Selforganizing Control of Structure and Dynamics in Wireless Ad Hoc Networks

Dr. Martin Greiner

Wireless multihop ad hoc communication networks represent an infrastructure-less peer-to-peer generalization of todays cellular networks. Since a central control authority is missing, the complex network has to selforganize itself for various operating tasks. Key is the design of simple, yet robust distributive control rules, which allow the overall network to perform well. Concepts from Theoretical Physics, in particular the Statistical Physics of complex networks, help to find such solutions. The first example addresses the connectivity issue, where a selforganizing rule based on continuum percolation is presented and shown to lead to strong network connectivity almost surely. Some emphasis is also given to the interference problem and mobility. In the second example and guided by a generic packet-traffic analysis, first a phenomenological description of the end-to-end throughput capacity for fixed network structures is developed and then further steps towards a selforganizing rule for obtaining throughput-optimized network structures are sketched. As a spinoff of this system analysis, a new routing metric is proposed, which significantly increases the throughput capacity. A selforganized routing and congestion control for the communication traffic is the topic of the third example. The fourth example is on network-design game theory, which allows for a distributive control of network topology. Needless to say, at the end several commercial applications are sketched.