about the instructors

There has been a growing interest in mobile and wireless computing in recent years. Typically, most of the nomadic computing applications today require single hop connectivity to the wired network. This is the traditional cellular network model which supports the current mobile computing needs by installing base stations and access points. In such network, communications between two mobile hosts completely rely on the wired backbone and the fixed base stations. However, at times, no wired backbone infrastructure may be available for use by mobile hosts. Also, there might be situations in which setting up of fixed access points is not a viable solution due to cost, convenience and performance considerations. In such situations, an ad-hoc network can be formed. An AD HOC network is a temporary network, operating without the aid of any established infrastructure of centralized administration. Such a network can be envisioned as a collection of routers, equipped with wireless transceiver, which are free to move about arbitrarily The basic assumption in an ad-hoc network is that, two nodes willing to communicate may be outside the wireless transmission range of each other but may be able to communicate in multiple hops, if other nodes in the network are willing to forward packets from them. Typical applications of ad-hoc networks are outdoor special events such as conferences, concerts and festivals; communications in regions with no infrastructure, in emergencies and natural disasters, and in military maneuvers. 

The dynamics of wireless ad hoc networks as a consequence of mobility and disconnection of mobile hosts pose a number of problems in designing proper routing schemes for effective communication between any source and destination. The conventional proactive routing protocols that require to know the topology of the entire network is not suitable in such a highly dynamic environment, since the topology update information needs to be propagated frequently throughout the network. On the other hand, a demand-based, reactive route discovery procedure generates large volume of control traffic and the actual data transmission is delayed until the route is determined. Thus, the dynamics of the network topology has thrown up multifarious issues, requiring a fresh look into the aspects of system design and networking protocols. In this tutorial, we will focus on the adaptive, multi-hop routing strategies suitable in such a dynamic environment and on the behavior of the ad hoc network as a whole in order to analyze trends in the inter-parameter dependencies, with the objective of addressing the network survivability issues. 

About the Instructors

Dr. Somprakash Bandyopadhyay 
PricewaterhouseCoopers Ltd., Calcutta, India 

Somprakash has more than 20 years of experience in teaching, research and software development in Tata Institute of Fundamental Research Bombay, Jadavpur University, Indian Institute of Technology, Indian Institute of Management and PricewaterhouseCoopers Ltd.. He has about 35 published papers in the journals and conference proceedings of international repute. He is a B Tech from Indian Institute of Technology and PhD from Jadavpur University. He is a fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Germany and was involved in post-doctoral research at the German Research Centre in Saarbrucken for a year in 1989-90. He has also been awarded UNDP Fellowship twice to work in the area of computer network at the University of Southern California, USA and in the area of industrial automation techniques in University of Iowa, USA. Currently, he is in charge of the Learning and Professional Development Group at PricewaterhouseCoopers Ltd, Calcutta since July, 1995. 

Ms. Krishna Paul
Cognizant Technology Solutions, Calcutta, India

Krishna has more than 7 years of experience in teaching, research and software development in the area of computer network and distributed systems in Indian Instatute of Technology, Techna Digital Systems and Cognizant Technology Solutions. She is a Master Of Computer Applications from Jadavpur University and submitted her PhD Thesis in the area of Mobile Ad hoc Wireless Network. She has about 10 published papers in the conference proceedings of international repute.