Through our research in wireless communication, we present a novel neighbor discovery method for a wireless ad hoc network network where each node is equipped with a Free-Space-Optical (FSO) transceivers capable of electronic beam switching. Directional neighbor discovery can be very challenging due to the requirement of strict line-of-sight (LOS) alignment and can result in long and impractical discovery time if the nodes in the network do not have prior information about each other’s location. We propose a novel method where a low bit long-range (LoRa) rate omnidirectional communication channel aids in coordinating the neighbor discovery process to synchronize and establish directional FSO links among the nodes. Our method guarantees that a node can discover all of its neighbors within one 360◦ FSO beam sweep. We also present a preliminary prototype of a FSO transceiver module capable of electronic beam steering. Through extensive simulations, we demonstrate that, for a divergence angle of 30o, the proposed method achieves a reduction of 98.38% and 95.68% when compared to the state-of-the-art random-based protocol and state-of-the-art protocol, respectively. Our research project has allowed us to gain hands-on experience in developing wireless transceivers, writing code for embedded systems, computer networking, and distributed algorithms. The project helped us get accustomed to research methodologies.
Authors: Jessica Vazquez-Estrada, Yichen Qian, Suman Bhunia, Mahmudur Khan, Nero Tran
Advisor: Suman Bhunia, Computer Science and Software Engineering
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