Wireless networks are connected by a non-guided means of transmission (wireless) by means of electromagnetic waves. Transmission and reception take place via aerials. Wireless local area networks (WLAN) have advantages such as the quick and easy installation of the network without the need to pull through wiring, they allow mobility and have fewer maintenance costs than a conventional network. Wireless networks have enabled replacing cables with radio waves.

Boris Bellalta, head of the research group on wireless networks, Wireless Networking (WN), at the Department of Information and Communication Technologies (DTIC) at UPF, has been awarded a CISCO Research grant financed by the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, “the result of the excellent track record of research in this area carried out at UPF in recent years, and that is expected to commence a long-term collaboration that will benefit the two parties”, explained Bellalta.

The aim of the project is to study the performance of state-of-the-art WLAN based on the next IEEE 802.11 ax amendment in large, dense and dynamic environments, with the emphasis on optimizing the operation of the new features included, such as multi-user transmissions, and the ability to adapt both the power of transmission and the sensitivity of receivers to adjust the range of coverage.

“Also, this same project is to work on the design of new mechanisms to ensure a deterministic operation of WLAN networks. These new mechanisms will on the one hand allow you to increase the capacity of these networks, and at the same time, will enable improving the quality of the service observed by the users, opening the door to new services and applications, such as those related to with the Internet of Things”, says Bellalta.

To achieve these goals, they will put into practice machine learning techniques to give WLAN networks the ability to adapt to the changing conditions of the scenarios considered. Thus, one of the key contributions of the project is to develop an auto-setup module for each WLAN capable of collecting data from the environment, detecting and predicting changes in the channel, traffic loads and number of users, in order to update the configuration as a result, and ensure that it is always working at close to optimum point.

Interview with Boris Bellalta, Vicent Partal, “L’internauta”, Vilaweb, 17 May 2016.