Thesis (MScEng (Electrical and Electronic Engineering))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010. / Please refer to full text for abstract.

Despite recent advances in wireless local area network (WLAN) technologies, today's WLANs still cannot offer the same data rates as their wired counterparts. The throughput problem is further aggravated in multi-hop wireless environments due to collisions and interference caused by multi-hop routing. Because all current IEEE 802.11 physical (PHY) standards divide the available frequency into several orthogonal channels, which can be used simultaneously within a neighborhood, increasing capacity by exploiting multiple channels becomes particularly appealing. To improve the capacity of wireless ad hoc networks by exploiting multiple available channels, I propose three principles that facilitate the design of efficient distributed channel assignment protocols. Distributed channel assignment problems have been proven to be <i>NP</i>-complete and, thus, computationally intractable. Though being a subject of many years of research, distributed channel assignment remains a challenging problem. There exist only a few heuristic solutions, none of which is efficient, especially for the mobile ad hoc environment. However, protocols that implement the proposed design principles are shown to require fewer channels and exhibit significantly lower communication, computation, and storage complexity, compared with existing approaches. As examples, I present two such protocols that build on standard reactive and proactive routing protocols. In addition, I prove the correctness of the algorithms and derive an upper bound on the number of channels required to both resolve collisions and mitigate interference. A new multi-channel medium access control (MC-MAC) protocol is also proposed for multi-hop wireless ad hoc networks. MC-MAC is compatible with the IEEE 802.11 medium access control (MAC) standard and imposes the minimum system requirements among all existing multi-channel MAC protocols. In addition, simulation results show that even with only a single half-duplex transceiver, MC-MAC, by exploiting multiple channels, can offer up to a factor of four improvement in throughput over the IEEE 802.11 MAC protocol. The reduction in delay is even more significant. Therefore, the MC-MAC protocol and the accompanying distributed channel assignment protocols constitute an effective solution to the aforementioned performance problem in a multi-hop wireless network. Finally, I generalize the cross-layer design principle to more general networking functions and present a network architecture to motivate and facilitate cross-layer designs in wireless networks. A literature survey is provided to validate the proposed cross-layer design architecture. Current cross-layer design research can be categorized into two classes: joint-layer design using optimization techniques, and adaptive techniques based on system-profile and/or QoS requirements. Joint-layer design based on optimization techniques can achieve optimal performance, but at the expense of complexity. Adaptive schemes may achieve relatively good performance with less complexity. Nevertheless, without careful design and a holistic view of the network architecture, adaptive schemes may actually cause more damage than benefit. / Ph. D.

In the wake of major disasters, the failure of existing communications infrastructure and the subsequent lack of an effective communication solution results in increased risks, inefficiencies, damage and casualties. Currently available options such as satellite communication are expensive and have limited functionality. A robust communication solution should be affordable, easy to deploy, require little infrastructure, consume little power and facilitate Internet access. Researchers have long proposed the use of ad hoc wireless networks for such scenarios. However such networks have so far failed to create any impact, primarily because they are unable to handle network transience and have usability constraints such as static topologies and dependence on specific platforms. LifeNet is a WiFi-based ad hoc data communication solution designed for use in highly transient environments. After presenting the motivation, design principles and key insights from prior literature, the dissertation introduces a new routing metric called Reachability and a new routing protocol based on it, called Flexible Routing. Roughly speaking, reachability measures the end-to-end multi-path probability that a packet transmitted by a source reaches its final destination. Using experimental results, it is shown that even with high transience, the reachability metric - (1) accurately captures the effects of transience (2) provides a compact and eventually consistent global network view at individual nodes, (3) is easy to calculate and maintain and (4) captures availability. Flexible Routing trades throughput for availability and fault-tolerance and ensures successful packet delivery under varying degrees of transience. With the intent of deploying LifeNet on field we have been continuously interacting with field partners, one of which is Tata Institute of Social Sciences India. We have refined LifeNet iteratively refined base on their feedback. I conclude the thesis with lessons learned from our field trips so far and deployment plans for the near future.

