On the Use of Adaptive OFDM to Preserve Energy in Ad Hoc Wireless Networks Kamol Kaemarungsi and Prashant Krishnamurthy Telecommunications Program, School of Information Science, University of Pittsburgh 135 North Bellefield Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260. Tel. 412-624-4099, Fax. 412-624-2788 {kakst112, prashk}@pitt.edu Abstract - Orthogonal frequency division throughput, and routing efficiency are important multiplexing (OFDM) is the physical layer in performance metrics. Energy efficiency is emerging wireless local area networks that are especially important for mobile devices with also being targeted for ad hoc networking. Mobile limited battery power. Cross-layer protocol design devices in ad hoc networks need to conserve their and optimization can prolong the battery life of energy because of the limited battery power. mobile devices [1]. Researchers have investigated Adaptive OFDM is a technique that can improve making OFDM or discrete multitone (DMT) the performance of OFDM in terms of increasing adaptive to maximize channel capacity by using the capacity for a given transmit power by adaptive modulation and loading algorithms. Bits exploiting the channel condition over a link. We and power loading algorithms control how the believe that adaptive OFDM can be also exploited number of bits and power are allocated across all in ad hoc networks to improve the energy subcarriers in OFDM such that the capacity over performance of mobile devices. In this paper, we the link is maximized or the transmit power is evaluate the improvement in performance of minimized. Several loading algorithms have been adaptive OFDM over non-adaptive OFDM in ad proposed in the literature. For instance, the hoc networks using simulations. algorithm of Fischer and Huber [2] is well known 1. INTRODUCTION for its simplicity and efficiency for discrete Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing multitone loading. Campello in [3] also proved the (OFDM) is important in wireless networks near optimality of the discrete greedy loading because it can be used adaptively in a dynamically algorithm and suggested algorithms for efficient changing channel. OFDM has also been selected loading with low complexity. However, it is not as the standard physical layer for IEEE 802.11a clear how the ad hoc network performance and IEEE 802.11g wireless local area networks constraints can impact making OFDM adaptive. In (WLANs). At the same time, ad hoc networking ad hoc networking these measures may not be using WLANs has received attention in recent sufficient to extend the battery life. This paper is a years [1]. In ad hoc networks, energy efficiency, preliminary effort to understand whether adaptive 1 OFDM can impact the energy consumption in ad of the symbol, the inter-symbol interference (ISI) hoc networks and how OFDM can be made caused by multipath fading can be further reduced. adaptive. As a first step to understanding this Digital modulation schemes such as phase shift problem, we compare the use of adaptive and non- keying (PSK) or quadrature amplitude modulation adaptive OFDM in ad hoc networks in terms of (QAM) are usually used on each subcarrier; energy consumption and bit error rates using however, the modulation technique does not have simulations with QualNet. We only employ to be the same for all subcarriers. primitive cross-layering in that we preempt 2.1 The Channel State Information transmission if there are insufficient power Adaptive OFDM takes advantage of the resources at the transmitter based on channel independence of subcarriers by assigning higher knowledge. In section 2 of this paper, we discuss energy and larger number of bits to subchannels the notion of adaptive OFDM and bit loading that have better quality or higher SNR and algorithms for adaptive OFDM. In Section 3, we assigning less energy and bits or none at all to the provide a brief review of energy conservation poor quality subchannels. This technique is a well- techniques in ad hoc networks. Section 4 discusses known result from information theory that states the details of the simulation, the set up, and the that the channel capacity can be maximized by a results. Section 5 considers approaches for future water-filling or water-pouring technique [3]. An work. important assumption is that the transmitter has 2. ADAPTIVE OFDM the channel state information (CSI) in order to OFDM is a sub-class of multicarrier perform power or bit allocation to achieve the modulation (MCM) that combines parallel data maximum channel capacity. This may