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Design and Implementation of Heterogeneous Network Management Algorithm

Yong-Hua Cheng, Wen-Kuang Kuo, Szu-Lin Su

Institute of Computer and Communication Engineering
Department of Electrical Engineering
National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan
e-mail: cyh@itri.org.tw, wkuo@ee.ncku.edu.tw, ssl@ee.ncku.edu.tw

Abstract-The Telematics is the integration of
telecommunication and informatics. It is also known as ICT
(Information and Communications Technology). The application
trends of Telematics is to establish a user friendly vehicle
communication environment to merge the information for the
traffic safety, road navigation, remote business, and A/V
entertainment, etc. In the future, a portable Telematics system
which integrates multimedia infotainment networks (Bluetooth,
MOST), short range communications (WLAN, DSRC), long
distance communications (GPS, DAB, 3.5G, Wi-MAX), and
cooperates with service provider will be mainstream of the
market to save cost and enhance seamless communication
efficiency. The key technologies of Telematics are the
heterogeneous communication and information fusion. In this
thesis, we proposed the network management algorithm to
monitor and predict the channel variations and power attenuation
in physical layer. The proposed method could be implemented in
Heterogeneous Internet Device (HID) which could manage
multiple communications including wireless devices (3.5G, Wi-Fi,
DSRC) and wired interface (Ethernet) based on Android OS. We
establish the HID system prototype on different platforms as
portable devices, on board unit (OBU), and home/public gateway
to realize ubiquitous seamless services.
Keywords Telematics, Heterogeneous network, Android.
I. INTRODUCTION
The rapid progress of wireless communication in recent
years extends the information and communication services
from digital homes to mobility life. Different types of wireless
communication technologies are widely applied to our daily heterogeneous networks management and Android software
life so that the demands for accessing internet resources system design. One of the application scenarios of Android
through wireless devices also increase rapidly.
The current wireless communication technologies follow
three major trends. First, the mobile communication
technologies are expanded from providing pure voice services,
such as GSM, to IP-based network services, such as GPRS and
Besides, the Internet Protocol (IP), being the common
convergence layer for heterogeneous networking, opens new
business opportunities enabling mobile terminals equipped
with several wireless/wired access technologies to maintain the
Internet connectivity. In such potentially scenarios, the
terminal might have the capability to gather information of the
surrounding access networks to make the accurate network
selection and optimized handover decision.
Supporting seamless roaming between heterogeneous
networks such as 802.11, WiMAX, and HSDPA requires
several functionalities to be taken into account such as network
discovery, network selection, and service continuity. In order
to achieve ubiquitous roaming in short, medium and long range
heterogeneous networks, one of the important issues is to
enhance seamless handover for heterogeneous networks
effectively and rapidly. The proposed heterogeneous network
management algorithm integrates the channel estimation
information to estimate the change of adaptive signal-tracking
decay, and also improves the estimation handover correctness
and reduces the system computation load.
We implement the proposed heterogeneous network
management algorithm on the Android-based mobile device
platform. The proposed Android-based heterogeneous Internet
device (HID) can be applied for many scenarios in our life to
realize ubiquitous services for various network environments.
II. SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE
The developed system integrates technologies of
HID is shown in Fig. 1.
MSN, Yahoo PPStream, Youtube
Sharing Mode
- static Wi-Fi Router

HSDPA which includes services of voice, high speed data and

multimedia streaming. Second, the broadband network
technologies are expanded from providing local Internet access, Roaming
Function
such as ADSL and WiFi, to widely area and high speed 3.5G
Base Station

mobility Internet access, such as DSRC, WiMAX. Third, the WiMAX

Android System
integration of information and communications that integrates APPLICATION
Base Station

different types of wireless communication technologies to APPLICATION FRAMWORK

LIBRARIES
3G
Sharing Mode
ANDROID - mobile
provide IT-enabled services and applications. The information EXTER
NAL
TOOLS
User
Define
Fundamental
Lib
RUNTIME