Les réseaux mobiles ad hoc, appelé généralement MANET ( Mobile Ad hoc NETwork ) continuent augmenter leur présence dans notre vie. Ils deviennent une pierre angulaire du commerce, de la société, de l'armée, de la science, et même des applications de future. Cependant, ces réseaux opèrent souvent dans des environnements ouverts, ce qui les rend particulièrement vulnérables aux nombreux menaces. Ainsi, les méthodes traditionnelles de sécuriser les réseaux s'appuyant sur les techniques de prévention, par exemple le pare-feu et le cryptage, ne sont plus suffisants et doivent être enrichies par des mécanismes réactifs comme le système de détection d'intrusions (ou Intrusion Detection System(IDS)). Concevoir un IDS pour les MANETs est assez difficile parce qu'il doit à la fois assurer une précision de détection élevée, prendre en compte les ressources limitées (en terme de mémoire, de batteries et la bande passante), et adapter à la nature dynamique de ces réseaux. En plus, le système de détection ne devrait pas être une cible d'attaques ou la falsification. Nous avons proposé dans cette thèse un système robuste, léger et efficace de détection qui répond aux exigences de MANETs. Nous avons d'abord étudié les attaques qui menacent les MANETs, en se concentrant sur les attaques visant le protocole de routage OLSR (Optimized Link State Routing). Ensuite, nous présentons notreIDS qui offre un taux élevé d'attaques ainsi que le maintien efficacement les ressources limitées du réseau. A cet effet, notre système analyse les traces de routage au lieu de surveiller le trafic afin d'identifier tout évidence d’activité suspecte. Après, il fait correspondre les évidences à un ensemble de signatures prédéfinies; une signature est perçue comme étant un ensemble partiellement ordonné d’événements caractérisant une intrusion. En outre, notre IDS dépend du degré de suspicion des évidences afin de manière à efficacement limiter le nombre et la durée de ses opérations coûteuses entermes de ressources. Vers une meilleure gestion des ressources disponibles, nous utilisons également l'intervalle deconfiance pour mesurer la fiabilité de détection. Cette mesure statistique permet à: (i) éviter le gaspillage de ressources résultant de collecte et de traitement des évidences redondantes, et (ii) prendre correctement la décision liées à la détection, par exemple déclarer le noeud suspect comme étant un intrus. Afin d'améliorer la robustesse de notre IDS, nous le couple avec un modèle de crédit basé sur l'entropie. Ce modèle surveille le comportement des noeuds lors de la détection afin d’assigner un crédit pour chaque noeud dans le réseau. Notre IDS se base sur les crédits attribuées aux noeuds afin de réduire les effets néfastes des évidences falsifiées fournies par les noeuds méfiants. Le modèle decrédit proposé prend en compte le niveau de risque des attaques. Plus précisément, le taux de perte de crédit d'un noeud méfiants est relié aux conséquences de l'attaque dont ce noeud a essayé d'aider. Notre IDS et les modèles couplés ont été expérimentées sur différents scénarios de la mobilité et de la densité. Les résultats montrent que notre détecteur offrent un taux de détection élevé, en combinaison avec un entretien remarquable des ressources disponibles. De plus, il présente une robustesse importante contre les faux évidences de détection. / Mobile Ad hoc NETworks (referred to as MANETs) continue increasing their presence in our every day life. They become a corner stone in the commercial, the society, the military, the science, and even the next-generation applications. However, these networks mostly operate over open environments and are therefore vulnerable to a large body of threats. Traditional ways of securing networks relying on preventive techniques, e.g., firewall and encryption, are not sufficient and should henceforth be coupled with a reactive security solution, e.g., the Intrusion Detection Systems (IDSs). Designing anIDS for MANETs is quite challenging because such IDS must not only ensure a high detection accuracy but also take into account the limited resources (e.g., battery life and bandwidth) and the dynamic nature of these networks. Moreover, the designed IDS itself should not be a target of attacks and/or falsification. In this thesis, we respond to these requirements by proposing a lightweight and robust Intrusion Detection System (IDS), dedicated to protecting MANETs. We first explore the space of attacks that threaten MANETs, focusing on the attacks targeting the Optimized Link State Routing protocol. We then introduce our IDS that offers a high rate of attacks along with maintaining efficiently the limited resources in the network. Indeed, contrary to existing systems that monitor the packets going through the host, our system distinguishes itself by parsing and analyzing logs in order to identify patterns of misuse. It further depends on the level of suspicion andgravity involved so as to efficiently restrict the number and the duration of its costly operations, in terms of resources. Towards a better management of the available resources, we also use the confidence interval as a measure of detection reliability. This statistical measure allows our IDS to: (i) identify the redundant evidences, hence the waste of resources resulting from gathering and processing them is avoided, and (ii) correctly make the critical detection-related decisions. In order to enhance the robustness of our IDS, we couple it with an entropy-based trust model that assigns, based on theirunlawful participation in the detection, a low trustworthiness to the misbehaving nodes. Thanks to the estimated trustworthiness, our IDS reduces the bad effects of the falsified feedback provided by the distrustful nodes. The proposed trust model is a risk-aware whereas the higher the risk of an attack, the higher (resp. the lower) is the trust in the nodes which help in detecting (resp. colluding) it. The proposed IDS and the coupled models have been experimented on different scenarios of mobility and density. The results show that our detector offer a high detection rate along with a remarkablemaintenance of the available resources. Moreover, it presents a significant robustness against the falsified detection-related evidences.