be difficult transmission with frequency division multiplexing to achieve in practice, but it is possible that the (FDM) technique and allows spectral overlap of estimated channel information can be obtained at subchannels. The idea is to transmit single high- the transmitter using feedback from the receiver or rate data stream over multiple parallel low-rate in the case of reciprocal channels. Note that the data streams [4]. The low-rate data streams are CSI is only applicable between a given modulated onto orthogonal subcarriers in order to communication pair and different CSI are required avoid adjacent carrier interference and improve for different pairs of communicating nodes. The spectrum efficiency. Due to the longer symbol channel state should also change slowly compared period on each subcarrier, the OFDM signal is to the frame duration [5]. Otherwise, adaptive more robust against large multipath delay spreads OFDM may perform worse than non-adaptive that are normally encountered in wireless OFDM. In indoor wireless local area networks, it environments. With a cyclic prefix or a repetition is likely that the channel changes very slowly of part of OFDM symbol added at the beginning because the mobility of the node is limited. Both 2 adaptive and non-adaptive OFDM require channel inefficiency in greedy-like algorithms. The result knowledge at the receiver in order to detect the is a slightly suboptimal allocation, but with a correct transmit symbol on each subchannel. This dramatically reduced computational complexity can be achieved by using known training symbols [3]. The authors predict that with advances in or blind detection [6], [7]. All OFDM systems digital signal processing, the loading algorithms require channel coding (such as convolutional will be able to perform in real time and be suitable codes) to maintain low bit error rates [8]. for operations such as those envisaged in this 2.2 Loading Algorithms paper. The water-filling power distribution is known An OFDM link can be modeled as a group of to be the optimal solution for any spectrally parallel AWGN channels. The wideband radio shaped channel [3]. The resulting bits or power channel is partitioned into discrete narrowband allocation maximizes the information capacity and subchannels with channel bandwidth of ∆f Hz. it is called the capacity-achieving distribution. A Each channel is free of inter-symbol interference greedy algorithm can be used to find the optimal when ∆f is small and the channel response appears solution for this problem. For a large number of to be flat for each channel. In the case of single bits and subchannels on the order of 1000s, the carrier communications, the information capacity greedy algorithm is inefficient due to operations for an ideal channel with AWGN follows involving channel gain sorting and the number of Shannon's information capacity theorem. In iterations [3]. However, in the case of small practical systems, a quantity called SNR gap is number of bits and channels such as those in IEEE introduced and used to determine the efficiency of 802.11a, the number of bits is between 48 and 288 a modulation or encoding scheme compared to the (to be loaded on 48 subchannels for data rates ideal scheme [3]. For a practical modulation or between 6 Mbps and 54 Mbps) [9]. For instance, encoding scheme, the system can transmit at most 48 bits per one OFDM symbol with 4 µsec symbol R bits/transmission with the lowest acceptable duration is needed to achieve a 6 Mbps data rate error rate. The SNR gap is defined as a ratio of that includes a convolutional rate ½ code. ideal SNR at which the system can transmit at C A number of loading algorithms have been bits/transmission over a practical SNR at which proposed in the literature such as the algorithms by the system can transmit R bits/transmission. It is a Fischer and Huber [2], and Campello [3]. They measure of how well the practical system propose different approaches to solve the loading compares to an ideal modulation system. The problem such as minimizing the bit-error-rate channel capacity in bits per transmission can be (BER) (rather than maximizing the SNR or the calculated by [10]. capacity of the channel). Most algorithms try to α C = log (1+SNR) (1) avoid intense sorting and searching that causes 2 2 3 Note that α is the dimension of modulation optimization perspective [3]. First, a bit rate scheme, i.e. α = 2 for M-QAM modulation maximization problem can be formulated by scheme. Rearranging Equation 1 enables us to maximizing the total number bits across all