Internet and mobile communications have had a profound effect on today’s society. New services are constantly being deployed, in which an increasing amount of personal data is being processed in return for personally tailored services. Further, the use of electronic surveillance is increasing. There is the risk that honest citizens will have their privacy invaded for “the greater good”. We argue that it is of uttermost importance to retain the individuals’ control over their personal spheres. One approach for enhancing the users’ privacy is to deploy technical measures for safeguarding privacy, so-called Privacy-Enhancing Technologies (PETs). This thesis examines a set of PETs for enabling anonymous communication, so-called anonymous overlay networks,which eliminate the processing of personal data altogether by allowing the users act anonymously when communicating in a networked environment. This thesis focuses mainly on mobile networks. These are of great interest because on the one hand they lay the groundwork for new innovative applications, but on the other hand they pose numerous novel challenges to privacy. This thesis describes the implementation and performance evaluation of mCrowds – an anonymous overlay network for mobile Internet that enables anonymous browsing. It also describes the ongoing investigation on how to design anonymous overlay networks in order to make them suitable for mobile ad hoc networks, a required building block for ambient intelligence.

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A mobile ad hoc network (MANET) is an infrastructure-less multi-hop network where each node communicates with other nodes directly or indirectly through intermediate nodes. Thus, all nodes in a MANET basically function as mobile routers participating in some routing protocol required for deciding and maintaining the routes. Since MANETs are infrastructure-less, self-organizing, rapidly deployable wireless networks, they are highly suitable for applications such as military tactical operations, search and rescue missions, disaster relief operations, and target tracking. Building such ad-hoc networks poses a significant technical challenge because of energy constraints and specifically in relation to the application of wireless network protocols. As a result of its highly dynamic and distributed nature, the routing layer within the wireless network protocol stack, presents one of the key technical challenges in MANETs. In particular, energy efficient routing may be the most important design criterion for MANETs since mobile nodes are powered by batteries with limited capacity and variable recharge frequency, according to application demand. In order to conserve power it is essential that a routing protocol be designed to guarantee data delivery even should most of the nodes be asleep and not forwarding packets to other nodes. Load distribution constitutes another important approach to the optimisation of active communication energy. Load distribution enables the maximisation of the network lifetime by facilitating the avoidance of over-utilised nodes when a route is in the process of being selected. Routing algorithms for mobile networks that attempt to optimise routes while at- tempting to retain a small message overhead and maximise the network lifetime has been put forward. However certain of these routing protocols have proved to have a negative impact on node and network lives by inadvertently over-utilising the energy resources of a small set of nodes in favour of others. The conservation of power and careful sharing of the cost of routing packets would ensure an increase in both node and network lifetimes. This thesis proposes simultaneously, by using an ant colony optimisation (ACO) approach, to optimise five power-aware metrics that do result in energy-efficient routes and also to maximise the MANET's lifetime while taking into consideration a realistic mobility model. By using ACO algorithms a set of optimal solutions - the Pareto-optimal set - is found. This thesis proposes five algorithms to solve the multi-objective problem in the routing domain. The first two algorithms, namely, the energy e±ciency for a mobile network using a multi-objective, ant colony optimisation, multi-pheromone (EEMACOMP) algorithm and the energy efficiency for a mobile network using a multi-objective, ant colony optimisation, multi-heuristic (EEMACOMH) algorithm are both adaptations of multi-objective, ant colony optimisation algorithms (MOACO) which are based on the ant colony system (ACS) algorithm. The new algorithms are constructive which means that in every iteration, every ant builds a complete solution. In order to guide the transition from one state to another, the algorithms use pheromone and heuristic information. The next two algorithms, namely, the energy efficiency for a mobile network using a multi-objective, MAX-MIN ant system optimisation, multi-pheromone (EEMMASMP) algorithm and the energy efficiency for a mobile network using a multi-objective, MAX- MIN ant system optimisation, multi-heuristic (EEMMASMH) algorithm, both solve the above multi-objective problem by using an adaptation of the MAX-MIN ant system optimisation algorithm. The last algorithm implemented, namely, the energy efficiency for a mobile network using a multi-objective, ant colony optimisation, multi-colony (EEMACOMC) algorithm uses a multiple colony ACO algorithm. From the experimental results the final conclusions may be summarised as follows:<ul><li> Ant colony, multi-objective optimisation algorithms are suitable for mobile ad hoc networks. These algorithms allow for high adaptation to frequent changes in the topology of the network. </li><li> All five algorithms yielded substantially better results than the non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA-II) in terms of the quality of the solution. </li><li> All the results prove that the EEMACOMP outperforms the other four ACO algorithms as well as the NSGA-II algorithm in terms of the number of solutions, closeness to the true Pareto front and diversity. </li></ul> / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Computer Science / unrestricted

