Rayleigh fading networks: A cross-layer way

This paper addresses Rayleigh fading networks, and in particular, wireless ad-hoc and sensor networks over Rayleigh fading channels. First, we will model Rayleigh fading networks and show how to map the wireless fading channel to the upper layer parameters for cross-layer design. Based on the developed fading network model, we will consider two scarce resources of wireless networks, namely energy and medium, and develop a cross-layer way to improve their efficiency. In particular, we will first study the energy-efficiency and introduce a new parameter, Energy Cost Factor, as the counterpart of Transport Capacity in wireless transmission. The new parameter will be used to design energy-efficient networks. As to the medium resource, we will bring forward the Medium Resource Space, which not only organizes various medium resources in a systematic way but also considers a third dimension related to space reuse and internode interference. Finally, we will give a general discussion on the cross-layer design and show how power control and route selection jointly contribute to improving the resource efficiency. A few particular routing algorithms will also be studied in detail.