WinMee 2005 A Framework for the Management of Large-Scale Wireless Network Testbeds Krishna Ramachandran, Kevin C. Almeroth, Elizabeth Belding-Royer Dept of Computer Science, UC Santa Barbara

WinMee 2005 Growing Testbed Deployment Experimental research crucial in the design of robust wireless networking systems Experimental research crucial in the design of robust wireless networking systems Thus, wireless testbeds are being increasingly deployed Thus, wireless testbeds are being increasingly deployed Examples: MIT Roofnet, Great Duck Island, UCSB MeshNet, Orbit Examples: MIT Roofnet, Great Duck Island, UCSB MeshNet, Orbit

WinMee 2005 Testbed Management Maintaining Testbeds can be Extremely Labor-Intensive Maintaining Testbeds can be Extremely Labor-Intensive Nature of wireless medium makes management challenging Nature of wireless medium makes management challenging Bugs or design flaws can crash the entire network Bugs or design flaws can crash the entire network Best Current Practice? Best Current Practice? Manual intervention through maintenance of devices on-site Manual intervention through maintenance of devices on-site Labor-intensive Labor-intensive In-band management In-band management Prevents certain testbed changes Prevents certain testbed changes Ex: Switching frequency of a multi-hop wireless network testbed Ex: Switching frequency of a multi-hop wireless network testbed Node failure can leave entire network disconnected Node failure can leave entire network disconnected In-band management adds overhead to traffic in testbed In-band management adds overhead to traffic in testbed

WinMee 2005 Testbed Management Best Current Practice? (cont'd) Best Current Practice? (cont'd) Out-of-band management offers substantial relief Out-of-band management offers substantial relief Typically performed via wired backhaul network Typically performed via wired backhaul network Not always feasible! Not always feasible! Logistical/Bureaucratic issues (Ex: UCSB MeshNet) Logistical/Bureaucratic issues (Ex: UCSB MeshNet) Large or inhospitable testbed area (Ex: Rooftop Nets) Large or inhospitable testbed area (Ex: Rooftop Nets) Our solution: out-of-band management via a multi- hop wireless mesh network

WinMee 2005 Proposed Solution Wireless multi-hop mesh backhaul for out-of-band management Wireless multi-hop mesh backhaul for out-of-band management Maturing mesh networking technology provides stable backhaul Maturing mesh networking technology provides stable backhaul Cheap Cheap Easy to deploy Easy to deploy

WinMee 2005 Outline Motivation Motivation ATMA Framework ATMA Framework Self-Configuring Architecture Self-Configuring Architecture ATMA Management Tools ATMA Management Tools Implementation Overview Implementation Overview Conclusions Conclusions

WinMee 2005 ATMA Framework Enables out-of-band mgt of large-scale testbeds Enables out-of-band mgt of large-scale testbeds Distributed agent-manager architecture Distributed agent-manager architecture Self-configuring architecture Self-configuring architecture Extensions of basic framework for management of multi-hop wireless testbeds Extensions of basic framework for management of multi-hop wireless testbeds Proof-of-concept using Linksys WRT54G devices Proof-of-concept using Linksys WRT54G devices

WinMee 2005 Self-Configuring Architecture 1. Manager Beaconing Hop-by-hop propagation of mgr beacons throughout network Hop-by-hop propagation of mgr beacons throughout network Helps agents automatically discover the manager Helps agents automatically discover the manager Helps to resolve BSSID problem in mesh networks Helps to resolve BSSID problem in mesh networks 2. Agent Boot-Strapping Agent listen for beacons by scanning all channels Agent listen for beacons by scanning all channels Pick temporary IP address to communicate with manager Pick temporary IP address to communicate with manager 3. Agent Registration Agents register with manager Agents register with manager Manager issues appropriate instructions to agents Manager issues appropriate instructions to agents

WinMee 2005 ATMA Management Tools Testbed Configuration Tool Testbed Configuration Tool Agents configure testbed nodes as per instructions from manager Agents configure testbed nodes as per instructions from manager Interference Meter Interference Meter Listens for IEEE Management frames Listens for IEEE Management frames Count of unique MAC IDs gives estimate of interference level Count of unique MAC IDs gives estimate of interference level Network Monitoring Using DAMON Network Monitoring Using DAMON Generic monitoring tool for collection of topology data, data traffic statistics, routing protocol statistics Generic monitoring tool for collection of topology data, data traffic statistics, routing protocol statistics Topology Control Tool Topology Control Tool Creates virtual topologies without physically moving nodes Creates virtual topologies without physically moving nodes Uses selective dropping of packets to create virtual topology Uses selective dropping of packets to create virtual topology

WinMee 2005 Implementation Overview Proof-of-concept implemented using Linksys WRT54G wireless devices Proof-of-concept implemented using Linksys WRT54G wireless devices Low-cost solution Low-cost solution Uses OpenWRT open-src firmware ( Uses OpenWRT open-src firmware ( Uses multi-path version of AODV Uses multi-path version of AODV Reliability-based metric for route selection Reliability-based metric for route selection ATMA Management tools using Perl/C ATMA Management tools using Perl/C

WinMee 2005 Conclusions ATMA enables the out-of-band management of large- scale wireless testbeds ATMA enables the out-of-band management of large- scale wireless testbeds Self-configuring architecture enables quick and easy deployment of support mesh network Self-configuring architecture enables quick and easy deployment of support mesh network ATMA extensions for multi-hop wireless testbeds ATMA extensions for multi-hop wireless testbeds Proof-of-concept using cheap commodity devices Proof-of-concept using cheap commodity devices Plan to offer framework as free download in the future Plan to offer framework as free download in the future

WinMee 2005 Questions?