Popularity of mobile devices along with the presence of ad hoc networks requiring no infrastructure has contributed to recent advances in the field of mobile computing in ad hoc networks. Mobile ad hoc networks have been mostly utilized in military environments. The recent advances in ad hoc network technology now introduce a new class of applications. In this thesis, we design, implement and analyze a multi-hop ad hoc messenger application using Pocket PCs and Microsoft .Net Compact Framework. Pocket PCs communicate wirelessly with each other using the IEEE 802.11b technology without the use of an infrastructure. The main protocol implemented in this application is based on Dynamic Source Routing (DSR), which consists of two important mechanisms, Route Discovery and Route Maintenance. We adopt DSR since DSR operates solely based on source routing and "on-demand" process, so each packet does not have to transmit any periodic advertisement packets or routing information. These characteristics are desirable for the ad hoc messenger application for which a conversation is source-initiated on-demand. To test our application easily, we have developed a testing strategy by which a mobility configuration file is pre-generated describing the mobility pattern of each node generated based on the random waypoint mobility model. A mobility configuration file thus defines topology changes at runtime and is used by all nodes to know whether they can communicate with others in a single-hop or multi-hops during an experimental run. We use five standard metrics to test the performance of the wireless ad hoc messenger application implemented based on DSR, namely, (1) average latency to find a new route, (2) average latency to deliver a data packet, (3) delivery ratio of data packets, (4) normalized control overhead, and (5) throughput. These metrics test the correctness and efficiency of the wireless ad hoc messenger application using the DSR protocol in an 802.11 ad hoc network that imposes limitations on bandwidth and resources of each mobile device. We test the effectiveness of certain design alternatives for implementing the ad hoc messenger application with these five metrics under various topology change conditions by manipulating the speed and pause-time parameters in the random waypoint model. The design alternatives evaluated include (1) Sliding Window Size (SWS) for end-to-end reliable communication control; (2) the use of per-hop acknowledgement packets (called receipt packets) deigned for rapid detection of route errors by intermediate nodes; and (3) the use of cache for path look-up during route discovery and maintenance. Our analysis results indicate that as the node speed increases, the system performance deteriorates because a higher node speed causes the network topology to change more frequently under the random waypoint mobility model, causing routes to be broken. On the other hand, as the pause time increases, the system performance improves due to a more stable network topology. For the design alternatives evaluated in our wireless ad hoc messenger, we discover that as SWS increases, the system performance also increases until it reaches an optimal SWS value that maximizes the performance due to a balance of a higher level of data parallelism introduced and a higher level of medium contention in 802.11 because of more packets being transmitted simultaneously as SWS increases. Beyond the optimal SWS, the system performance deteriorates as SWS increases because the heavy medium contention effect outweighs the benefit due to data parallelism. We also discover that the use of receipt packets is helpful in a rapidly changing network but is not beneficial in a stable network. There is a break-even point in the frequency of topology changes beyond which the use of receipt packets helps quickly detect route errors in a dynamic network and would improve the system performance. Lastly, the use of cache is rather harmful in a frequently changing network because stale information stored in the cache of a source node may adversely cause more route errors and generate a higher delay for the route discovery process. There exists a break-even point beyond which the use of cache is not beneficial. Our wireless ad hoc messenger application can be used in a real chatting setting allowing Pocket PC users to chat instantly in 802.11 environments. The design and development of the dynamic topology simulation tool to model movements of nodes and the automatic testing and data collection tool to facilitate input data selection and output data analysis using XML are also a major contribution. The experimental results obtained indicate that there exists an optimal operational setting in the use of SWS, receipt packets and cache, suggesting that the wireless ad hoc messenger should be implemented in an adaptive manner to fine-tune these design parameters based on the current network condition and performance data monitored to maximize the system performance. / Master of Science