OFDM express the SNR as SNR = 22Cα−1. Using a subcarriers in Equation 3 subject to the constraint that a fixed amount of power is available to the similar expression for the SNR of practical transmitter. This is similar to the classical water- systems, the SNR gap, denoted by Γ, can be filling formulation in [10]. Second, an energy calculated as minimization problem can be formulated by 22Cα−1 SNR Γ = = . (2) minimizing the total amount of power on all 22Rα−1 22Rα−1 OFDM subcarriers in Equation 4 subject to the The SNR for additive white Gaussian noise constraint of a fixed amount of bits transmitted per (AWGN) with noise variance of σ2 per dimension OFDM symbol. Given an energy function ε(R ) n can be defined asSNR = H2ε, where H is channel α⋅σ2 for a particular modulation and coding technique gain and ε is the transmit power per symbol. where R is the number of bits on subcarrier n, n Therefore, for a particular combination of R is the total number of bits per OFDM Total encoding scheme and modulation with 2- symbol, E is the fixed amount of power Total dimensional symbol constellation, the SNR gap available, and B is the fixed number of bits per can be used to determine the data rate for symbol per second, the formulation of these subchannel n in multicarrier communications [3] optimization problems are described below. Note as that the resulting bit allocation should be a positive integer. ⎛ H 2ε ⎞ ⎛ G ε ⎞ R = log ⎜1+ n n ⎟ = log ⎜1+ n n ⎟, (3) n 2⎜⎝ 2Γnσn2 ⎟⎠ 2⎜⎝ Γn ⎟⎠ Bit Rate Maximization or Water-filling Problem N where Gn = 2Hσn22 . If Tsym is the OFDM symbol Maximize ∑Rn(εn)= RTotal (5) n n=1 duration, the data rate of OFDM over all N Subject to ∑ε ≤ E and R ⊂ Z+(6) subchannels is R = 1T ∑nN=1Rn . By n=1 n Total n sym Energy Minimization Problem rearranging Equation 3 the energy function can be N written as a function of bits per subcarrier as Minimize ∑ε (R ) = E (7) n n Total n=1 2Γσ2 ( ) Γ ( ) ε = n n 2Rn −1 = n 2Rn −1 (4) N n H 2 G Subject to ∑R = B and R ⊂ Z+ (8) n n n n n=1 2.3 Campello’s Algorithm The solution to either one of the above Campello suggests that the water-filling formulations can be found by forming a problem can be formulated in two ways from the 4 Lagrangian equation and taking the partial derivative with respect to the multiple constraint variables, i.e. ε for bit rate maximization and R n n for energy minimization [3]. For instance, the Lagrangian equation for bit-rate maximization is N ⎛ Gε ⎞ ⎛ N ⎞ J = ∑log ⎜1+ n n ⎟+λ⎜E −∑ε ⎟. (9) n=1 2⎜⎝ Γn ⎟⎠ ⎝ Total n=1 n⎠ (a) Assuming that the SNR gap is equal for every subchannel, the solution to the problem consists of a water-filling constant K. The subchannel energy allocation can be calculated using this constant and the SNR of the subchannel. The solution to the optimization in Equation 5 is 1 ⎛ N 1 ⎞ K = ⎜E +Γ∑ ⎟ (10) N ⎜ Total G ⎟ ⎝ n=1 n ⎠ (b) + ⎛ Γ ⎞ ε =⎜K − ⎟ , n =1,2,...,N (11) n ⎜ G ⎟ ⎝ ⎠ n where (x)+ = x if x > 0, otherwise (x)+ = 0. Any subchannel that has negative energy allocation will be turned off by the transmitter. Note that the amount of energy used is measured in joules = watts×seconds. (c) An example of the solution for energy minimization is shown in Figure 1 for OFDM with 64 subcarriers. Figure 1a represents the channel frequency response for a three equal-tap-gain channel model. Figure 1b represents the continuous bit loading result from the energy minimization algorithm in [3]. Figure 1c (d) represents the discretized bit loading result and Figure 1. Example of Energy Minimization Figure 1d represents the corresponding power Loading, (a) Channel Response, (b) Continuous allocation. In this example, the noise variance is Bit Allocation, (c) Discrete Bit Allocation, (d) assumed to be 1 for all subchannels. Power Allocation of Discrete Bit Allocation. 5 The dual formulations of water-filling solution output power during the transmitting and receiving can be applied at the physical layer to either state add additional energy consumption to that of maximize the data rate or minimize the energy on the idle state [11]. In the literature three separately each frame transmission. These two alternatives energy preservation approaches are suggested at are investigated in the next section for their impact different layers for ad hoc wireless networks [12]. on the energy consumption of an ad hoc wireless For instance, power saving protocols and power node. The question that this paper would like to control protocols are suggested at the MAC layer answer is how much of energy can be preserved and a maximum lifetime routing protocol