published_or_final_version / Electrical and Electronic Engineering / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Electrical and Electronic Engineering / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Clock synchronization for Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) has attracted lots of attention due to its importance for operations in WSNs. In traditional centralized clock synchronization algorithms, all the local information should be transmitted to a fusion center for processing, and the results need to be forwarded back to each individual sensor, thus resulting in a heavy burden on communication and computation in the network. In addition, it also lacks of adaptability to link failures and dynamic changes in the network topology, which greatly prevents their use in WSNs. Hence, in this thesis, we focus on developing energy-efficient distributed clock synchronization algorithms for WSNs. Firstly, global clock synchronization problem is investigated with time-varying clock parameters (skew and offset) owing to imperfect oscillator circuits. A distributed Kalman filter is developed for clock parameters tracking. The proposed algorithm only requires each node to exchange limited information with its direct neighbors, thus is energy efficient, scalable with network size, and is robust against changes in network connectivity. A low-complexity distributed algorithm based on Coordinate-Descent with Bootstrap (CD-BS) is also proposed to provide rapid initialization of the tracking algorithm. Simulation results show that the proposed distributed tracking algorithm achieves the long-term accuracy for the clock parameters close to the Bayesian Cramer-Rao Lower Bound. Secondly, the problem of global clock synchronization for WSNs in the presence of unknown exponential delays is studied. The joint maximum likelihood estimator of clock offsets, clock skews and fixed delays of the network is first formulated as a global linear programming (LP) problem. Based on the Alternating Direction Method of Multipliers (ADMM), we propose a fully-distributed synchronization algorithm that has low communication overhead and computation cost. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm achieves better accuracy than consensus algorithm and the distributed least squares algorithm, and can always converge to the centralized optimal solution. Finally, global clock synchronization for WSNs under the exponentially distributed delays is re-visited with the fast convergence min-sum algorithm. The synchronization problem is cast into an optimization problem represented by factor graph, and a closed-form expression of the messages passed between nodes are derived. Simulation results show that this distributed algorithm can approach the centralized LP solution with faster convergence speed compared to ADMM-based algorithm. / published_or_final_version / Electrical and Electronic Engineering / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

In this thesis, the possibility of harvesting energy from a multicore power cableconnected to a power outlet is presented and evaluated. By surrounding a powercable with a conductive material connected to ground, it is shown that the dif-ference in potential between the power cable and the conductive material causesa capacitance which can charge a capacitor that in combination with an energymanagement circuit can be used to wirelessly transmit data with an interval de-pending on factors like the length of the surrounding material and the type ofcable it is placed around. In addition to this, a technique to, in a non-invasiveway, sense whether there is alternating current flowing in a multicore power ca-ble is brought up. The results show that this technique can be used to detectalternating current without having a device connected between the power cableand the power outlet. These two sections combined are used to design a surveil-lance system that should monitor consumer electronics in the home environmentwhere there is a fire hazard. The system should send out a warning signal thatis visible for the homeowner to remind the user to switch off the power of theelectronic devices before leaving home.

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M. Tech. Electrical Engineering / The radio frequency (RF) spectrum is a natural resource used by wireless network operators to provide radio communication and transmission systems. The availability of RF spectrum to various wireless network operators using large bandwidth and more than one channel, as demanded by their offered services, is challenging, due to RF spectrum scarcity and lack of optimal channel selection. On the other hand, the under-utilisation of licensed spectrum by some primary users' (PU's) networks may be improved by the use of dynamic spectrum access (DSA) techniques. Recent research has shown that a large portion of the assigned spectrum is used irregularly, leading to under-utilisation and waste of valuable frequency resources. The notion of cognitive radio (CR) was introduced to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of spectrum consumption. In a cognitive radio network (CRN), each secondary user (SU) is expected to select the best RF spectrum band for opportunistic use when the PUs have temporarily vacated the spectrum allocated to them. The literature has proposed many spectrum selection methods for selecting vacant spectra in CRNs. However, most of these methods do not consider the channel usage pattern over time by PUs and also do not adequately consider the effect that frequent channel-switching might have on the quality of service requirements of the SUs and the throughput of the CR system. Thus, the proposed scheme, which is heuristic-based spectrum selection scheme for minimal channel switching (HBSSS-MCS) and heuristic-based spectrum selection scheme for maximum throughput (HBSSS-MT) addresses these issues. The main study objectives were as follows: 1) Minimise the frequent switching of channels using HBSS-MCS; 2) Maximise the throughput of the CR system using HBSSS-MT. To achieve the objectives of this research work, the following sub-problems were addressed: 1) To investigate the spectrum selection schemes in cognitive radio network (CRN); 2) To design a learning mechanism to facilitate the selection of a suitable channel in the primary network.

D. Tech. Engineering: Electrical. / The remarkable evolution of wireless networks into the next generation to provide ubiquitous and seamless broadband applications has recently triggered the emergence of Wireless Mesh Networks (WMNs). The WMNs comprise stationary Wireless Mesh Routers (WMRs) forming Wireless Backbone Mesh Networks (WBMNs) and mobile Wireless Mesh Clients (WMCs) forming the WMN access. While WMCs are limited in function and radio resources, the WMRs are expected to support heavy duty applications: that is, WMRs have gateway and bridge functions to integrate WMNs with other networks such as the Internet, cellular, IEEE 802.11, IEEE 802.15, IEEE 802.16, sensor networks, et cetera. Consequently, WMRs are constructed from fast switching radios or multiple radio devices operating on multiple frequency channels. WMRs are expected to be self-organized, self-configured and constitute a reliable and robust WBMN which needs to sustain high traffic volumes and long "online" time. However, meeting such stringent service expectations requires the development of decentralized dynamic transmission power control (DTPC) approaches. This thesis addresses the DTPC problem for both single and multiple channel WBMNs. For single channel networks, the problem is formulated as the minimization of both the link-centric and network-centric convex cost function. For multi-radio multichannel (MRMC) WBMNs, the network is modelled as sets of unified channel graphs (UCGs), each consisting of interconnected active network users communicating on the same frequency channel.