Thesis (MSc)--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: We use Evolutionary Multi-Objective Optimisation (EMOO) algorithms to optimise objective functions that reflect situations in communication networks. These include functions that optimise Network Engineering (NE) objective functions in core, metro and wireless sensor networks. The main contributions of this thesis are threefold. Routing and Wavelength Assignment (RWA) for IP backbone networks. Routing and Wavelength Assignment (RWA) is a problem that has been widely addressed by the optical research community. A recent interest in this problem has been raised by the need to achieve routing optimisation in the emerging generation multilayer networks where data networks are layered above a Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) network. We formulate the RWA as both a single and a multi-objective optimisation problem which are solved using a two-step solution where (1) a set of paths are found using genetic optimisation and (2) a graph coloring approach is implemented to assign wavelengths to these paths. The experimental results from both optimisation scenarios reveal the impact of (1) the cost metric used which equivalently defines the fitness function (2) the algorithmic solution adopted and (3) the topology of the network on the performance achieved by the RWA procedure in terms of path quality and wavelength assignment. Optimisation of Arrayed Waveguide Grating (AWG) Metro Networks. An Arrayed Waveguide Grating (AWG) is a device that can be used as a multiplexer or demultiplexer in WDM systems. It can also be used as a drop-and-insert element or even a wavelength router. We take a closer look at how the hardware and software parameters of an AWG can be fine tuned in order to maximise throughput and minimise the delay. We adopt a multi-objective optimisation approach for multi-service AWG-based single hop metro WDM networks. Using a previously proposed multi-objective optimisation model as a benchmark, we propose several EMOO solutions and compare their efficiency by evaluating their impact on the performance achieved by the AWG optimisation process. Simulation reveals that (1) different EMOO algorithms can exhibit different performance patterns and (2) good network planning and operation solutions for a wide range of traffic scenarios can result from a well selected EMOO algorithm. Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) Topology (layout) Optimisation. WSNs have been used in a number of application areas to achieve vital functions in situations where humans cannot constantly be available for certain tasks such as in hostile areas like war zones, seismic sensing where continuous inspection and detection are needed, and many other applications such as environment monitoring, military operations and surveillance. Research and practice have shown that there is a need to optimise the topology (layout) of such sensors on the ground because the position on which they land may affect the sensing efficiency. We formulate the problem of layout optimisation as a multi-objective optimisation problem consisting of maximising both the coverage (area) and the lifetime of the wireless sensor network. We propose different algorithmic evolutionary multi-objective methods and compare their performance in terms of Pareto solutions. Simulations reveal that the Pareto solutions found lead to different performance patterns and types of layouts. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Ons gebruik ”Evolutionary Multi-Objective Optimisation (EMOO)” algoritmes om teiken funksies, wat egte situasies in kommunikasie netwerke voorstel, te optimiseer. Hierdie sluit funksies in wat ”Network Engineering” teiken funksies in kern, metro en wireless sensor netwerke optimiseer. Die hoof doelwitte van hierdie tesis is dus drievuldig. RWA vir IP backbone netwerke ”Routing and Wavelength Assignment (RWA)” is ’n probleem wat al menigte kere in die optiese navorsings kringe aangespreek is. Belangstelling in hierdie veld het onlangs ontstaan a.g.v. die aanvraag na die optimisering van routering in die opkomende generasie van veelvuldige vlak netwerke waar data netwerke in ’n vlak ho¨er as ’n ”Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM)” netwerk gele is. Ons formuleer die RWA as beide ’n enkele and veelvuldige teiken optimiserings probleem wat opgelos word deur ’n 2-stap oplossing waar (1) ’n stel roetes gevind word deur genetiese optimisering te gebruik en (2) ’n grafiek kleuring benadering geimplementeer word om