is by employing adaptive OFDM on the physical suggested at the network layer. These approaches layer. Another question regarding the cross-layer only focus on the protocols at the medium access protocol design is how the channel information control layer and above. They try to minimize the gain from the loading algorithm will help improve energy consumption in different parts of ad hoc the energy preservation of ad hoc wireless systems by maximizing the idle state, minimizing network. the transmit power, and using routing knowledge 3. TECHNIQUES FOR REDUCING to extend the network lifetime. ENERGY IN AD HOC NETWORKS 3.1 Energy preservation at the MAC layer Due to the emergence of small mobile devices Power saving protocols and power control with limited battery capacity, energy-aware protocols are categorized as energy efficient protocols are key to the success of this technology. techniques at the MAC layer. The power saving It is suggested that the energy optimization should protocol puts most of the ad hoc nodes into sleep be done across all protocol layers in a cross-layer mode as often as possible. It is more suitable for approach [1]. Each cross-layer protocol stack networks with a centralized control that is needed should adapt its operations to the network load, the to maintain the connectivity of all adjacent nodes energy budget, and link characteristics. The that go into sleep mode. To implement this cooperation and exchange of necessary approach in a peer-to-peer ad hoc network will be information between layers must be allowed for quite complex due to the scheduling of the sleep any cross-layer protocol to adapt to global system time. It also limits the capacity of ad hoc networks constraints and characteristics. Energy on ad hoc because these nodes cannot forward frames during wireless devices is consumed differently during their sleeping period. It is a tradeoff between the transmitting state, the receiving state, and the network capacity and energy preservation [13]. idle state. It has been shown from early There is also significant cost of changing the node measurement results that the power used during state from sleep to idle and vice versa that may the idle state of a mobile node dominates the outweigh the power saving technique [14]. On the overall (total) energy consumption, while the other hand, power control protocols reduce the 6 transmit power to levels that can just maintain the temporal fluctuations of the channel in frequency connectivity between adjacent ad hoc nodes. This selective fading media. The service requested by approach can minimize the energy consumption the MAC layer can be supported by this smarter due to transmission and additionally improve the physical layer equipped with a bit loading network capacity by minimizing the interference algorithm. between transmissions [13]. In our work, using adaptive OFDM, an extra 3.2 Energy preservation at the routing layer channel capacity is gained during a short period Instead of focusing on power consumption at when the channel is considered good for each mobile node, an energy conserving routing transmission. During this time, the physical layer approach tries to create energy aware routing can transmit a MAC frame faster using the same mechanisms for ad hoc wireless networks. For transmit power level as it could without adaptive example, in the maximum lifetime routing OFDM. This benefit can be converted into the protocol, a selection is made from different routing saving of energy consumed for transmission. The metrics such as minimum energy routing, max- loading algorithm based on bit rate maximization min routing, and minimum cost routing to preserve [3] is selected as our choice of study. The idea the energy in forwarding packets [12]. The ad hoc here is to push as many bits across the channel as network routing protocol should consider both the possible while the transmitter has the opportunity cost of transmitting each packet and the residual to do so thereby reducing the channel holding time energy of nodes that will be used to further on average. We assume that advances in digital forward packets. All three approaches discussed so signal processing techniques allow the radio far focus mainly on specific layer of the protocol channel to be estimated fast enough in a slowly stack and do not consider any cooperation between changing wireless environment. the techniques [12]. To solve the problem of channel state 3.3 Adaptive vs. Non-adaptive OFDM information at the transmitter, we add extra information in the MAC header of