A new distributed topology control algorithm for wireless environments with non-uniform path loss and multipath propagation

Each node in a wireless multi-hop network can adjust the power level at which it transmits and thus change the topology of the network to save energy by choosing the neighbors with which it directly communicates. Many previous algorithms for distributed topology control have assumed an ability at each node to deduce some location-based information such as the direction and the distance of its neighbor nodes with respect to itself. Such a deduction of location-based information, however, cannot be relied upon in real environments where the path loss exponents vary greatly leading to significant errors in distance estimates. Also, multipath effects may result in different signal paths with different loss characteristics, and none of these paths may be line-of-sight, making it difficult to estimate the direction of a neighboring node. In this paper, we present Step Topology Control (STC), a simple distributed topology control algorithm which reduces energy consumption while preserving th...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2010
• Where: ADHOC
• Authors: Harish Sethu, Thomas Gerety
• Keywords: ADHOC 2010, Algorithms, Database, Location-based Information, Topology Control