Abstract: Classical physical-link layer interface
assumes a link layer user should
determine either to transmit a packet or
to idle without getting involved in other
communication details. When collision
happens, users can only adapt their
transmission probabilities to resolve
contention. Advanced wireless
capabilities such as rate and power
adaptation are completely irrelevant at
the data link layer. This dissertation
focuses on the cross-layer design of
physical and data link layers to support
efficient distributed networking by
enhancing the classical interface while
maintaining the layered architecture.
Under the enhanced interface, each link
layer user can be equipped with multiple
transmission options, each
corresponding to a specific
communication setting such as a rate
and power combination. Therefore, link
layer users are able to exploit advanced
communication adaption such as rate
adaptation. Given channel feedback, we
assume each link layer user should
construct its transmission scheme based
on the provided transmission options as
opposed to adapting the communication
parameters arbitrarily. By following a
stochastic approximation framework,
under the enhanced physical-link layer
interface, we developed a distributed
MAC algorithm that can help all users to
adapt their transmission scheme to
optimize an arbitrarily chosen network
utility. Simulation results show that the
system converges to the designed
equilibrium, which is often near-optimal
with respect to the chosen utility.

Adviser: J. Rockey Luo
Co-Adviser: N/A
Non-ECE Member: Haonan Wang, Department of Statistics
Member 3: Liuqing Yang, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Addional Members: Ali Pezeshki, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Publications:
Yanru Tang, Faeze Heydaryan and Jie Luo, Distributed Coding in A Multiple Access Environment, Foundations and Trends in Networking: Vol. 12, No. 4, pp 260-412
Y. Tang, F. Heydaryan, and J. Luo, Distributed Multiple Access with a Single Transmission Option, To appear in Ad Hoc Networks
F. Heydaryan, Y. Tang, and J. Luo, Distributed Multiple Access with Multiple Transmission Options at The Link Layer, *Submitted to IEEE Transactions on Information Theory
Y. Tang, T. Zhao, and J. Luo, Medium Access Control Game with An Enhanced Physical-Link Layer Interface, IEEE ISIT, Honolulu, HI, June 2014
Y. Tang, F. Heydaryan, and J. Luo, On Utility Optimization in Distributed Multiple Access over a Multi-packet Reception Channel, IEEE ISIT, Barcelona, Spain, July 2016

Program of Study:
ECE658
ECE681
ECE512
STAT525
STAT720
ECE520
ECE652
STAT521