the IEEE This paper suggests an adaptive protocol layer 802.11 protocol within the request-to-send (RTS) that fits into cross-layer design criteria at the and clear-to-send (CTS) packets and the details are physical layer with a primitive cooperation discussed in the next section. Since the maximum between the physical layer and MAC layer. A allowable data rate in fading channels can be potential stronger cooperation is possible with the higher or lower than the MAC layer’s minimum bit rate and power budget parameters as the request rate, the MAC protocol in this paper information exchanged between the physical and decides on allowing the communication over the MAC layer. Given that the radio channel link by choosing to reply or not reply with a CTS characteristics can be estimated at the receiver, an frame. By this, the MAC layer avoids a longer adaptive OFDM physical layer can exploit the 7 transmit time with smaller data rate that could The Rayleigh multipath fading is modeled consume more energy. with three tap gains according to the JTC indoor 4. SIMULATION AND RESULTS office areas Channel A, although this not strictly The performance of an ad hoc wireless for a 5 GHz frequency band [18]. The tap network using adaptive OFDM is evaluated with parameters are shown in Table 1. Each tap is a the QualNet packet level simulator. Below we random process generated before the actual describe the parameters and scenario used in our simulation using Jakes’ method [19]. During the simulations at various layers of the protocol stack. simulation, a set of tap gains is randomly selected 4.1 Radio channel model from a pool to simulate the Rayleigh fading between each pair of nodes. A two-ray path loss model is assumed with a shadow fading sigma of 12 dB which is suitable Table 2. JTC Indoor Office Areas Channel A for indoor environments [16]. The thermal noise Tap Relative Delay Average Power No. (nsec) (dB) floor is calculated from the Boltzmann constant k 1 0 0 = 1.379×10-23 W/(Hz⋅K°) at T = 290 K°, noise 2 50 -3.6 3 100 -7.2 factor F = 10, and an effective noise bandwidth in BW Hz using the following equation W = The maximum Doppler shift frequency of the F⋅k⋅T⋅BW = BW⋅3.9991×10-20 Watt. model is set to f = 30 Hz for slow time-varying d The simulator has a radio model with capture channels which corresponds to the maximum capability that can receive the strong radio signal mobile speed of v = 1.73 m/s at f = 5.2 GHz. Each c among interferering signals [17]. Packet error is OFDM symbol has symbol duration T = 4 µsec. sym based on the SNR threshold – i.e., a packet is Assuming a maximum data frame length of 4096 assumed to be in error if the SNR is below a bytes and each OFDM symbol can support 24 un- threshold of 10 dB above the noise level. The coded bits, the frame duration is approximately physical and MAC parameters follow the IEEE T = (4096×8×4µsec)/(24) ≈ 5.461 msec. The frame 802.11a specifications [9] and are summarized in normalized maximum Doppler rate is f ×T ≈ d frame Table 1. However, the rate fall back feature is not 0.1638 which is close to the reasonable values for used. the rate adaptive physical layer system in [20]. Table 1. IEEE 802.11a Specifications 4.2 Physical layer model Physical Layer A continuous bit loading algorithm based on Center Frequency 5.2 GHz Campello’s bit rate maximization algorithm [3] is Channel Bandwidth 20 MHz Minimum Data Rate 6 Mbps implemented in the simulation for both transmitter Receiver Threshold -82 dBm Antenna height 1.5 m and receiver. It is possible to find the maximum number of bits per OFDM symbol. The digital 8 modulation scheme on each subchannel is transmission duration, which depends on the assumed to scale the constellation from 1 bit to instantaneous data rate and frame size for a given higher bits per symbol using BPSK and M-QAM transmit power. The transmit energy is calculated modulations. The SNR gap is assumed to be 8.8 by multiplying the transmit power consumption of dB for un-coded QAM bits with error rate P of 1412 mW by the duration of the frame. The energy e 10-6 as given in [7]. The resulting bit rate is based consumption rates for both transmit, receive, and on a continuous bit distribution and needs to be idle states are assumed to be constant over time. discretized by rounding down to the nearest 4.3 MAC layer model integer. Campello [3] suggests an Energy Tighten The IEEE 802.11 MAC layer is based on Algorithm to reallocate the left-over energy from Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision the rounding bit to guarantee an optimal