No description available.

La presencia de topologías multi-salto en comunicaciones inalámbricas de todo tipo es cada vez más apreciable, esperándose además que esta tendencia se mantenga en un futuro cercano. A pesar de que inicialmente fueran concebidos para solventar la falta de infraestructura subyacente en ciertos escenarios concretos, estos despliegues han acaparado el interés de diferentes actores del ámbito de las comunicaciones (incluyendo los operadores), con lo que es razonable pensar que su relevancia irá creciendo paulatinamente. De hecho, existen diversas iniciativas en algunos foros de estandarización que de alguna manera corroboran este hecho. Hay que tener en cuenta, por otro lado, otros factores adicionales (como la eclosión que se ha producido en el campo de las redes de sensores inalámbricos) que seguramente fomentarán el uso de estas topologías.A pesar de la creciente actividad en el ámbito de los despliegues multi-salto, sigue siendo necesario establecer, de manera cuantitativa, cuáles son sus posibles beneficios, tanto para los usuarios finales de los sistemas de comunicación, como para los operadores, especialmente teniendo en cuenta el elevado grado de heterogeneidad que también caracterizará las redes inalámbricas.Por otro lado, en lo que se refiere a los algoritmos y protocolos a ser empleados sobre este tipo de topologías, y a pesar de la intensa labor de investigación que sobre ellos se ha realizado recientemente, queda aún un número relevante de aspectos a analizar. En primer lugar, el mero hecho de que sus requerimientos y retos iniciales hayan variado de manera sustancial puede, y debe, influenciar sus principios básicos. Además, es necesario acometer verificaciones de los mismos sobre plataformas reales y, así mismo, asegurar que las evaluaciones que se realicen con técnicas de simulación utilicen modelos reales que permitan reflejar de manera fidedigna las condiciones que se dan en la realidad.Esta Tesis afronta, en primer lugar, la evaluación cuantitativa de la mejora que es posible alcanzar al utilizar topologías inalámbricas multi-salto para extender despliegues de red más tradicionales. Un primer aspecto que es razonable considerar es la ampliación de la cobertura que se consigue; en este caso se ha realizado un análisis que sigue un doble enfoque, analítico y mediante técnicas de simulación, para determinar es la ganancia que se logra. Se ha partido de dos modelos de red complementarios entre sí, asumiendo en el primero de ellos una falta total de planificación previa, mientras que en el segundo se utiliza un emplazamiento óptimo de los elementos de conexión a la red. Se ha comprobado que, a pesar de sus características claramente antagónicas, los resultados obtenidos con ambos escenarios son similares entre sí. Además, se concluye que, a pesar de que la ampliación de la cobertura que se alcanza es muy relevante, es posible establecer un límite razonable para el número máximo de saltos a emplear, ya que la mejoría adicional al incrementar la longitud de la ruta deja de ser apreciable a partir del mismo. Este aspecto se podría aprovechar para influir en el diseño de las técnicas de encaminamiento a emplear sobre este tipo de topologías.Se analizan también otras mejoras adicionales, utilizando un escenario en el que predomina sobremanera la heterogeneidad de los elementos de conexión a la red, e integrando las extensiones multi-salto con un algoritmo de selección de acceso genérico, que permite modular el peso que tienen las diferentes entidades (tanto el terminal de usuario como la propia red), así como diversos parámetros y restricciones a considerar, a la hora de determinar la alternativa de conexión óptima. Se comprueba que, tanto para los usuarios, gracias a la mejora de la calidad del servicio que perciben, como para la red, que incrementa el tráfico que es capaz de cursar, el uso de comunicaciones multi-salto puede resultar altamente atractivo.En segundo lugar, también se afronta la mejora de las técnicas de encaminamiento que tradicionalmente se emplean sobre las redes multi-salto, basadas en minimizar el número de saltos entre los dos extremos de la comunicación. Para ello, y utilizando el paradigma de Cross-Layer Optimisation, se propone una versión mejorada del protocolo DSR, denominada SADSR, que emplea la información relativa a la calidad de los enlaces subyacentes para modular el algoritmo de selección de ruta. Destacar que se acomete una verificación experimental de dicha propuesta, contestando, de este modo, a una de las reivindicaciones más importantes en este campo. Los resultados obtenidos permiten inferir