golflengtes aan hierdie roetes toe te ken. Die eksperimentele resultate van beide optimiserings gevalle vertoon die impak van (1) die koste on wat gebruik word wat die ekwalente fitness funksie definieer , (2) die algoritmiese oplossing wat gebruik word en (3) die topologie van die netwerk op die werkverrigting van die RWA prosedure i.t.v. roete kwaliteit en golflengte toekenning. Optimisering van AWG Metro netwerk ’n ”Arrayed Waveguide Grating (AWG)” is ’n toestel wat gebruik kan word as ’n multipleksor of demultipleksor in WDM sisteme. Dit kan ook gebruik word as ’n val-en-inplaas element of selfs ’n golflengte router. Kennis word ingestel na hoe die hardeware en sagteware parameters van ’n AWG ingestel kan word om die deurset tempo te maksimeer en vertragings te minimiseer. Ons neem ’n multi-teiken optimiserings benadering vir multi diens, AWG gebaseerde, enkel skakel, metro WDM netwerke aan. Deur ’n vooraf voorgestelde multi teiken optimiserings model as ”benchmark” te gebruik, stel ons ’n aantal EMOO oplossings voor en vergelyk ons hul effektiwiteit deur hul impak op die werkverrigting wat deur die AWG optimiserings proses bereik kan word, te vergelyk. Simulasie modelle wys dat (1) verskillende EMOO algoritmes verskillende werkverrigtings patrone kan vertoon en (2) dat goeie netwerk beplanning en werking oplossings vir ’n wye verskeidenheid van verkeer gevalle kan plaasvind a.g.v ’n EMOO algoritme wat reg gekies word. ”Wireless Sensor Network” Topologie Optimisering WSNs is al gebruik om belangrike funksies te verrig in ’n aantal toepassings waar menslike beheer nie konstant beskikbaar is nie, of kan wees nie. Voorbeelde van sulke gevalle is oorlog gebiede, seismiese metings waar aaneenlopende inspeksie en meting nodig is, omgewings meting, militˆere operasies en bewaking. Navorsing en praktiese toepassing het getoon dat daar ’n aanvraag na die optimisering van die topologie van sulke sensors is, gebaseer op gronde van die feit dat die posisie waar die sensor beland, die effektiwiteit van die sensor kan affekteer. Ons formuleer die probleem van uitleg optimisering as ’n veelvuldige vlak optimiserings probleem wat bestaan uit die maksimering van beide die bedekkings area en die leeftyd van die wireless sensor netwerk. Ons stel verskillende algoritmiese, evolutionˆere, veelvuldige vlak oplossings voor en vergelyk hul werkverrigting i.t.v Pareto oplossings. Simulasie modelle wys dat die Pareto oplossings wat gevind word lei na verskillende werkverrigtings patrone en uitleg tipes.

This research is concerned with the technoeconomic aspects of modern and next-generation telecommunications including the Internet service. The goal of this study thereof is tailored to address the following: (i) Reviewing the technoeconomic considerations prevailing in telecommunication (telco) systems and their implicating futures; (ii) studying relevant considerations by depicting the modern/next-generation telecommunications as a digital ecosystem viewed in terms of underlying complex system evolution (akin to biological systems); (iii) pursuant to the digital ecosystem concept, co-evolution modeling of competitive business structures in the technoeconomics of telco services using dichotomous (flip-flop) states as seen in prey-predator evolution; (iv) specific to Internet pricing economics, deducing the profile of consumer surplus versus pricing model under DiffServ QoS architecture pertinent to dynamic- , smart- and static-markets; (v) developing and exemplifying decision-making pursuits in telco business under non-competitive and competitive markets (via gametheoretic approach); (vi) and modeling forecasting issues in telco services addressed in terms of a simplified ARIMA-based time-series approach, (which includes seasonal and non-seasonal data plus goodness-fit estimations in time- and frequency-domains). Commensurate with the topics indicated above, necessary analytical derivations/models are proposed and computational exercises are performed (with MatLabTM R2006b and other software as needed). Extensive data gathered from open literature are used thereof and, ad hoc model verifications are performed. Lastly, results are discussed, inferences are made and open-questions for further research are identified. / by Renata Cristina Tourinho Sardenberg. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2010. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2010. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Sun Weng Hong. / Thesis submitted in: October 2002. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 116-121). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Chapter 1. --- Introduction --- p.7 / Chapter 2. --- Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) --- p.9 / Chapter 2.1 --- ACO vs. Traditional Routing --- p.10 / Chapter 2.1.1 --- Routing information --- p.10 / Chapter 2.1.2 --- Routing overhead --- p.12 / Chapter 2.1.3 --- Adaptivity and Stagnation --- p.14 / Chapter 2.2 --- Approaches to Mitigate Stagnation --- p.15 / Chapter 2.2.1 --- Pheromone control --- p.15 / Chapter 2.2.1.1 --- Evaporation: --- p.15 / Chapter 2.2.1.2 --- Aging: --- p.16 / Chapter 2.2.1.3 --- Limiting and smoothing pheromone: --- p.17 / Chapter 2.2.2 --- Pheromone-Heuristic Control --- p.18 / Chapter 2.2.3 --- Privileged Pheromone Laying --- p.19 / Chapter 2.2.4 --- Critique and Comparison --- p.21 / Chapter 2.2.4.1 --- Aging --- p.22 / Chapter 2.2.4.2 --- Limiting pheromone --- p.22 / Chapter 2.2.4.3 --- Pheromone smoothing --- p.23 / Chapter 2.2.4.4 --- Evaporation --- p.25 / Chapter 2.2.4.5 --- Privileged Pheromone Laying --- p.25 / Chapter 2.2.4.6 --- Pheromone-heuristic control --- p.26 / Chapter 2.3 --- ACO in Routing and Load Balancing --- p.27 / Chapter 2.3.1 --- Ant-based Control and Its Ramifications --- p.27 / Chapter 2.3.2 --- AntNet and Its Extensions --- p.35 / Chapter 2.3.3 --- ASGA and SynthECA --- p.40 / Chapter 3. --- Multiple Ant Colony Optimization (MACO) --- p.45 / Chapter 4. --- MACO vs. ACO --- p.51 / Chapter 4.1 --- Analysis of MACO vs. ACO --- p.53 / Chapter 5. --- Applying MACO in Load Balancing --- p.89 / Chapter 5.1 --- Applying MACO in Load-balancing --- p.89 / Chapter 5.2 --- Problem Formulation --- p.91 / Chapter 5.3 --- Types of ant in MACO --- p.93 / Chapter 5.3.1 --- Allocator. --- p.94 / Chapter 5.3.2 --- Destagnator. --- p.95 / Chapter 5.3.3 --- Deallocator. --- p.100 / Chapter 5.4 --- Global Algorithm --- p.100 / Chapter 5.5 --- Discussion of the number of ant colonies --- p.103 / Chapter 6. --- Experimental Results --- p.105 / Chapter 7. --- Conclusion --- p.114 / Chapter 8. --- References --- p.116 / Appendix A. Ants in MACO --- p.122 / Appendix B. Ants in SACO. --- p.123

The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) has recently released network mobility standards that allow deployment of TCP/IP networks onboard a vehicle and maintain permanent network connectivity to the Internet via a vehicular mobile router. This recent development opens up new opportunities for providing efficient mobile computing for users on the move, especially for commuters traveling on public transports. Moreover, central and coordinated management of mobility in a single router, rather than by each user device individually, has numerous advantages. In this architecture, however, it becomes challenging to guarantee network performance due to the mobility of the network and inherently vulnerable nature of wireless links. In this thesis, a detailed performance study of onboard networks is conducted. It has been shown that disruptions in the mobile router connectivity can significantly degrade network throughput. Moreover, factors such as the limited wireless bandwidth of the access link, variations in the bandwidth due to technology switching, and the communication diversity of onboard users all contribute to the problem of unfair sharing of wireless bandwidth. By leveraging the fact that all onboard communications go through the mobile router, performance enhancing solutions are proposed that can be deployed in the mobile router to transparently address the throughput and fairness problems. In this architecture, when the route is known in advance and repetitive (e.g. for public transport or a regularly commuting private vehicle), a certain degree of prediction of impending link disruptions is possible. An anticipatory state freezing mechanism is proposed that relies on the prediction of link disruptions to freeze and unfreeze the state machine of TCP, the widely used transport protocol in the Internet. Simulation study shows that TCP throughput has a non-linear relationship with the prediction accuracy. As prediction accuracy increases, throughput problem diminishes quickly. An adaptive mobile router based fairness control mechanism is proposed to address the unfair sharing of wireless bandwidth in highly dynamic scenarios. The fairness is controlled by dynamically estimating the round-trip-times of all onboard TCP connections and transparently adjusting the protocol control parameters at the router. The thesis also discusses implementation issues for the proposed solutions.