solution. Avoidance (CSMA/CA). The simulation operates Assuming the loading calculation can be done in only in the distributed coordination function real time due to the small number of bits and (DCF) mode. It also has the request-to-send (RTS) subcarriers (as discussed previously) we ignore the and clear-to-send (CTS) control signaling to avoid energy spent on this calculation as not significant. the hidden terminal problem and to carry extra The bit loading can only be done on a data frame information for channel estimation procedures as since the transmitter can gain the channel in [20]. The overhead information is the SNR level information only after the CTS frame has arrived. and channel impulse response estimated at the Therefore, all signaling (control) frames – the RTS receiver. Figure 2 illustrates an adaptive OFDM and CTS are not adaptive. Due to the multiple transmission procedure. receiver possibility, the MAC broadcast frames are RTS Channel also non-adaptive. Both control and broadcast tim T R BEistt iLmoaatdioinng a fnodr e MAC’s decision frames are sent at a rate of 6 Mbps. CTS w/ CSI The power consumption is based on the Channel T R is good. Perform estimated values given in Agere’s product Bit Loading specification 2003 [21]. The estimated active Adaptive DATA T R receive and transmit power consumption of an 802.11a standard device is given as 951 mW and ACK 1412 mW respectively. The idle state power T R consumption is assumed to be equal to power Figure 2: Procedure of DATA frame transmission consumption in receive mode although this is an over-estimate. We use per packet energy The network allocation vector (NAV) duration consumption in this paper. The energy consumed for each data frame is calculated from the smallest by each frame is linearly dependent on its data rate of 6 Mbps. We do not vary it according 9 to the variable duration of the adaptive OFDM adaptive OFDM when the received SNR is frame. This causes a longer waiting time due to the changed due to the distance. The simulation NAV in neighboring nodes, but it does not cause duration is 120 sec. Each experiment has 10 any problems to the transmission. The data frame repetitions and we calculate the 95% confidence duration will be guaranteed to have at least 6 interval of the mean value of the energy Mbps of bandwidth in our modification to the consumed. We assume that nodes in the network MAC protocol in the case of adaptive OFDM. We always have packets for transmission. Each node note that this study does not attempt to maximize has a constant bit rate (CBR) packet generator capacity, but only evaluate the energy savings which generates a 2020-byte packet every 90 msec from adaptive OFDM. or a data rate of 179.556 kbps. The traffic is only 4.4 Network layer model one hop from the origin node and only 4 CBR The network layer is the internet protocol (IP) streams from node 1 to node 2, node 2 to node 3, and the transport layer is UDP. The routing node 3 to node 4, and node 4 to node 1 are present. protocol is ad hoc on demand distance vector Each node cannot transmit and receive at the same (AODV) in unicast mode [22]. This protocol time. discovers a route whenever there is a request by 4.6 Results issuing a Route Request (RREQ) message. The The simulation results of the average transmit routing table on each node is filled by both RREQ energy consumed per node is shown in Figure 3. message and the reply information on the unicast hr 95% Upper C. I. 95% Lower C. I. Mean W Route Reply (RREP) message from the n m 3.5 neighboring nodes. The old route in the table is on i 3 pti eliminated based on the sequence number and its um 2.5 s n activity. In this study, we do not modify this ergy coer node1.52 np protocol to learn of the change from the physical mit e 1 s layer. The routing protocol parameters are set an 0.5 ge tr 0 4ac.5co Nrdeitnwg otor kth teo vpaoluloesg yin [22]. Avera a-25m n-25m a-50m n-50m a-100m n-100m a-150m n-150m a-200m n-200m Four ad hoc nodes are placed in a simple Figure 3. Comparison of transmit energy consumption rectangular topology. The nodes are assumed to be stationary which is the case for most indoor Here adaptive and non-adaptive nodes in each operations of today. The distance between two experiment are denoted with letter a and n closest nodes is varied from 25 meters to 200 following by the distance, respectively. At each meters. The simulation study compares the energy distance point, the adaptive OFDM physical layer reduction achieved by adaptive OFDM over non- consumes less energy. This is because on average 10