que las prestaciones de la propuesta realizada en el marco de esta Tesis son superiores a los de la versión original del DSR.A pesar del evidente valor que las validaciones empíricas aportan, tienen la limitación de que es complicado establecer topologías con un número elevado de nodos, o acometer experimentos con una pauta repetitiva para determinar un comportamiento promedio. Es por ello que también se acomete un análisis mediante técnicas de simulación, en el que se compara SADSR con la versión original del DSR, así como con otras propuestas que han acaparado el interés por parte de la comunidad científica. Los resultados que se derivan a raíz de la evaluación llevada a cabo no hacen sino corroborar lo que ya adelanta la verificación experimental, ya que las prestaciones del SADSR son muy superiores a las del resto de alternativas analizadas.Para llevar a cabo el análisis anterior es fundamental el uso de un modelo de canal que refleje, con el mayor grado de exactitud posible, un comportamiento realista. Para ello, en la Tesis se afronta el diseño, implementación y posterior integración en la plataforma Network Simulator de BEAR, un modelo de canal basado en filtrado auto-regresivo, que se caracteriza principalmente por emular la aparición de errores a ráfagas que se observa en entornos reales. En ese sentido, se parte de un extenso conjunto de medidas que permite corroborar el correcto funcionamiento de la propuesta. / The presence of multi-hop topologies within all types of wireless communications is becoming more and more common, and this tendency is expected to be maintained in the near future. Although they were originally conceived to compensate the lack of subjacent infrastructure in certain scenarios, these deployments have attracted the interest of different actors in the wireless communications value chain (including network operators) and thus it is logical to think that their relevance will gradually increase. In fact, there already exist some standardization initiatives which corroborate this point to some extent. Furthermore, other additional factors, such as the rapid growth which has been seen in wireless sensor technologies, also strengthen the use of these topologies..In spite of the growing activity in the multi-hop deployment field, it is still necessary to establish, in a quantitative way, their potential benefits, both for the end-users of the communication systems, as well as for the operators, considering, in addition, the high degree of heterogeneity which will characterize wireless networks in the future.On the other hand, as far as algorithms and protocols to be used over this type of topology are concerned, and despite the intense research which has been conducted into them, there is still a large number of issues to be tackled. First, the simple fact that their initial requirements and challenges have been modified can, and must, influence their basic principles. In addition, it becomes necessary to address their validation on real platforms and, on the other hand, to ensure that simulation-based evaluations of their performance make use of realistic models which accurately reflect the conditions which are observed in real scenarios.This dissertation tackles, on the one hand, the quantitative evaluation of the improvements which are achievable when using multi-hop topologies to extend legacy network deployments. One first aspect which is logical to consider is the increase in the coverage which is brought about. In this sense, a two-fold approach has been followed, employing both an analytical as well as a simulation-based analysis, to establish what the gain is. Two network models have been used, being complementary to each other; the first one assumes a complete lack of network planning for the deployment of the access elements, while the second one assumes an optimum distribution of them. Although their characteristics are completely different, the results are somehow similar for both cases. Furthermore, it can be concluded that, despite the coverage extension which can be obtained, it is indeed possible to establish a reasonable limit on the maximum number of hops to be used, since the improvement becomes less relevant for higher values. This aspect could influence the design of routing techniques to be used over this type of topology.Furthermore, other additional benefits have been also analyzed, using a network deployment in which the presence of heterogeneity (multi-access) is evident. The multi-hop extensions have been integrated within a generic access selection algorithm which enables the modification of the weights