Les réseaux ad hoc dynamiques qui évoluent de manière non planifiée et imprévisible sont souvent étudiés en faisant l’hypothèse d’une composition et d’une topologie qui évoluent peu et relativement lentement. Il est alors possible de proposer dans ce contexte faiblement mobile des mécanismes (comme par exemple du routage, des infrastructures PKI, etc.) qui permettent aux applications conçues pour les réseaux statiques de continuer à fonctionner. Les travaux présentés dans cette thèse sont au contraire centrés sur lesréseaux ad hoc fortement dynamiques (iMANets). Les nœuds qui les constituent sont extrêmement mobiles et volatils, ce qui engendre des modifications incessantes et rapides de topologie. Les contributions principales de cette thèse sont (i) la définition d’une algèbre nommée CiMAN (Calculus for highly Mobile Ad hoc Networks) qui permet de modéliser les processus communicants dans ces réseaux ad hoc fortement mobiles, (ii) l’utilisation de cette algèbre pour prouver la correction d’algorithmes dédiés à ces réseaux, et (iii) unmiddleware et des applications de référence adaptés à ce contexte. / Mobile ad hoc networks that evolve in an unplanned and unpredictable mannerare often studied assuming that their composition and their topology evolve relatively slowly. In this context of weak mobility, it is then possible to propose mechanisms (such asrouting, Public Key Infrastructure, etc.) which make the application designed for a static context still operational. At the opposite, the work presented in this thesis focuses on highlymobile ad hoc networks (iMANets). The nodes of these networks are extremely mobile,bringing ceaseless and fast changes in the network topology. The main contributions of this thesis are (i) the definition of an algebra called CiMAN (Calculus for highly Mobile Adhoc Networks) which makes it possible to model communicating processes in these highly mobile ad hoc networks, (ii) the use of this algebra to prove the correctness of algorithms dedicated to these networks, and (iii) a middleware and reference applications specifically designed for this context.

La croissance explosive des réseaux sans fil et l’augmentation du nombre de dispositifs sans fil ont soulevé de nombreuses difficultés techniques dans la planification et l’analyse de ces réseaux. Nous utilisons la modélisation continue, utile pour la phase initiale de déploiement et l’analyse à grande échelle des études régionales du réseau. Nous étudions le problème de routage dans les réseaux ad hoc, nous définissons deux principes d’optimisation du réseau: le problème de l’utilisateur et du système. Nous montrons que les conditions d’optimalité d’un problème d’optimisation construit d’une manière appropriée coïncide avec le principe de l’optimisation de l’utilisateur. Pour fonctions de coût différentes, nous résolvons le problème de routage pour les antennes directionnelles et omnidirectionnelles. Nous trouvons également une caractérisation des voies du coût minimum par l’utilisation extensive du Théorème de Green dans le cas d’antennes directionnelles. Dans de nombreux cas, la solution se caractérise par une équation aux dérivés partielles. Nous proposons l’analyse numérique par éléments finis qui donne les limites de la variation de la solution par rapport aux données. Lorsque nous permettons la mobilité des origines et destinations, on trouve la quantité optimale de relais actif. Dans les réseaux MIMO, nous montrons que, même lorsque la chaîne offre un nombre infini de degrés de liberté, la capacité est limitée par le rapport entre la taille du réseau d’antennes, la station de base, la position des mobiles et la longueur d’onde du signal. Nous constatons également l’association optimale mobile pour différentes politiques et distributions des utilisateurs. / The growing number of wireless devices and wireless systems present many challenges on the design and operation of these networks. We focus on massively dense ad hoc networks and cellular systems. We use the continuum modeling approach, useful for the initial phase of deployment and to analyze broad-scale regional studies of the network. We study the routing problem in massively dense ad hoc networks, and similar to the work of Nash, and Wardrop, we define two principles of network optimization: user- and system-optimization. We show that the optimality conditions of an appropriately constructed optimization problem coincides with the user-optimization principle. For different cost functions, we solve the routing problem for directional and omnidirectional antennas. We also find a characterization of the minimum cost paths by extensive use of Green’s theorem in directional antennas. In many cases, the solution is characterized by a partial differential equation. We propose its numerical analysis by finite elements method which gives bounds in the variation of the solution with respect to the data. When we allow mobility of the origin and destination nodes, we find the optimal quantity of active relay nodes. In Network MIMO systems and MIMO broadcast channels, we show that, even when the channel offers an infinite number of degrees of freedom, the capacity is limited by the ratio between the size of the antenna array at the base station and the mobile terminals position and the wavelength of the signal. We also find the optimal mobile association for the user- and system-optimization problem under different policies and distributions of the users.

