| In planning for the deployment of ad hoc wireless networks, such as sensor networks and mesh networks, a network designer is typically given certain requirements such as the coverage area, a budget which translates into a certain number of nodes, network lifetime, and other application requirements (such as delay), to deploy these devices. Given such requirements, a network designer may have the freedom of selecting the following design parameters: (1) the transmit power; (2) the network topology; (3) the routing scheme These are, amongst others, three fundamental design choices that a network designer has to consider before deploying the network.;Each of these design choices has a significant impact on the network performance. The transmit power directly affects the amount of interference, the network connectivity, and the network's lifetime. Using an insufficient amount of transmit power can make the network disconnected. While transmitting at a very high power can make the network connected, it can also increase the amount of interference and decrease the network's lifetime. Thus, determining the right amount of power to use is crucial. Similarly, the network topology also impacts the connectivity and the amount of interference. Arranging nodes in a certain topology may help improve the network performance. Finally, the network throughput and delay largely depend on the choice of routing schemes. The type of routing schemes must be' chosen subject to the throughput and delay requirements dictated by the applications.;The main objective of this dissertation is to help the network designer make a proper decision on each of these fundamental design issues. For the choice of transmit power, we show how to properly determine the minimum transmit power required for network connectivity while taking quality of multi-hop routes into consideration. For the choice of topologies, we show that the network topology becomes significant only when the medium access control protocol employed is effective in mitigating the interference. Finally, for the choice of switching (routing) schemes, we show that the reservation-based switching scheme can outperform the non-reservation-based switching scheme in terms of delay while the non-reservation-based switching scheme can achieve higher throughput. |
