Type
DissertationAuthors
Showail, Ahmad
Advisors
Shihada, Basem
Committee members
Kalnis, Panos
Alouini, Mohamed-Slim

Ghafoor, Arif
Program
Computer ScienceDate
2016-01-19Permanent link to this record
http://hdl.handle.net/10754/595314
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Buffer sizing is an important network configuration parameter that impacts the quality of data traffic. Falling memory cost and the fallacy that ‘more is better’ lead to over provisioning network devices with large buffers. Over-buffering or the so called ‘bufferbloat’ phenomenon creates excessive end-to-end delay in today’s networks. On the other hand, under-buffering results in frequent packet loss and subsequent under-utilization of network resources. The buffer sizing problem has been studied extensively for wired networks. However, there is little work addressing the unique challenges of wireless environment. In this dissertation, we discuss buffer sizing challenges in wireless networks, classify the state-of-the-art solutions, and propose two novel buffer sizing schemes. The first scheme targets buffer sizing in wireless multi-hop networks where the radio spectral resource is shared among a set of con- tending nodes. Hence, it sizes the buffer collectively and distributes it over a set of interfering devices. The second buffer sizing scheme is designed to cope up with recent Wi-Fi enhancements. It adapts the buffer size based on measured link characteristics and network load. Also, it enforces limits on the buffer size to maximize frame aggregation benefits. Both mechanisms are evaluated using simulation as well as testbed implementation over half-duplex and full-duplex wireless networks. Experimental evaluation shows that our proposal reduces latency by an order of magnitude.Citation
Showail, A. (2016). Towards Optimal Buffer Size in Wi-Fi Networks. KAUST Research Repository. https://doi.org/10.25781/KAUST-L9DY8ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.25781/KAUST-L9DY8