The objective of the workpackage is to design a set of algorithms spanning from the physical to the transport layer, aimed at increasing the system efficiency in terms of energy savings and application performance. The proposed solution will be based on a cross-layer approach, where the schemes working at different layers of the protocol stack will be sharing common information in order to drive the system towards globally optimal solutions. In particular, this efficiency refers to system-wide aspects and is not just meant to improve the quality of a single radio link. With these objectives in mind, the first optimisation will be performed on RF hardware. Design methodologies for greatly reducing the energy efficiency of air interfaces will be studied and validated. Novel RF sensing techniques will be studied to, e.g., localise and estimate the distances of devices. These novel physical layer algorithms will enable the devices to access topology related information that, in turn, will be exploited by any other layer of the protocol stack according to a cross-layer philosophy. That is, MAC, physical, transport and routing solutions, will be considered in a coordinated fashion with the aim of creating a re-configurable solution (depending on application requirements) and aimed at increasing system efficiency through topology awareness (RF sensing), cross-layer design and cooperation among nodes. Cross-layer optimisation and design will be achieved using analytical techniques, simulations as well as hardware validation.