which are assigned to the different entities (both the end-user terminals and the network) as well as to the set of parameters and constraints to be considered when selecting the most appropriate access alternative. It is concluded that for both the end-users, who improve their perception of the quality of service, and the network, which is able to increase the overall amount of traffic possible to be handled, multi-hop extensions are certainly beneficial.In addition, the dissertation also tackles the improvement of the routing techniques which are traditionally employed over multi-hop networks, which are based on minimizing the number of hops between the two sides of the communication. To accomplish this, and using the Cross-Layer Optimisation paradigm, an improved version of the DSR protocol is proposed, namely SADSR. It uses information about the subjacent link qualities to modulate the route selection algorithm. It is worth highlighting that a fully empirical (on a real platform) validation has been conducted, addressing one of the most pressing demands within this field. The results obtained allow us to infer that the proposal made in the framework of this dissertation is clearly outperforming the original DSR version.Although the added value provided by empirical validations is unquestionable, they also have some limitations. First, they normally do not favour the establishment of large topologies, or to undertake repetitive experiments aimed at finding an average behaviour. In this sense, a simulation-based analysis is also used so as to compare the SADSR with the original DSR version as well as with other proposals which have recently attracted interest from the scientific community. The results obtained by the validation carried out on a real platform are confirmed, since the performance brought about by the SADSR is somewhat higher than that of the other strategies.In order to perform the previous analysis the use of a realistic channel model, able to capture with a high degree of accuracy the behaviour exhibited on real platforms, is mandatory. To fulfil this requirement, the dissertation also tackles the design, implementation, and integration within the Network Simulator platform of BEAR, a channel model based on auto-regressive filtering. It is mainly characterized by being able to emulate the bursty presence of errors which is observed over real channels. The design is based on an extensive set of measurements which is used to assess the validity of the proposal.

An energy-aware on-demand Bluetooth scatternet formation and routing protocol taking into account network architecture and traffic pattern is proposed. The scatternet formation protocol is able to cope with multiple sources initiating traffic simultaneously as well as prolong network lifetime. A modified Inquiry scheme using extended ID packet is introduced for fast device discovery and power efficient propagation of route request messages with low delay. A mechanism employing POLL packets in Page processes is proposed to transfer scatternet formation and route reply information without extra overhead. In addition, the energy aware forwarding nodes selection scheme is based on local information and results in more uniform network resource utilization and improved network lifetime. Simulation results show that this protocol can provide scatternet formation with reasonable delay and with good load balance which results in prolonged network lifetime for Bluetooth-based wireless sensor networks. In this research, a metric-based scatternet formation algorithm for the Bluetooth-based sensor motes is presented. It optimizes the Bluetooth network formation from the hop distance and link quality perspectives. In addition, a smart repair mechanism is proposed to deal with link/node failure and recover the network connectivity promptly with low overhead. The experiments with the Intel Mote platform demonstrate the effectiveness of the optimizations. This research also investigates the scalability of ad hoc routing protocols in very large-scale wireless ad hoc networks. A comprehensive simulation study is conducted of the performance of an on-demand routing protocol on a very large-scale, with as many as 50,000 nodes in the network. The scalability analysis is addressed based on various network sizes, node density, traffic load, and mobility. The reasons for packet loss are analyzed and categorized at each network layer. Based on the observations, we observe the effect of the parameter selection and try to exhaust the scalability boundary of the on-demand routing protocol for wireless ad hoc networks.