The MultiProtocol Label Switching (MPLS) framework is used in many networks to provide efficient load balancing which distributes the traffic for efficient Quality of Service (QoS) provisioning in the network. If the MPLS framework is combined with Differentiated Services (DiffServ) architecture, together they can provide aggregate-based service differentiation and QoS. The combined use of DiffServ and MPLS in a network is called DiffServ-aware Traffic Engineering (DS-TE). Such DiffServ-based MPLS networks demand development of efficient methods for QoS provisioning. In this thesis, an automated manager for management of these DiffServ-based MPLS networks is proposed. This manager, called Traffic Engineering Automated Manager (TEAM), is a centralized authority for adaptively managing a DiffServ/MPLS domain and it is responsible for dynamic bandwidth and route management. TEAM is designed to provide a novel and unique architecture capable of managing large scale MPLS/DiffServ domains without any human interference. TEAM constantly monitors the network state and reconfigures the network for efficient handling of network events. Under the umbrella of TEAM, new schemes for Label Switched Path (LSP) setup/teardown, traffic routing, and network measurement are proposed and evaluated through simulations. Also, extensions to include Generalized MPLS (GMPLS) networks and inter-domain management are proposed.

The explosive growth in networked systems and applications and the increase in device capabilities (as evidenced by the availability of inexpensive multimedia devices) enable novel complex distributed applications, including video conferencing, on-demand computing services, and virtual environments. These applications' need for high performance, real-time, or reliability requires the provision of Quality of Service (QoS) guarantees along the path of information exchange between two or more communicating systems. Execution environments that are prone to dynamic variability and uncertainty make QoS provision a challenging task, e.g., changes in user behavior, resource requirements, resource availabilities, or system failures are difficult or even impossible to predict. Further, with the coexistence of multiple adaptation techniques and resource management mechanisms, it becomes increasingly important to provide an integrated or cooperative approach to distributed QoS management. This work's goals are the provision of system-level tools needed for the efficient integration of multiple adaptation approaches available at different layers of a system (e.g., application-level, operating system, or network) and the use of these tools such that distributed QoS management is performed efficiently with predictable results. These goals are addressed constructively and experimentally with the Q-Fabric architecture, which provides the required system-level mechanisms to efficiently integrate multiple adaptation techniques. The foundation of this integration is the event-based communication implemented by it, realizing a loosely-coupled group communication approach frequently found in multi-peer applications. Experimental evaluations are performed in the context of a mobile multimedia application, where the focus is directed toward efficient energy consumption on battery-operated devices. Here, integration is particularly important to prevent multiple energy management techniques found on modern mobile devices to negate the energy savings of each other.

The objective of this research is to develop an optimized quality of service (QoS) assurance algorithm with the differentiated services (DiffServ) architecture, and a differentiated polling algorithm with efficient bandwidth allocation for QoS assurance in the hybrid multi-hop mesh/relay networks. These wide area networks (WANs), which will employ a connection-based MAC protocol, along with QoS-enabled wireless local area networks (WLANs) that use a contention-based MAC protocol, need to provide an end-to-end QoS guarantee for data communications, particularly QoS-sensitive multimedia communications. Due to the high cost of construction and maintenance of infrastructure in wireless networks, engineers and researchers have focused their investigations on wireless mesh/relay networks with lower cost and high scalability. For current wireless multi-hop networks, an end-to-end QoS guarantee is an important functionality to add, because the demand for real-time multimedia communications has recently been increasing. For real-time multimedia communication in heterogeneous networks, hybrid multi-hop mesh/relay networks using a connection-based MAC protocol, along with QoS-enabled WLANs that use a contention-based MAC protocol can be an effective multi-hop network model , as opposed to multi-hop networks with a contention-based MAC protocol without a QoS mechanism. To provide integrated QoS support for different QoS mechanisms, the design of the cross-layer DiffServ architecture that can be applied in wireless multi-hop mesh/relay networks with WLANs is desirable. For parameterized QoS that requires a specific set of QoS parameters in hybrid multi-hop networks, an optimized QoS assurance algorithm with the DiffServ architecture is proposed here that supports end-to-end QoS through a QoS enhanced WAN for multimedia communications. For a QoS assurance algorithm that requires a minimum per-hop delay, the proper bandwidth to allow the per-hop delay constraint needs to be allocated. Therefore, a polling algorithm with a differentiated strategy at multi-hop routers is proposed here. The proposed polling algorithm at a router differentially computes and distributes the polling rates for routers according to the ratio of multimedia traffic to overall traffic, the number of traffic connections, and the type of polling service. By simulating the architecture and the algorithms proposed in this thesis and by analyzing traffic with the differentiated QoS requirement, it is shown here that the architecture and the algorithms produce an excellent end-to-end QoS guarantee.

