Lifetime-extended, power-aware, non-position based localized routing in hybrid ad-hoc/infrastructure network

This thesis presents a localized routing protocol for both hybrid ad-hoc/infrastructure networks and conventional ad-hoc networks. The work is focused on small ad-hoc networks, or small clusters of terminals falling between gateways. The purpose of the proposed strategy is to extend the lifetime of the network. The main idea of the proposed strategy is to restrict the size of the neighborhood by controlling the transmitted power. When mobile terminals refrain from searching for routes and transmitting packets with full power, the overall interference in the network would be less and the total required power will also be small. The work presented in this thesis illustrates that, there is a benefit of controlling the power and reducing the neighborhood of terminals. The thesis shows that, the lifetime of small ad-hoc networks (either on their own or as a hybrid ad-hoc/infra-structure network) can be extended by choosing the right size of the neighborhood. The work illustrates that there is an optimal neighborhood size which is a function of the terminal density as well as the density of the gateways.;Several performance cost metrics are proposed considering node's transmission power and/or remaining battery capacity. To balance the impact of node's transmission power and remaining battery capacity on the route selection, normalized cost metrics are introduced to normalize contribution parts.;Comparing the performance of the proposed strategy with that of more classical approaches such as the minimum energy protocol, we illustrate by simulation that the proposed strategy discovers the optimal (i.e. minimum energy) route with high probability without flooding the network. We did not evaluate the impact of reduced interference on the protocol performance; however, it is self evident that controlling the transmitted power and restricting the terminal neighborhood would have benefits in terms of total network throughput and extending the lifetime of the network.