La mobilité est une composante importante de la liberté des personnes. L’évolution des moyens technologiques y contribue au premier chef. Outre la question du transport, celle du maintien du lien entre les individus est en ce sens particulièrement prégnante. Elle a mis à rude épreuve la notion de réseaux de télécommunications puisqu’il s’agit de répondre, pour des individus éparpillés ou concentrés, mais mobiles, au besoin de rester reliés. De l’ère des réseaux analogiques à celle des réseaux numériques, de l’ère des réseaux filaires à celle des réseaux sans fil et mobiles, la technologie n’a cessé d’évoluer. Ces dernières décennies ont vu apparaître des réseaux numériques sans fil, où non seulement il y a mobilité des utilisateurs mais aussi mobilité de l’infrastructure du réseau à laquelle ils contribuent. Ces réseaux se constituent de façon spontanée. Ils se maintiennent de manière autonome. On les désigne par le terme réseaux ad hoc mobiles (en anglais Mobile Ad hoc Networks ou MANET) qui s’oppose naturellement à celui de réseaux à infrastructure. La sécurité est une préoccupation générale des êtres humains. Ils en ressentent aussi le besoin en matière de réseaux. Ce besoin est particulièrement criant lorsque sont échangées des données critiques, financières ou stratégiques. La confidentialité des échanges, l’authentification des sources, l’assurance d’intégrité, la prévention de la récusation sont autant d’objectifs qu’il faut alors atteindre. Diverses solutions de sécurité ont été conçues dans cette optique pour les réseaux filaires puis ont ensuite été adaptées aux réseaux sans-fil et mobiles. Les architectures AAA (Authentication, Authorization, Accounting) en font partie. Elles sont en général utilisées dans un contexte commercial. Tant par leur facilité de déploiement que par la baisse des coûts de mise en œuvre qu’ils engendrent, les réseaux ad hoc mobiles, après avoir bien servi dans le domaine militaire, semblent avoir un avenir dans les applications commerciales. C’est pourquoi, nous nous proposons dans cette thèse de concevoir une architecture AAA adaptée aux spécificités de ces réseaux. Nous étudions d’abord les réseaux ad hoc mobiles et leurs caractéristiques. Ensuite, nous présentons les solutions de sécurité qui existent dans les réseaux à infrastructure. Nous examinons, en particulier, les solutions qui permettent le contrôle d’accès et dont sont engendrées les architectures AAA. Les solutions AAA proposées pour les MANETs sont par la suite analysées et classifiées afin de déterminer les manques et les vulnérabilités. Cette étude approfondie nous amène à proposer une architecture AAA répondant aux attentes identifiées. C’est une architecture distribuée qui répond, en particulier, au besoin d’autonomie des opérations dans les MANETs et où les protocoles exécutés peuvent impliquer simultanément plus de deux parties. Un ensemble de protocoles et de mécanismes d’authentification et d’autorisation s’intégrant avec la suite des protocoles IPv6 a été proposé. Leur sécurité a été discutée. Celle, en particulier du protocole d’authentification a fait l’objet de validation formelle. Contrairement aux protocoles utilisés dans la phase d’autorisation des services AAA proposés, le mode de communication multi-parties et multi-sauts du protocole d’authentification nous a poussé à mener une analyse approfondie de ses performances. Pour cela, nous avons eu recours, dans un premier temps, à la modélisation au moyen de calculs mathématiques explicites ensuite à la simulation. Les résultats obtenus montrent que ce protocole passe à l’échelle d’un MANET comprenant au moins cent nœuds. Dans certaines conditions d’implémentation que