In this paper, we investigate the low coverage problem of efficient broadcast protocols in wireless ad hoc networks with realistic physical layer models. To minimize energy consumption, efficient protocols aim to select small set of forward nodes and minimum transmission radii. In ideal physical layer model, nodes within forward nodes' transmission ranges can definitely receive packets; therefore energy efficient protocols can guarantee full coverage for broadcasting. However in networks with a realistic physical layer, nodes can only receive packets with probability. We present an analytical model to show that the transmission radii used for nodes can be used to establish a tradeoff between minimizing energy consumption and ensuring network coverage. We then propose a mechanism called redundant radius, which involves using two transmission radii, to form a buffer zone that guarantees the availability of logical links in the physical network, one for broadcast tree calculation an...
Hui Xu, J. J. Garcia-Luna-Aceves