In the wake of major disasters, the failure of existing communications infrastructure and the subsequent lack of an effective communication solution results in increased risks, inefficiencies, damage and casualties. Currently available options such as satellite communication are expensive and have limited functionality. A robust communication solution should be affordable, easy to deploy, require little infrastructure, consume little power and facilitate Internet access. Researchers have long proposed the use of ad hoc wireless networks for such scenarios. However such networks have so far failed to create any impact, primarily because they are unable to handle network transience and have usability constraints such as static topologies and dependence on specific platforms. LifeNet is a WiFi-based ad hoc data communication solution designed for use in highly transient environments. After presenting the motivation, design principles and key insights from prior literature, the dissertation introduces a new routing metric called Reachability and a new routing protocol based on it, called Flexible Routing. Roughly speaking, reachability measures the end-to-end multi-path probability that a packet transmitted by a source reaches its final destination. Using experimental results, it is shown that even with high transience, the reachability metric - (1) accurately captures the effects of transience (2) provides a compact and eventually consistent global network view at individual nodes, (3) is easy to calculate and maintain and (4) captures availability. Flexible Routing trades throughput for availability and fault-tolerance and ensures successful packet delivery under varying degrees of transience. With the intent of deploying LifeNet on field we have been continuously interacting with field partners, one of which is Tata Institute of Social Sciences India. We have refined LifeNet iteratively refined base on their feedback. I conclude the thesis with lessons learned from our field trips so far and deployment plans for the near future.

En el futuro, los dispositivos digitales formarán parte del entorno en el que las personas se desenvuelvan, participarán en nuestros objetivos y necesidades y nos ayudarán a "hacer más haciendo menos". A través de los dispositivos portátiles o aquellos que estén embebidos a nuestro alrededor el usuario será capaz de interactuar con el futuro universo de servicios e infraestructuras ubicuas. El principal paradigma que se seguirá se basa en que este universo estará centrado en el usuario ya que éste demandará los servicios que más le convengan en cualquier momento y lugar, todo ello preservando nuestra privacidad y seguridad. Este nuevo concepto no sólo se aplica a un entorno de ocio sino que en el campo profesional las redes inalámbricas de próxima generación permitirán incrementar nuestra productividad, reduciendo el peso de tareas repetitivas, poniendo a nuestra disposición la información relevante en el momento adecuado y según sean las necesidades particulares del usuario en ese momento y permitiéndonos trabajar con otras personas independientemente de donde se encuentren. En particular, se intuye que las redes de próxima generación se diseñen de forma que aglutinen todos los servicios disponibles a través de los diferentes sistemas que existan de forma que las posibles deficiencias de alguno de ellos se vean compensadas por otro. Lo que se pretende conseguir es que el usuario pueda disfrutar en todo momento y lugar de los servicios que desee sin que ello suponga un esfuerzo.Este concepto implica diferentes retos tecnológicos y la integración de múltiples sistemas. Dentro de estos retos tecnológicos esta Tesis aborda los siguientes: soporte de la heterogeneidad en lo referente a las tecnologías de acceso radio que existen y que eventualmente aparecerán en el futuro y que coexistirán en un mismo terminal; desarrollo de técnicas de optimización basadas en la cooperación entre diferentes capas de la pila de protocolos; implementación de estrategias de selección de la red que mejor pueda soportar un determinado servicio ante la posibilidad de utilización de múltiples tecnologías de acceso; optimización del uso de recursos energéticos en las comunicaciones dentro de la red; protección de la privacidad y la seguridad de las comunicaciones personales del usuario.Desde el punto de vista de las aportaciones, en esta Tesis se ha contribuido mediante el diseño, implementación y validación de una serie de técnicas de optimización de las comunicaciones en redes de dispositivos móviles basadas en información intercapa. Para ello, se propone una arquitectura de protocolos novedosa que permite soportar la heterogeneidad en términos de tecnologías de acceso dentro del mismo terminal. El concepto de aislar las capas superiores de la pila de protocolos de las tecnologías de acceso subyacentes se consigue a través de una Capa de Convergencia Universal (UCL, en sus siglas en inglés). El diseño y la especificación esta arquitectura así como de los bloques funcionales que la componen son la primera contribución que se hace en esta Tesis. La UCL supone el marco en el que el resto de técnicas de optimización que se presentan han sido desarrolladas.Igualmente, se desarrollan una serie de técnicas basadas en optimización intercapa