An Optimized Version of Coordination Algorithm for Topology Maintenance in Ad Hoc Wireless Networks

This study presents a power saving technique for multi-hop ad hoc wireless networks that reduces energy consumption without significantly diminishing the capacity or connectivity of the network. It builds on the observation that when a region of a shared-channel wireless network has a sufficient density of nodes, only a small number of them need be on at any time to forward traffic for active connections. The technique used is a distributed, randomized algorithm where nodes make local decisions on whether to sleep, or to join a forwarding backbone as a coordinator. Each node bases its decision on an estimate of how many of its neighbors will benefit from it being awake and the amount of energy available to it. We give a randomized algorithm wherein coordinators rotate with time, demonstrating how localized node decisions lead to a connected, capacity-preserving global topology.