Teaching & Theses

The lecture Mobile Networking (Communications Networks III: MobNet) will be again offered during the winter term 2012/2013.

Please check this website for more information in early October 2012. 

Matthias Hollick

• Prof. Dr.-Ing. Matthias Hollick ,  Prof. Dr.-Ing. Ralf Steinmetz
• Dipl.-Ing. Delphine Christin

The  learning platform of the CS Dept. acts as the information hub for the lecture. 

Mobile communications and wireless networking technology has seen a thriving development in recent years. Driven by technological advancements as well as application demands, various classes of communication networks emerged. This includes sensor networks, ad hoc networks, and cellular networks, each of which class represents a solution to important chapters in the mobile and wireless communications challenge.

Currently, we observe that the fixed, mainly infrastructure based networks are complemented and enhanced with infrastructure-less (ad-hoc) networking structures to form novel communication networks. At the same time users get more and more mobile and nomadic, they demand the ability to use applications anytime and anywhere, posing additional resource demands onto the network while on the move and changing the nature of applications. Obviously this gives rise to several challenging questions, which have to be solved first. Not only feasible applications and end-systems have to be developed but also smart network technology has to be devised.

The lecture addresses the above outlined problem scope. The characteristics/principles underlying the problem are discussed in detail and practical solutions are presented. Hereby our focus is on the network layer, which is often regarded as the glue of communication systems. In addition to describing the state of the art in technology we discuss actual research problems and learn about methodologies to approach such problems systematically.

• Introduction to mobile and wireless communications: Applications, history, market vision. 
• Overview of wireless transmission: frequencies & regulations, signals, antennas, signal propagation, multiplexing, modulation, spread spectrum, cellular systems.
• Medium access control in the wireless domain: SDMA, FDMA, CDMA TDMA (fixed, Aloha, CSMA, DAMA, PRMA, MACA, collision avoidance, polling).
• Wireless local area networks: IEEE 802.11 standard including physical layer, MAC layer and access schemes (PCF and DCF), quality of service and power management.
• Wireless metropolitan area networks: Wireless mesh networks, IEEE 802.16 standard including modes of operation, medium access control, quality of service and scheduling.
• Mobility at network layer: Concepts to support mobility on various layers, Mobile IPv4, Mobile IPv6, various enhancements of Mobile IP (fast-handover, hierarchical-MIP). 
• (Mobile) Ad hoc networks: Terminology, basics and applications, characteristics of ad hoc communication, ad hoc routing paradigms and protocols (AODV, DSR, LAR, OLSR).
• Performance evaluation of mobile networks: Overview of performance evaluation, systematic approach / common mistakes and how to avoid them, experimental design and analysis.
• Mobility at transport layer: Variants of TCP (indirect TCP, snoop TCP, mobile TCP, wireless TCP).
• Outlook: Applications for mobile networks, Wireless Sensor Networks and Participatory Sensing.

Students will familiarize themselves with mobile communication networks. They will gain insight into media access control mechanisms dedicated to wireless communication and have a thorough understanding of mechanisms based on the network and the transport layers, with a focus on ad hoc and mesh networks. Moreover, the students will acquire knowledge about the connections between the different protocol layers and will be able to apply the acquired knowledge on methodological analysis of real communication systems. The students will therefore be conversant with the characteristics and basic principles of wireless and mobile communications in theory and practice.

The optional exercise deepens the theoretical foundations by means of exercises. which consit of literature, calculation as well as practical implementation/application examples. 

Selected chapters from following books:

• Jochen Schiller: "Mobile Communications" 2nd Ed.(ISBN 0-321-12381-6)
• Raj Jain: "The Art of Computer Systems Performance Analysis: Techniques for Experimental Design, Measurement, Simulation, and Modeling" (ISBN 0-471-50336-3)
•  James F. Kurose: "Computer Networking: A Top-Down Approach Featuring the Internet" 5th Ed. (ISBN 978-0136079675)

Selected journal articles and conference papers