Small World routing In heterogeneous Multi-RAT networks (SWIM)
The development roadmap for 5G systems and networks is expected to exacerbate trends already visible in current wireless networks: the coexistence of heterogeneous networks over overlapping frequency bands, the availability of multiple Radio Access Technologies (RATs) in each device, and an increasing device and user spatial density.
5G networks will thus pose the problem of how to determine the optimal end-to-end path taking into account all available RATs and their potential mutual impact: current state of the art contributions only analyze it under a limited subset of scenarios in terms of number of RATs, with mutual interaction between them typically not being considered.
The Small World routing In heterogeneous Multi-RAT networks (SWIM) project will tackle the problem of routing in multi-RAT network by proposing a routing strategy, composed by a routing metric that considers Quality of Service indicators, energy efficiency and mutual impact between RATs, and a routing protocol taking advantage of expected 5G RATs features, such as accurate positioning. The routing strategy will select end-to-end paths so to guarantee that the resulting network topology will show the desirable properties of a small world graph, that is high local connectivity combined with short average path length.
The proposed routing strategy will be evaluated by means of computer simulations, carried out in an open source network simulator, extended and tailored so to allow the modeling of 5G multi-RAT networks; the software modules developed during the project will be made available to the research community, and will constitute a valuable output of the project.
The project will also focus on disseminating the research results, by setting up a publication plan and manuscript preparation time line at the beginning of the project, so to ensure a significant impact of the activities on the research community.