Optimal Jammer Placement to Interdict Wireless Network Services; Master's thesis

摘要

The demand for wireless networks continues to grow as the need for portable, low-cost telecommunications systems increases around the world. Wireless networks are particularly complex because their topologies can change in response to operational requirements or environmental conditions and also because wireless networks are susceptible to electromagnetic interference. In this thesis, we consider the challenges associated with the operation and jamming of so-called wireless mesh networks. In a wireless mesh network, the communication devices (denoted here as a nodes) are uniform in their ability to send and receive transmissions. We formulate and solve two related optimization problems for wireless mesh networks. First, we solve the problem of the network operator, namely: In order to maximize the utility of delivered network traffic, how should one set the power transmission levels for each node, and along what sequence of transmission links should the traffic flow. The second problem we consider involves an intelligent adversary, the attacker, who wants to place jamming devices among a finite number of locations to disrupt the operator's traffic in the worst possible way. We formulate and solve mathematical programs to obtain the optimal operation and jamming of these networks. We develop a computational decision-support tool that affords the rapid reconfiguration and analysis of various deployment scenarios.