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There is now a CONTENT FREEZE for Mercury while we switch to a new platform. It began on Friday, March 10 at 6pm and will end on Wednesday, March 15 at noon. No new content can be created during this time, but all material in the system as of the beginning of the freeze will be migrated to the new platform, including users and groups. Functionally the new site is identical to the old one. webteam@gatech.edu
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Title: Location, Location, Location: Maximizing mmWave LAN Performance through Intelligent Wireless Networking Strategies
Committee:
Dr. Blough, Advisor
Dr. Chang, Chair
Dr. Sivakumar
Abstract: The objective of the proposed research is to maximize millimeter-wave (mmWave) wireless local-area network (WLAN) performance through intelligent networking techniques. To meet the ever-increasing data demand of various bandwidth-hungry applications, mmWave communication has emerged as a promising technology to deliver ultra-high transmission rates in next-generation wireless networks. However, the weak diffraction of mmWave signals makes them extremely sensitive to blockage effects caused by real-world obstacles, and this is a primary challenge to overcome for the feasibility of mmWave communications. To this end, we exploit location sensitivity to explore robust mmWave WLAN designs that expedite the full realization of ubiquitous mmWave wireless connectivity. The techniques investigated to exploit location sensitivity are the use of multiple access points (APs), controlled mobility, and AP-user association mechanisms. For preliminary works, we first develop optimal multi-AP planning approaches to maximize line-of-sight connectivity and aggregate throughput in mmWave WLANs, where both analytical and algorithmic methods are exploited to determine optimal multi-AP placements in different indoor settings based on the uncertainty of obstacles and clients. With this intelligent multi-AP placement, we then studied multi-AP association mechanisms to achieve low-overhead and blockage-robust mmWave wireless communications among multiple users and multiple APs. Furthermore, we explore the potential benefits achievable from AP mobility technology, which yield insights on the best configurations of mobile APs. Upon the preliminary works, we plan to design an intelligent mmWave WLAN where the network can sense dynamic environments and mobility patterns of users, thereby performing adaptive multi-AP planning and on-demand association.
