PONE-D-23-25280A Novel and Effective Method for solving the Router Nodes Placement in Wireless Mesh Networks using Reinforcement LearningPLOS ONE

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Comments to the Author

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The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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2. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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3. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available?

The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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4. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?

PLOS ONE does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here.

Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: Yes

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5. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #1: After a careful reading of the manuscript, some of my concerns are listed below:

1. Usage of English should be improved. Especially in the abstract and Introduction section, the authors should provide more details on the motivation behind the work.

2. Figures should be included in the main text. Further, the quality of figure is not good. High defination images should be used.

3. The author should justify in the introduction section that how the proposed work is unique and superior than the following literature:

[a] Ren, Haoxing, and Matthew Fojtik. "Nvcell: Standard cell layout in advanced technology nodes with reinforcement learning." In 2021 58th ACM/IEEE Design Automation Conference (DAC), pp. 1291-1294. IEEE, 2021.

[b] Sharma, Anamika, and Siddhartha Chauhan. "A distributed reinforcement learning based sensor node scheduling algorithm for coverage and connectivity maintenance in wireless sensor network." Wireless Networks 26, no. 6 (2020): 4411-4429.

[c] Ouamri, Mohamed Amine, Gordana Barb, Daljeet Singh, and Florin Alexa. "Load balancing optimization in software-defined wide area networking (SD-WAN) using deep reinforcement learning." In 2022 International Symposium on Electronics and Telecommunications (ISETC), pp. 1-6. IEEE, 2022.

[d] Taleb, Sylia Mekhmoukh, Yassine Meraihi, Seyedali Mirjalili, Dalila Acheli, Amar Ramdane-Cherif, and Asma Benmessaoud Gabis. "Mesh Router Nodes Placement for Wireless Mesh Networks Based on an Enhanced Moth–Flame Optimization Algorithm." Mobile Networks and Applications (2023): 1-24.

[e] Ouamri, Mohamed Amine, Mohamed Azni, Daljeet Singh, Waleed Almughalles, and Mohammed Saleh Ali Muthanna. "Request delay and survivability optimization for software defined‐wide area networking (SD‐WAN) using multi‐agent deep reinforcement learning." Transactions on Emerging Telecommunications Technologies (2023): e4776.

4. Required citation to the literature should be given for mathematical expressions in the paper. For example, for Connected router ratio and Connected client ratio.

5. A comparison of computational complexity should be presented to fully justify the proposed algorithm.

Reviewer #2: The paper discusses the challenge of Router Node Placement (RNP) in wireless mesh networks, a known NP-hard problem. Traditional algorithms cannot efficiently solve this problem, so the paper introduces a novel approach using reinforcement learning. They model RNP as a reinforcement learning problem with network components representing the environment, routers, coordinate adjustment, and connectivity. This study is the first to apply reinforcement learning to RNP. Experimental results demonstrate that their method surpasses recent methods in terms of network coverage and connectivity.

1. Although the authors have discussed some essential background, I still do not well catch the main novelty directly. The challenges, methodology, and improvements need to be better clarified, both from research and application aspects, in the Introduction section.

2. The novelty of this paper needs to be highlighted.

3. The motivation to the problem need to be discussed in the abstract. Why authors are considering RL instead of Approximation or Heuristics.

4. Figures should keep in suitable location.

5. There are typos, grammatical errors, punctuation errors and other mistakes. Some sentences are not clear.

For example:

"In addition, there is at least one the router of the internet"

6. What protocol is used to communicate when two routers are within the range of each other.

7. Authors have to clarify whether they are comparing the proposed algorithm with the approximation algorithms or Heuristic algorithms.

8. GA, PSO and WoA are not approximation algorithms.

9. The authors have to consider the dynamic algorithms instead of static algorithms

10. The proposed algorithm is RL type, it is suggested that the proposed algorithm need to be compared with the RL algorithms only instead of comparing it with heuristic algorithms.