Lib
and communication technologies (ICT) extend the LINUX KERNEL
HID
developments of all types of handheld mobile devices to offer HARDWARE

real time streaming services in heterogeneous network

environments. Figure 1. The situational application of Android HID
___________________________________
978-1-4244-5900-1/10/$26.00 2010 IEEE

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 The developed system equipped with heterogeneous network
interfaces can provide with two functions: Roaming and
Sharing. The Roaming function indicates that the system can
search and choose the wireless network with best resources (ex:
RSS, Bandwidth) for users according to the surrounding
environment. This is especially helpful when the system is
used for roaming between the homogeneous or heterogeneous
networks. The Sharing function indicates that the system can
allocate the available resources to all users when the system is
connected with multiple wired/wireless networks.
For example, when people stay at home or in the building,
the system can be started up with the Sharing function and
acted as a Home Entertainment Gateway. The system can
dynamically allocate wired and wireless network bandwidth
for all users connected to the system. When people are outside
the building, the system can use the Roaming function and act
as an intelligent MID (Mobile Internet Device). The system
can choose one or more wireless networks with available
resources to satisfy user traffic demand. If people carry the
system into a car or a bus, the system will also become a
Vehicle On-Board Unit and share the mobile network
resources for users on the Vehicle with the Sharing function.
The system implemented as a HID can communicate with
the Home Entertainment Gateway or the Vehicle OBU as a
client, and share its network resources for other users as a
server. The heterogeneous networks management technology is
very important to be implemented for analyzing the multiple
network/user conditions, and deciding the resource allocation
policy. The communication link of network and physical layer
are adjusted adaptively based on the handover decision. The
technology also considers the seamless roaming issues to
provide better QoS (quality of service) for users.
III. ALGORITHM DESIGN
A. Methodology
We proposed a heterogeneous network management
algorithm to improve the access network quality and the
roaming performance. The architecture of the proposed
algorithm is shown as Fig. 2.
The Environment Detection module receives the environment
parameters sent from the Channel Measurement and Peripheral
device. Then the process enters Network Analyzer (NA) to
estimate the access network information under the time-variant
environment. There are two modes in the NA. One is
Frequency Response Tracking (FRT) mode, the other is Power
Tracking (PT) mode. In FRT mode, the system executes
frequency response estimation and compensation to enhance
the access network efficiency in time-variant mobile
environment. In PT mode, the Power Gain Prediction is
triggered to predict the power variation. The Network Link
Controller makes the handover network decision based on the
real-time network analyzer results. We describe the functions
of FRT and PT as follows:
1. Functions of FRT mode
The FRT mode is based on two kinds of channel tracking
functions to compensate the time-variant channel effect in
mobility environments. One is feedback tracking, the other is
pilot tracking. The FRT architecture is shown as Fig. 3, and the
FRT functions are described as follows:
1) Feedback Tracking
a. Fine Channel Tracking (FCT)
FCT utilizes the decision feedback symbol to estimate
the channel coefficients in the small range, then using
least mean square (LMS) algorithm to update the
equalizer coefficients for the next symbol. This mode
carries out once each symbol.
b. Coarse Channel Tracking (CCT)
CCT utilizes the decoded feedback symbol to estimate
the channel coefficients by a large margin, then using
LMS algorithm to update the equalizer coefficients. The
execution cycle depends on the environment.
2) Pilot Tracking
Pilot Tracking utilizes the information of pilots of each
symbol and Feedback Tracking results to estimate the
channel coefficients by interpolation in frequency domain,
then using recursive algorithm to update the equalizer
coefficients immediately.

Network Analyzer
Pilot Tracking Pilot Gen.

