Fault Adaptive Routing in Metasurface Controller Networks

TL;DR

This paper explores fault-tolerant routing strategies for controller networks in reconfigurable metasurfaces, addressing unique irregular topologies and asynchronous operation to ensure reliable wireless communication.

Contribution

It introduces two novel XY-based fault-tolerant routing approaches tailored for irregular, asynchronous controller networks in metasurface technology.

Findings

Both routing approaches improve data delivery reliability.

Simulations show effectiveness of proposed methods.

Approaches handle network faults effectively.

Abstract

HyperSurfaces are a merge of structurally reconfigurable metasurfaces whose electromagnetic properties can be changed via a software interface, using an embedded miniaturized network of controllers, thus enabling novel capabilities in wireless communications. Resource constraints associated with the development of a hardware testbed of this breakthrough technology necessitate network controller architectures different from traditional regular Network-on-Chip architectures. The Manhattan-like topology chosen to realize the controller network in the testbed under development is irregular, with restricted local path selection options, operating in an asynchronous fashion. These characteristics render traditional fault-tolerant routing mechanisms inadequate. In this paper, we present work in progress towards the development of fault-tolerant routing mechanisms for the chosen architecture. We present two XY-based approaches which have been developed aiming to offer reliable data delivery in the presence of faults. The first approach aims to avoid loops while the second one attempts to maximize the success delivery probabilities. Their effectiveness is demonstrated via simulations conducted on a custom developed simulator.