11. Perform the comparative analysis with the latest works based on RL related placement problems.

A) "Deep reinforcement learning mechanism for deadline-aware cache placement in device-to-device mobile edge networks." Wireless Networks (2022): 1-20.

B) "Mesh Router Nodes Placement for Wireless Mesh Networks Based on an Enhanced Moth–Flame Optimization Algorithm." Mobile Networks and Applications, 1-24.

C) "An efficient mesh router nodes placement in wireless mesh networks based on moth‐flame optimization algorithm". International Journal of Communication Systems, 36(8), e5468.

12. I suggest the authors include a subsection to show the complexity (Complexity of the proposed scheme), convergence, and optimality.

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Reviewer #1: Yes: Daljeet Singh

Reviewer #2: No

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PONE-D-23-25280R1A Novel and Effective Method for solving the Router Nodes Placement in Wireless Mesh Networks using Reinforcement LearningPLOS ONE

Dear Dr. T. Duong,

Thank you for submitting your manuscript to PLOS ONE. After careful consideration, we feel that it has merit but does not fully meet PLOS ONE’s publication criteria as it currently stands. Therefore, we invite you to submit a revised version of the manuscript that addresses the points raised during the review process. Please submit your revised manuscript by Mar 04 2024 11:59PM. If you will need more time than this to complete your revisions, please reply to this message or contact the journal office at plosone@plos.org. When you're ready to submit your revision, log on to https://www.editorialmanager.com/pone/ and select the 'Submissions Needing Revision' folder to locate your manuscript file.

Please include the following items when submitting your revised manuscript:

• A rebuttal letter that responds to each point raised by the academic editor and reviewer(s). You should upload this letter as a separate file labeled 'Response to Reviewers'.
• A marked-up copy of your manuscript that highlights changes made to the original version. You should upload this as a separate file labeled 'Revised Manuscript with Track Changes'.
• An unmarked version of your revised paper without tracked changes. You should upload this as a separate file labeled 'Manuscript'.

If you would like to make changes to your financial disclosure, please include your updated statement in your cover letter. Guidelines for resubmitting your figure files are available below the reviewer comments at the end of this letter.

If applicable, we recommend that you deposit your laboratory protocols in protocols.io to enhance the reproducibility of your results. Protocols.io assigns your protocol its own identifier (DOI) so that it can be cited independently in the future. For instructions see: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/s/submission-guidelines#loc-laboratory-protocols. Additionally, PLOS ONE offers an option for publishing peer-reviewed Lab Protocol articles, which describe protocols hosted on protocols.io. Read more information on sharing protocols at https://plos.org/protocols?utm_medium=editorial-emailutm_source=authorlettersutm_campaign=protocols.

We look forward to receiving your revised manuscript.

Kind regards,

Mohammed Balfaqih

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Journal Requirements:

Please review your reference list to ensure that it is complete and correct. If you have cited papers that have been retracted, please include the rationale for doing so in the manuscript text, or remove these references and replace them with relevant current references. Any changes to the reference list should be mentioned in the rebuttal letter that accompanies your revised manuscript. If you need to cite a retracted article, indicate the article’s retracted status in the References list and also include a citation and full reference for the retraction notice.

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Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

1. If the authors have adequately addressed your comments raised in a previous round of review and you feel that this manuscript is now acceptable for publication, you may indicate that here to bypass the “Comments to the Author” section, enter your conflict of interest statement in the “Confidential to Editor” section, and submit your "Accept" recommendation.

Reviewer #2: All comments have been addressed

Reviewer #3: All comments have been addressed

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2. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented.

Reviewer #2: Yes

Reviewer #3: No

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3. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #2: Yes

Reviewer #3: I Don't Know

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4. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available?

The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified.

Reviewer #2: No

Reviewer #3: No

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5. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?

PLOS ONE does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here.

