Autonomic Cooperative Networking Protocol

Following the introduction of the notion of Autonomic Cooperative Behaviour (ACB) in the previous chapter, the bottom-up description of the proposed Autonomic Cooperative System Architectural Model (ACSAM) is continued with the outlining of the workings of the Autonomic Cooperative Networking Protocol (ACNP). In fact, the ACNP protocol is a cross-layer solution which is may be perceived as a bit biased towards the Network Layer of the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) Reference Model (RM), however, on the other hand, it is profoundly rooted in the Distributed Spatio-Temporal Block Coding (DSTBC) of the Link Layer, in fact, going down even to the Physical Layer when the orchestration of the underlying Virtual Multiple Input Multiple Output (VMIMO) is concerned. In particular, once the motivation for the said cross-layering has been explained, the relevant context of the Optimised Link State Routing (OLSR) protocol is introduced to form the basis for its extension, the Autonomic Cooperative Networking Protocol. Following, the integration of the tightly related ACB is described with a special emphasis on its composition with the aid of the Multi-Point Relay (MPR) station selection heuristics. This part is complemented with the proposed messaging structure along with the detailing of the functioning of ACNP itself in terms of assigning Autonomic Cooperative Nodes (ACNs) to Virtual Cooperative Sets (VCSs). Eventually, the analysis of the expected overhead induced by the OLSR-ACNP tandem is carried out to establish the region of safe and efficient operation.