nous avons définies, ses performances, tant celle liée à sa probabilité de terminaison avec une issue favorable que celle portant sur son temps d’exécution, atteignent des valeurs optimales. / Mobility is an important component of people’s liberty. The evolution of technological means contributes to its enhancement. In addition to the transport issue, the question of keeping people connected is, in that context, particularly significant. Technological change strained the notion of telecommunications networks in the sense that scattered or clustered but mobile individuals had to remain in touch with others electronically. From the age of analogue networks to the digital networks era, from wired networks to wireless and mobile networks, technology has never stopped evolving. The last decades have witnessed the emergence of digital and wireless networks where not only the users, but also the network infrastructure to which they contribute, are mobile. These networks are spontaneously formed and autonomously maintained. They are termed Mobile Ad hoc Networks (MANETs), in contradistinction to infrastructure networks. Security is a general concern of human beings. They feel the need for it when using a network, too. This need is particularly glaring when it comes to exchanging critical, financial or strategic data. Confidentiality of communications, source authentication, integrity assurance, prevention of repudiation, are all objectives to be achieved. Various security solutions have been devised in this context as wired networks were then adapted to wireless and mobile networks. AAA (Authentication, Authorization and Accounting) frameworks are among these solutions. They are generally used for commercial purposes, which raises financial issues — and we all know how much important they are. Due to their ease of deployment and inexpensive implementation, MANETs, first used in the military field, seem to have a future in commercial applications. That is why the present thesis proposes to design an AAA service that is adapted to the characteristics of such networks. In this perspective, the thesis examines, to begin with, mobile ad hoc networks in order to understand their characteristics and potentials. It then probes the security solutions that exist in infrastructure networks, with special emphasis on those dealing with access control and AAA services. The AAA solutions for MANETs proposed up to now are subsequently analyzed and classified in order to determine their strengths and weaknesses. This in-depth study led to the design, in the second part of the thesis, of an AAA service that meets the expectations identified. It is a distributed service intended to answer the needs of autonomous operations in MANETs when a nearby operator is absent. It features several detailed authentication and authorization mechanisms and protocols with an authentication protocol simultaneously involving one or more parties. These protocols are designed such that they can be easily integrated to the IPv6 protocols suite. Moreover, their security is discussed — in particular, that of the authentication protocol thanks to a formal validation tool. Unlike the communication mode of the authorization protocols, that of the authentication protocol is one-to-many, which led us to study more deeply its performances thanks to modeling using explicit mathematical computations and to simulations techniques. The obtained results showed that the protocol scales for a MANET including a hundred nodes. Under certain conditions that we explained, its performances, in terms of the probability of authentication success and the length of the executing time, reach optimal values.