The study of network-service disruptions caused by large-scale disturbances has mainly focused on assessing network damage; however, network-disruption responses, i.e., how the disruptions occur depending on social organizations, weather, and power resources, have been studied little. The goal of this research is to study the responses of network-service disruptions caused by large-scale disturbances with respect to (1) temporal and logical network, and (2) external factors such as weather and power resources, using real and publicly available heterogeneous data that are composed of network measurements, user inputs, organizations, geographic locations, weather, and power outage reports. Network-service disruptions at the subnet level caused by Hurricanes Katrina in 2005 and Ike in 2008 are used as the case studies. The analysis of network-disruption responses with respect to temporal and logical network shows that subnets became unreachable dependently within organization, cross organization, and cross autonomous system. Thus, temporal dependence also illustrates the characteristics of logical dependence. In addition, subnet unreachability is analyzed with respect to the external factors. It is found that subnet unreachability and the storm are weakly correlated. The weak correlation motivates us to search for root causes and discover that the majority of subnet unreachability reportedly occurred because of power outages or lack of power generators. Using the power outage data, it is found that subnet unreachability and power outages are strongly correlated.

Thesis (M. S.)--Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2008. / Committee Chair: Bing Benny; Committee Co-Chair: Fred B-H. Juang; Committee Member: Gee-Kung Chang. Part of the SMARTech Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Collection.

With the growing trend of wireless electronics, frequency spectrum is crowded with different applications. High data transfer rate solutions that operate in license-exempt frequency spectrum range are sought. The most promising candidate is the 60 GHz multi-giga bit transfer rate millimeter wave circuit. In order to provide a cost-effective solution, circuits designed in CMOS are implemented in a single SOC. In this work, a modeling technique created in Cadence shows an error of less than 3dB in magnitude and 5 degree in phase for a single transistor. Additionally, less than 3dB error of power performance for the PA is also verified. At the same time, layout strategies required for millimeter wave front-end circuits are investigated. All of these combined techniques help the design converge to one simulation platform for system level simulation. Another aspect enabling the design as a single SOC lies in integration. In order to integrate digital and analog circuits together, necessary peripheral circuits must be designed. An on-chip voltage regulator, which steps down the analog power supply voltage and is compatible with digital circuits, has been designed and has demonstrated an efficiency of 65 percent with the specific area constraint. The overall output voltage ripple generated is about 2 percent. With the necessary power supply voltage, gate voltage bias circuit designs have been illustrated. They provide feasible solutions in terms of area and power consumption. Temperature and power supply sensitivities are minimized in first two designs. Process variation is further compensated in the third design. The third design demonstrates a powerful solution that each aspect of variations is well within 10%. As the DC conditions are achieved on-chip for both the digital and analog circuits, digital and analog circuits must be connected together with a DAC. A high speed DAC is designed with special layout techniques. It is verified that the DAC can operate at a speed higher than 3 Gbps from the pulse-shaping FIR filter measurement result. With all of these integrated elements and modeling techniques, a high data transfer rate CMOS RF SOC operating at 60 GHz is possible.