Frequency Response Tracking P(n)

Pilot Estimation
Fine Channel Tracking
Average

Coarse Channel Tracking Pilot

Extract
Interpolation
Num.
Main-Data Flow
Interpolation
Peripheral Search New
H P (n)
Sub-Data Flow
Device Pilot Channel Tracking Link Control Flow
LMS : G PT
I/O, H (n)  H PT (n)  H P (n) * GPT  H FT (n  1) * (1  GPT )
GPS
Adaptive Network
Environment Rx Baseband H (n )
Parameter / Link DDM (n) Dde _ pun (n) DVit (n )
Detection System D (n ) DEQ (n) De-
Model Controller Controller FFT EQ DeMap DeItlv Viterbi
Scramble
RSS,
SINR H FT (n  1) Rate, conv_en
Power Tracking LMS : G FT Decision Encode
Channel User Link H FT (n  1)  H F (n  1) * GFT  H (n  1) * (1  GFT )

Measurment Adaptive Model Control Detection H F (n  1) DFM (n  Dct ) DF

Ch EM mux Map Itlv
Power Gain Fine Tune D p ( n  1) T (n  1) Contler

Enable T-S
Rate, pipe_en
Power Gain Predictor
Tracking Cycle Feedback Tracking
SNR, V, PL
Adaptive Parameter
Controller

Figure 2. Adaptive network management function Figure 3. FRT design diagram

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 Here we describe the Pilot Tracking algorithm by the
following equation which is established by the theoretic
recursive computation. The equation outputs the H k ( n ) that are
the estimation of the channel frequency response for each
subcarrier k to update the channel coefficients.
H (n)  H PT (n)
 H P (n) * GPT  H FT (n  1) * (1  GPT )
 H P (n) * GPT  ( H F (n  1) * GFT  H (n  1)
(1  GFT )) * (1  GPT )
 H P (n) * GPT  H F (n  1) * GFT * (1  GPT )  H (n  1)
(1  GFT ) * (1  GPT )
Where
2) Power Gain Prediction Unit (PGPU)
PGPU utilizes the LMS as a core to establish a
mathematical recursive model, and integrates channel
estimation information to estimate the signal strength decay.
The PGPU is composed of two parts: (1) Power Gain
Predictor; (2) Power Gain Fine Tune Predictor. The details
are illustrated as follows:
a. Power Gain Predictor (PGP)
PGP utilizes the LMS to calculate the estimative value of
signal strength decay for recursive computation according
to the channel theoretical signal model and recursive
(1)
parameters. The following equation is an exemplary
mathematic recursive model established by the theoretic
Decoder feedback tracking , when n  m  C recursive computation.
H FT (n ) 
(2)    
Decision feedback tracking , otherwise G (t  t )  G (t )  1 * (G Theory (t  t )  G (t ))
(3)
2. Functions of PT mode
A novel power prediction algorithm is proposed to predict where G is the estimative value of signal strength decay,

the signal strength decay in the handover process for diverse G Theory is the theoretic value of signal decay, t is the
heterogeneous network environment, such as, IP-based
network, packet-switched network, and so on. The novel current time, t is the time difference, and 1 is a first
algorithm uses LMS to establish a mathematical recursive group of recursive parameters.

model, and integrates channel estimation information to The G Theory may use theoretical channel model to
estimate the signal strength decay as the basis of
performance analysis of the heterogeneous network system. rectify G . (3) shows that G is rectified by referring to the
The Power Tracking prepares adaptive communication link previous computation of channel theoretical signal model
switch of physical layer for the channel change to enhance and the recursive parameter change estimated by the
the seamless handover for diverse heterogeneous networks channel so that the estimative value of signal strength decay
effectively and rapidly. may be closer to the actual environment.
The PT mode is composed of two parts: (1) Adaptive b. Power Gain Fine Tune Predictor (PGFTP)
Model Control Unit; (2) Power Gain Prediction Unit. The PGFTP utilizes the LMS to executes recursive iteration
details are illustrated as follows: on channel-tracking for obtaining a signal strength decay
1) Adaptive Model Control Unit (AMCU) tracking value through the obtained actual signal strength
AMCU determines recursive parameters and a channel decay value from channel estimation, recursive parameters
theoretical signal model by collecting estimation information and the signal strength decay estimation value at previous
of channel environment, such as signal strength, sign-to- iteration.
interference noise ratio (SINR), bandwidth, and so on, and The following equation is an exemplary mathematic
integrates the geographical information of the wireless recursive model established for the recursive computation
device, such as applying a GPS to obtain the moving speed, on channel tracking.
 