<p>With the constant development of wireless technologies, the usageof wireless devices tends to increase even more in the future.Wireless multi-hop networks (WMNs) have emerged as a keytechnology to numerous potential scenarios, ranging from disasterrecovery to wireless broadband internet access. The distributedarchitecture of WMNs enables nodes to cooperatively relay othernode's packets. Because of their advantages over other wirelessnetworks, WMNs are undergoing rapid progress and inspiringnumerous applications. However, many technical issues still existin this field. In this thesis we investigate how Voice over IP(VoIP) and peer-to-peer (P2P) application are influenced bywireless multi-hop network characteristics and how to optimizethem in order to provide scalable communication.We first consider the deployment of VoIP service in wirelessmulti-hop networks, by using the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)architecture. Our investigation shows that the centralized SIParchitecture imposes several challenges when deployed in thedecentralized wireless multi-hop environment. We find that VoIPquality metrics are severely degraded as the traffic and number ofmultiple hops to the gateway increase. In the context ofscalability, we further propose four alternative approaches whichavoid current limitations.In the second part of this thesis we tackle the network capacityproblem while providing scalable VoIP service over wirelessmulti-hop networks. The performance evaluation shows the influenceof intra and inter-flow interference in channel utilization, whichdirect impacts the VoIP capacity. In order to avoid the small VoIPpacket overhead, we propose a new adaptive hop-by-hop packetaggregation scheme based on wireless link characteristics. Ourperformance evaluation shows that the proposed scheme can increasethe VoIP capacity by a two-fold gain.The study of peer-to-peer applicability over wireless multi-hopnetworks is another important contribution. A resource lookupapplication is realized through structured P2P overlay. We showthat due to several reasons, such as characteristics of wirelesslinks, multi-hop forwarding operation, and structured P2Pmanagement traffic aggressiveness the performance of traditionalP2P applications is rather low in wireless multi-hop environments.Therefore, we suggested that a trade-off between the P2P lookupefficiency and the P2P management traffic overhead can be achievedwhile maintaining the overlay network consistency in wirelessmulti-hop networks.</p>

Internet and mobile communications have had a profound effect on today's society. New services are constantly being deployed, in which personal data are being processed in return for personally tailored services. While mobile networks lay the groundwork for new innovative services, at the same time they pose numerous privacy challenges. There is the risk that honest citizens participating in mobile communications will have their privacy invaded for "the greater good". We argue that it is highly important that individuals are empowered to retain control over their personal spheres. Thus, the goal of this thesis is to design and evaluate anonymous overlay networks} adapted for mobile networks that allow users to control which information leaves their personal spheres in a mobile communication. Technically, by using an anonymous overlay network, users can communicate with their communication partners without disclosing their network identities. In this thesis, we propose three different anonymous overlay networks tailored for mobile networks. First, two approaches are proposed for anonymous browsing on the mobile Internet, namely mCrowds and a Tor-based approach. By applying theoretical analysis and\,/\,or practical experiments, we show that these approaches offer an appropriate trade-off between the offered degree of anonymity and performance loss. Second, an anonymous overlay network for use in mobile ad hoc networks - Chameleon - is suggested. Besides the actual design of these anonymous overlay networks, this thesis provides novel contributions in other essential areas of privacy protection and anonymous communication. First, also non-technical aspects of privacy protection are thoroughly discussed, including legal, social, and user interface aspects. Second, we survey existing metrics for quantifying anonymity and also propose new ideas regarding anonymity metrics. Third, we review and classify existing mechanisms for anonymous communication in mobile ad hoc networks. Lastly, we also propose a cryptographic technique for building up the user base of an anonymous overlay network in a secure and privacy-friendly manner.

Wireless communication has seen a tremendous growth in the last decades. Continuing on this trend, wireless multi-hop networks  are nowadays used or planned for use in a multitude of contexts, spanning from Internet access at home to emergency situations. The Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) provides reliable and ordered delivery of a data and is used by major Internet applications such as web browsers, email clients and file transfer programs. TCP traffic is also the dominating traffic type on the Internet. However, TCP performs less than optimal in wireless multi-hop networks due to packet reordering, low link capacity, packet loss and variable delay. In this thesis, we develop novel proposals for enhancing the network and transport layer to improve TCP performance in wireless multi-hop networks. As initial studies, we experimentally evaluate the performance of different TCP variants, with and without mobile nodes. We further evaluate the impact of multi-path routing on TCP performance and propose packet aggregation combined with aggregation aware multi-path forwarding as a means to better utilize the available bandwidth. The last contribution is a novel extension to multi-path TCP to  enable single-homed hosts to fully utilize the network capacity. / <p>Opponent changed. Prof. C. Lindeman from the University of Leipzig was substituted by Prof. Zhang.</p>