This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Number (NSF Grant Number) CNS-1320468. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

FreeNet: Cognitive Wireless Networking Powered by Green Energy

PI: Nirwan Ansari
Graduate Students: Qiang Fan, Tao Han, Xueqing Huang, Xiang Sun, and Liang Zhang
Ungraduate Students: Joseph Waldinger, Wilbur Vale, William Heberling

Project Summary:

FreeNet, figuratively synonymous to ”Free Network”, refers to the liberation of wireless access networks from spectral and energy constraints. The limitation of the spectrum is alleviated by exploiting cognitive networking in which wireless nodes sense and utilize the spare spectrum for data communications. The energy constraint is assuaged by powering wireless access networks with green energy. As a result, FreeNet enhances the spectrum and energy efficiency of wireless access networks; hence, it increases the network availability and thus extends emerging network applications. The objective of FreeNet is to design and prototype a green energy powered cognitive radio network. This research consists of three major endeavors: 1) dynamic network architecture optimization, 2) network resource aware traffic scheduling and spectrum sharing, and 3) protocol suites design. FreeNet exploits the opportunities of dynamically harnessing the unused spectrum as well as utilizing green energy. Since the availability of both the spectrum and green energy is dynamic, the network architecture is to be optimized according to the distribution of the available spectrum and green energy. The dynamic network architecture optimization provides a framework to discover active network nodes, sense the available spectrum, gather information about the green energy, and form a wireless network that maximizes the utilization of the available spectrum and green energy.

Research Objective:

The proposed project, FreeNet, aims to liberate wireless access networks currently constrained by spectral and energy scarcity via a new framework, referred to as FreeNet, by exploiting cognitive networking and green energy. FreeNet will be designed and optimized using a series of novel techniques such as dynamic network architecture optimization, network resource aware traffic scheduling, and spectrum sharing. The network architecture optimization framework will apply advanced probability theory to investigate inherent relationships between the optimal network architecture and the availability of spare spectrum and green energy, and adopt control theory to adapt the network architecture according to the dynamics of the spare spectrum and green energy. The network resource aware traffic scheduling and spectrum sharing algorithms will be designed based on optimization theory. Finally, theoretical analysis will be reduced to practice and translated into communications protocols in enabling and prototyping FreeNet. The theoretical analysis will elicit a series of theorems to direct the utilization of green energy in communication networks.

netarch

Figure 1. Future Energy Efficient Access Networks

Products

Journals:

    1.           T. Han and N. Ansari, “Offloading Mobile Traffic via Green Content Broker,” IEEE Internet of Things Journal, vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 161-170, Apr. 2014.

    2.           T. Han and N. Ansari, “Enabling Mobile Traffic Offloading via Energy Spectrum Trading,” IEEE Trans. on Wireless Communications, vol. 13, no.6, pp. 3317-3328, June 2014.

    3.            T. Han and N. Ansari, “Powering Mobile Networks with Green Energy,” IEEE Wireless Communications, vol. 21, no. 1, pp. 90-96, Feb. 2014.

    4.           T. Han and N. Ansari, “A Traffic Load Balancing Framework for Software-defined Radio Access Networks Powered by Hybrid Energy Sources,” IEEE/ACM Trans. on Networking, DOI: 10.1109/TNET.2015.2404576, vol. 24, no. 2, pp. 1038-1051, Apr. 2016.

    5.           N. Ansari and T. Han, “FreeNet: Spectrum and Energy Harvesting Wireless Networks,” IEEE Network, vol. 30, no 1, pp. 66-71, Jan./Feb. 2016.

    6.           X. Huang, T. Han, and N. Ansari, “On Green Energy Powered Cognitive Radio Networks,” IEEE Communications Surveys and Tutorials, vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 827-842, Second Quarter, 2015.

    7.           X. Huang and N. Ansari, “Joint Spectrum and Power Allocation for Multi-node Cooperative Wireless Systems,” IEEE Trans. on Mobile Computing, DOI: 10.1109/TMC.2015.2388478, vol. 14, no. 10, pp. 2034-2044, Oct. 2015.

    8.           X. Huang and N. Ansari, “Optimal Cooperative Power Allocation for Energy Harvesting Enabled Relay Networks,” IEEE Trans. on Vehicular Technology, DOI: 10.1109/TVT.2015.2424218, vol. 65, no.4, pp. 2424-2434, Apr. 2016.

    9.           X. Huang and N. Ansari, “Energy Sharing within EH-enabled Wireless Communication Networks,” IEEE Wireless Communications, vol. 22, no. 3, pp. 144-149, June 2015.

    10.       X. Huang and N. Ansari, “Resource Exchange in Smart Grid Connected Cooperative Cognitive Radio Networks,” IEEE Trans. on Vehicular Technology, DOI: 10.1109/TVT.2016.2642902, vol. 66, no. 7, pp. 6291-6298, July 2017.

    11.       X. Huang, T. Han, and N. Ansari, “Smart Grid Enabled Mobile Networks: Jointly Optimizing BS Operation and Power Distribution,” IEEE/ACM Trans. on Networking, DOI: 10.1109/TNET.2017.2655462, vol. 25, no. 3, pp. 1832-1845, June 2017.

    12.       X. Huang and N. Ansari, “Content Caching and Distribution in Smart Grid Enabled Wireless Networks,” IEEE Internet of Things Journal, DOI: 10.1109/JIOT.2016.2577701, vol. 4, no.2, pp. 513-520, Apr. 2017

    13.       Q. Fan and N. Ansari, “Towards Throughput Aware and Energy Aware Traffic Load Balancing in Heterogeneous Networks with Hybrid Power Supplies,” IEEE Trans. on Green Communications and Networking, DOI: 10.1109/TGCN.2018.2837618, vol. 2, no. 4, pp. 890-898, Dec. 2018.