relative location of the wireless device, and so on. GTracking (t  t )  GTracking (t )   2 * ( RSS(t ) / TSS (t )
  
 GTracking (t ))   3 * (G (t  t )  GTracking (t ))
Channel
(4)
Adaptive Model GPS 
Control Unit Information

where G Tracking is the signal strength decay tracking value,

Environment
Information
Table
RSS is the received signal strength, TSS is the transmitted
RSS(n)
signal strength, and 2 and 3 are both second group
-

Buffer recursive parameters.
G Tracking (n)
 
TSS (n) G Tracking (n  t ) Heterogeneous Network

In (4), the fine tune (ie: G Tracking ) refers to the

Power Gain
Networks Link
Fine Tune
 Analysis Unit Controller
G Tracking (n)
Buffer aforementioned rectified signal strength decay estimated
 -
G (n)

-
Buffer 
G (n  t )
value (ie: G in (4)) and actual measured signal strength

Power Gain
Predictor
decay value, and performs recursive computation on signal
GTheory (n  t )
strength decay tracking value. With the adaptive tracking
Power Gain Prediction Unit
1, 2, 3 channel change, the precise prediction of the signal decay
value may be obtained.
Figure 4. PT mode

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 Finally, the results of network analysis will be sent to Search
New Link function or User Link Detection function to execute
the heterogeneous network handover.
IV. SYSTEM IMPLEMENTATION
The handover policy of the system could be implemented
from physical layer to application layer to support the seamless
handover of networks and services. We verify the performance
of PT mode in handover management algorithm. The PT
function can be applied on the mainstream operating systems,
such as Windows, Linux, or Android. Moreover, our system
implementation is designed based on Android software stack.
In this section, the performance analysis and Android
prototype are described as follows:
Figure 5. Schematic view of Power Prediction
A. Performance Analysis
We verify the proposed algorithm on the X86 real targets.
The handover function is implemented at the physical layer to
maintain the physical interfaces handover.
The proposed algorithm is also verified to prove that our
system has well performance. We assume that the 3.5G and
Wi-Fi wireless devices are used in the experiment environment
and the signal strength variations of 3.5G and Wi-Fi are taken
as samples for analyzing handover performance in actual
Figure 6. The prototypes of Android HID
environment. Fig. 5 shows a schematic view of power
prediction performance between LS (Least Square) and the V. CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE WORKS
proposed power prediction for tracking the real power. The
In this paper, we proposed a heterogeneous network
percentage of error gain value with LS and the proposed power
prediction is 16.94% and 9.98% respectively, which means the management algorithm to enhence the communication quality.
error rate of power prediction calculated by LS and the In order to achieve ubiquitous computing, the proposed
proposed power prediction algorithm. Obviously, the proposed algorithm supports seamless handover via effective and rapid
power prediction has a better accuracy rate of power prediction. channel tracking and power prediction under time-variant
environment. In the future, we will design the Android HID
B. Android HID Prototype which provides more sophisticated resource management
We implement the proposed algorithm on the X86-based algorithm to enhance the QoS during the network roaming and
Android architecture. These functions are implemented as the sharing processes. The algorithm will provide all resources of
user-defined libraries of the Android software stacks to provide heterogeneous network interfaces of the system for multi-users
the heterogeneous network management functions for the
sharing, and achieve an intelligent load-balance state of the
Android HID.
system. We will also enhance the Android HID to provide
In order to realize an Android HID with heterogeneous
more functions and application services, which include the
network management, we implemented those technologies
which we mentioned in the preceding sections on the X86 Cloud Computing and Telematics applications. Besides, we
based real targets, such as 1 DIN (Deutsche Industrie Normen), will implement the Android software on different kinds of
2 DIN Car PC and MID. And the Android applications we embedded systems to provide customize services.
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