Reviewer #2: Yes

Reviewer #3: No

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6. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #2: All of my concerns have been addressed. I congratulate the authors and All the best.

I recommend this work for possible publication. (Accepted)

The summer of the manuscript is:

The paper discusses the challenge of Router Node Placement (RNP) in wireless mesh networks, a known NP-hard problem. Traditional algorithms cannot efficiently solve this problem, so the paper introduces a novel approach using reinforcement learning. They model RNP as a reinforcement learning problem with network components representing the environment, routers, coordinate adjustment, and connectivity. This study is the first to apply reinforcement learning to RNP. Experimental results demonstrate that their method surpasses recent methods in terms of network coverage and connectivity.

Reviewer #3: This paper presents a novel and effective method for solving the router nodes placement in wireless mesh networks using reinforcement learning.

1- The writing of paper should be improved seriously, equations should be cited and the content should be justify

2- Please add the improvement of your method results in the abstract numerically.

3- Please compare your paper with the state-of-the art papers:

a. RLS2: An energy efficient reinforcement learning-based sleep scheduling for energy harvesting WBANs, by R Mohammadi…

b. DRDC: Deep reinforcement learning based duty cycle for energy harvesting body sensor node, by by R Mohammadi…

4- you should use more approximation algorithms.

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If you choose “no”, your identity will remain anonymous but your review may still be made public.

Do you want your identity to be public for this peer review? For information about this choice, including consent withdrawal, please see our Privacy Policy.

Reviewer #2: No

Reviewer #3: No

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[NOTE: If reviewer comments were submitted as an attachment file, they will be attached to this email and accessible via the submission site. Please log into your account, locate the manuscript record, and check for the action link "View Attachments". If this link does not appear, there are no attachment files.]

While revising your submission, please upload your figure files to the Preflight Analysis and Conversion Engine (PACE) digital diagnostic tool, https://pacev2.apexcovantage.com/. PACE helps ensure that figures meet PLOS requirements. To use PACE, you must first register as a user. Registration is free. Then, login and navigate to the UPLOAD tab, where you will find detailed instructions on how to use the tool. If you encounter any issues or have any questions when using PACE, please email PLOS at figures@plos.org. Please note that Supporting Information files do not need this step.

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A Novel and Effective Method for solving the Router Nodes Placement in Wireless Mesh Networks using Reinforcement Learning

PONE-D-23-25280R2

Dear Dr. T. Duong,

We’re pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been judged scientifically suitable for publication and will be formally accepted for publication once it meets all outstanding technical requirements.

Within one week, you’ll receive an e-mail detailing the required amendments. When these have been addressed, you’ll receive a formal acceptance letter and your manuscript will be scheduled for publication.

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If your institution or institutions have a press office, please notify them about your upcoming paper to help maximize its impact. If they’ll be preparing press materials, please inform our press team as soon as possible -- no later than 48 hours after receiving the formal acceptance. Your manuscript will remain under strict press embargo until 2 pm Eastern Time on the date of publication. For more information, please contact onepress@plos.org.

Kind regards,

Mohammed Balfaqih

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Additional Editor Comments (optional):

Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

1. If the authors have adequately addressed your comments raised in a previous round of review and you feel that this manuscript is now acceptable for publication, you may indicate that here to bypass the “Comments to the Author” section, enter your conflict of interest statement in the “Confidential to Editor” section, and submit your "Accept" recommendation.

Reviewer #3: All comments have been addressed

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2. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented.

Reviewer #3: Yes

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3. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #3: Yes

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4. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available?

The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified.

Reviewer #3: Yes

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5. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?

PLOS ONE does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here.

Reviewer #3: Yes

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6. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #3: Dear Editor

All of comments are applied, Thanks, Please check grammar ones again ...............................................

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If you choose “no”, your identity will remain anonymous but your review may still be made public.

Do you want your identity to be public for this peer review? For information about this choice, including consent withdrawal, please see our Privacy Policy.

Reviewer #3: No

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