    14.       X. Liu and N. Ansari, “Green Relay Assisted D2D Communications with Dual Batteries in Heterogeneous Cellular Networks for IoT,” IEEE Internet of Things Journal, DOI: 10.1109/JIOT.2017.2717853, vol. 4, no. 5, pp. 1707-1715, Oct. 2017.

    15.       L. Zhang, T. Han, and N. Ansari, “Energy-Aware Virtual Machine Management in Inter-datacenter Networks over Elastic Optical Infrastructure,” IEEE Trans. on Green Communications and Networking, DOI: 10.1109/TGCN.2017.2771724, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 305-315, Mar. 2018.

    16.       X. Sun and N. Ansari, “Green Cloudlet Network: A Sustainable Platform for Mobile Cloud Computing,” IEEE Transactions on Cloud Computing, DOI: 10.1109/TCC.2017.2764463, early access.

Conference Papers and Presentations:

    1.           T. Han and N. Ansari, “User Association in Backhaul Constrained Small Cell Networks,” Proc. IEEE Wireless Communications and Networking Conference (WCNC2015), New Orleans, LA, Mar. 9-12, 2015, pp. 1637-1642.

    2.           X. Huang and N. Ansari, “RF Energy Harvesting Enabled Power Sharing in Relay Networks,” 2014 IEEE Online Conference on Green Communications, Nov. 12-14, 2014.

    3.           T. Han and N. Ansari, “Smart Grid Enabled Mobile Networks: Jointly Optimizing BS Operation and Power Distribution,” Proc. 2014 IEEE International Conference on Communications (ICC 2014), Sydney, Australia, June 10-14, 2014, pp. 2624-2629.

    4.           T. Han and N. Ansari, “Provisioning Green Energy for Small Cell BSs,” Proc. IEEE Global Communications Conference (GLOBECOM 2014), Austin, TX, Dec. 8-12, 2014, pp. 4935-4940.

    5.           X. Huang and N. Ansari, “Content Caching and User Scheduling in Heterogeneous Wireless Networks,” Proc. 2016 IEEE Global Communications Conference (GLOBECOM 2016), Washington, DC, Dec. 4-8, 2016.

    6.           X. Huang and N. Ansari, “Data and Energy Cooperation in Relay-enhanced OFDM Systems," Proc. 2016 IEEE International Conference on Communications (ICC 2016), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, May 23-27, 2016, DOI: 10.1109/ICC.2016.7511354, 6 pages.

    7.           X. Liu, X. Huang, and N. Ansari, “Green Energy Driven User Association in Cellular Networks with Dual Battery System,” Proc. 2016 IEEE International Conference on Communications (ICC 2016), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, May 23-27, 2016, DOI: 10.1109/ICC.2016.7511123, 6 pages.

    8.           Q. Fan and N. Ansari, “Green Energy Aware User Association in Heterogeneous Networks,” Proc. IEEE Wireless Communications and Networking Conference (WCNC2016), Doha, Qatar, April 3-6, 2016, 6 pages.  

    9.           X. Liu, T. Han, and N. Ansari, “Intelligent Battery Management for Cellular Networks with Hybrid Energy Supplies,” Proc. IEEE Wireless Communications and Networking Conference (WCNC2016), Doha, Qatar, April 3-6, 2016, 6 pages.

    10.       X. Liu and N. Ansari, “Green Relay Assisted D2D Communications with Dual Battery for IoT,” Proc. 2016 IEEE Global Communications Conference (GLOBECOM 2016), Washington, DC, Dec. 4-8, 2016.

    11.       X. Huang and N. Ansari, “Secure Multi-party Data Communications in Cloud Augmented IoT Environment,” Proc. 2017 IEEE International Conference on Communications (ICC 2017), Paris, France, May 21-25, 2017.

    12.       X. Liu and N. Ansari, “Profit Driven User Association with Dual Batteries in Green Heterogeneous Cellular Networks,” Proc. 2017 IEEE Global Communications Conference (GLOBECOM 2017), Singapore, Dec. 4-8, 2017.

    13.       X. Liu and N. Ansari, “Dual-Battery Enabled Green Proximal M2M Communications in LPWA for IoT,” Proc. 2018 IEEE International Conference on Communications (ICC 2018), Kansas City, MO, USA, May 20-24, 2018.

Patents:

    [1] N. Ansari and T. Han, “Association through Green Energy and Latency Awareness in Wireless Networks,” US Patent Number 9,253,719, issued on 2/2/2016. 

    [2] N. Ansari and T. Han, “Cell Size Optimization for Energy Saving in Cellular Networks with Hybrid Energy Supplies,” US Patent Number 9277497, issued on 3/1/2016. 

    [3] N. Ansari and T. Han, “Trading Spectrum for Energy Savings in Green Cognitive Cellular Networks,” US Patent Number 9516589, issued on 12/6/2016.

Completed Doctoral Dissertations:

    [1]   Tao Han. THE DESIGN AND OPTIMIZATION OF GREEN ENERGY POWERED MOBILE NETWORKS. (2015).  Electrical Engineering. New Jersey Institute of Technology.

    [2]   Xueqing Huang. THE DESIGN AND OPTIMIZATION OF COOPERATIVE MOBILE EDGE. (2017).  Electrical Engineering. New Jersey Institute of Technology.

    [3]   Xiang Sun. ON DISTRIBUTED MOBILE EDGE COMPUTING. (2018). Electrical Engineering. New Jersey Institute of Technology.