que permiten una gestión eficiente de los recursos disponibles así como una mejora en el uso de la energía. Finalmente, se implementan los mecanismos de autenticación y encriptación que permiten asegurar las comunicaciones dentro de la red. El diseño, implementación y validación de estos mecanismos supone la segunda contribución en esta Tesis. El empleo de técnicas de optimización basadas en información procedentes de diferentes capas de la pila de protocolos es la base de los dos mecanismos que se han propuesto. El primero de ellos se basa en la selección dinámica de la tecnología de acceso a utilizar para obtener un rendimiento óptimo del sistema. La segunda estrategia de optimización consiste en el uso simultáneo de varias tecnologías de acceso para conseguir una mejora en las prestaciones de la red. Aparte de la optimización en cuanto al rendimiento en términos de ancho de banda y calidad de servicio, se ha evaluado la mejora de la eficiencia energética conseguida gracias a las soluciones propuestas. Los resultados obtenidos permiten concluir que las propuestas realizadas en el marco de esta Tesis representan una optimización tanto en parámetros de calidad de servicio como en la eficiencia energética del sistema.El mayor avance respecto del estado del arte se centra en habilitar al usuario para que utilice de manera transparente, eficiente y segura los dispositivos que tiene a su alrededor independientemente de la heterogeneidad que presenten y sin requerir de un conocimiento intensivo de la tecnología. El usuario podrá comunicarse haciendo un uso óptimo de los recursos a su alcance sin preocuparse de tener que gestionarlos él mismo. / In the future, computation will be human-centred: it will enter the human world, handling our goals and needs and helping us to do more by doing less. Next generation wireless systems should provide the user access with a broad range of services in a transparent way, independently of user location, by making the technology invisible and embedded in the natural surroundings. New systems will boost our productivity. They will help us automate repetitive human tasks, control a wide range of physical devices in our environment, find the information we need (when we need it, without obliging us to examine thousands of search-engine hits), and enable us to work together with other people through space and time.The achievement of this paradigm led to the identification of a set of optimizations in intra-cluster communications that were needed to fully support it. Firstly, heterogeneity will be a fundamental characteristic of next generation wireless communications since more and more personal devices are equipped with multiple network access technologies so that the user can have access to the different services that the different operational environments provide. However, Next Generation Networks (NGN) will comprise such a diverse number of possibilities that the users cannot be expected to take technical decisions on their own. It is necessary to provide mechanisms that intelligently select the optimal available access network based on context information such as user preferences, power consumption, link quality, etc. Finally, users need to trust the system that supports their personal communications. Within a personal network the most confidential information might be exchanged and the user need to be sure that this will never be disclosed. If the system fails in these features, NGN in general and PNs in particular will never happen.This Thesis has contributed with the development of the mechanisms that tackle the abovementioned challenges. The design and specification of a convergence framework, the so-called Universal Convergence Layer (UCL), has been the first topic addressed. This framework aims to manage all the network access interfaces with which a device is equipped so that they can be transparently used by upper layers as if the node were equipped with a single access technology. On the other hand, the UCL enables the cross-layer optimization paradigm. Its privileged location within the protocol stack gives the UCL the possibility to support both bottom-up and top-down information flow. In this sense, two different solutions based on cross-layer optimization have been proposed to enhance the performance and energy efficiency of the system. The first one deals with the selection at run-time of the most appropriate wireless interface to be used in order to improve the system performance. The second one leverages the striping concept in order to exploit all the network interfaces available. Finally, the UCL also plays a key role in security issues as an enabler for providing link-layer security mechanisms that ensure data confidentiality and integrity, authenticity and non-repudiation. The techniques implemented for node authentication combined with traffic encryption in ad-hoc networks have been thoroughly assessed and have demonstrated their appropriateness.The biggest advance in the state-of-the-art comes from enabling the user to have easy, affordable and seamless control of their devices over heterogeneous communications networks. They are empowered to communicate efficiently and securely with their selected interaction groups, no matter what kind of access is available for them to use.