Colloquium - Henkel

Node mobility in traditional wireless networks is regarded as undesired and harmful to the network's performance. However, controlled node mobility in delay tolerant networks (DTN) enables Relaying and Ferrying communication modes which can enhance the performance of DTNs. In this talk we will introduce analytical models for the two communication modes, describe the trade-offs between these link modes and a direct wireless link, and show how an optimization of Relaying and Ferrying can be achieved in terms of throughput and packet delay. In the Relaying mode the optimal number of relays and the number of simultaneous transmissions are derived. For the Ferrying mode we use Reinforcement Learning to determine the node trajectory through a network that minimizes average packet delay in a sensor data collection scenario.

Daniel Henkel is currently working at the Research and Engineering Center for Unmanned Vehicles (RECUV) at the University of Colorado in Boulder. Concurrently, he is pursuing his PhD at the Technical University of Ilmenau in Germany. He is working on data ferrying techniques in delay-tolerant networks and sensor data collection using controlled mobility of unmanned aircraft. Daniel holds a Masters in Telecommunications from the University of Colorado and a graduate diploma in Industrial Engineering from the Technical University of Ilmenau/Germany.

Sponsored by the Interdisciplinary Telecommunications Program.