks such as replay, collision and denial of service attacks. Finally, we propose some implementation results to confirm IBC advantages compared to PKI. We show how IBC usage reduces the memory consumption of stations

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Wireless mesh networks (WMN) is a new promising wireless technology which uses already available hardware and software components. This thesis proposes a routing algorithm for military applications. More specifically, a specialized scenario consisting of a network of flying Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) executing reconnaissance missions is investigated. The proposed routing algorithm is hybrid in nature and uses both reactive and proactive routing characteristics to transmit information. Through simulations run on a specially built stand alone simulator, based on Java, packet overhead, delivery ratio and latency metrics were monitored with respect to varying number of nodes, node density and mobility. The results showed that the high overhead leads to high delivery ratio while latency tends to increase as the network grows larger. All the metrics revealed sensitivity in high mobility conditions.

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This thesis project describes a system to make presentations more collaborative, consisting on a mobile application using mesh technology.The mesh network may be set up through the choreography of interaction created by attendees tapping their phones together at the start of the meeting. The fluid workflow for requesting and handing over control of the projector encourages sharing and makes the interaction between presenter and audience more collaborative.The design was evaluated through a collaborative session that pointed at several future lines of work. Furthermore, we found opportunities to leverage the use of mesh networks in the workplace.Finally, we carried out two explorations of the use of projectors and movement capture for the creation of visual content. This, along with the previous work, served as a base for the argument that there is an opportunity to discover rich interaction possibilities in the combination of small, modular IoT devices to create augmented spaces.

<p> Wireless LAN mesh networks (WMNs) are a cost effective way of deploying wireless LAN (WLAN) coverage over extended areas. As WMNs become more populated, scalability issues may arise due to the co-channel interference which is inherent in publicly available RF (radio frequency) channels. This co-channel interference can severely degrade network capacity and link reliability and may eventually make it impossible to operate with the frequency channels for which the network was originally designed. In this thesis, this problem is addressed by selectively installing supplementary free-space optical (FSO) links when RF link performance has deteriorated. The frequency assignment problem is solved using a heuristic technique based on a genetic algorithm. In order to determine the quality of the results, the proposed algorithm is compared with a lower bound solution obtained using an Integer Linear Programming (ILP) formulation.</p> <p> Another advantage of FSO links is that they may reduce node power consumption compared with conventional RF links. This may be an important consideration in cases where power consumption at the nodes is important, such as in solar powered mesh networks. Power consumption estimates of RF and FSO links are obtained and compared for different data rates. This data is then used along with historical solar insolation data to estimate the solar panel and battery sizes required to guarantee a given node outage probability. The results show that no extra provisioning is required for replacing the deployed wireless nodes with new FSO links.</p> / Thesis / Master of Applied Science (MASc)

A tecnologia de comunicação em redes sem fio em malha, com base no padrão IEEE 802.11, tem sido uma solução tecnológica relevante no cenário atual das redes sem fio. Entretanto, com a eliminação dos cabos para comunicação de dados, as redes sem fio em malha dependem de fonte de energia para energizar os pontos de acesso da rede, que nem sempre está disponível na forma cabeada no local da instalação. Neste cenário, sendo o Brasil um país situado em uma zona tropical com alta incidência anual de radiação solar, a possibilidade da utilização da conversão da energia solar em elétrica é uma alternativa para eliminar a dependência de fonte de energia cabeada dos pontos de acesso da rede sem fio em malha. Este trabalho apresenta considerações sobre o desenvolvimento de sistemas autônomos de comunicação sem fio em malha, alimentados por energia solar fotovoltaica, compactos e de fácil instalação em área urbana e rural. Apresenta também, informações sobre o protótipo implementado denominado SAM Solar e respectiva avaliação quanto a autonomia, área de cobertura, número de usuários, altura mínima de instalação e taxa de transferência. / The wireless mesh network communication technology, based on the IEEE802.11 standard, has been a relevant technology solution for wireless networking in the recent years. However, even with the elimination of cables for data communication, the wireless mesh networks have to be connected to a voltage source using an electrical cable that may not be available at the local installation. In this scenario, being Brazil a country located in a tropical zone that receives large annual solar irradiation, the conversion of photons to electricity an be an alternative to eliminate the needs of wiring to the mesh access points. This work contributes to the development of autonomous wireless mesh communication systems powered by solar energy, with easy installation in urban or rural areas. This work also describes its evaluations in aspects such as autonomy, wireless coverage, number of users supported, installation height and throughput.