Title: Practical and self-configurable multihop wireless infrastructure: a functional perspective

Authors: Muhammad Hamad Alizai

Addresses: Department of Computer Science, LUMS SBASSE, 54792 Lahore, Pakistan

Abstract: Multihop wireless networks require self-configurable and reliable communication infrastructure that can quickly adapt itself to the rapidly changing network conditions without manual reconfiguration. The key to developing such a communication infrastructure requires (i) efficient link estimation mechanisms, (ii) reliable routing algorithms, and (iii) stable addressing schemes. In the past decade, a number of practical solutions have been developed for these three main components of multihop wireless infrastructure in inherently similar mesh networks, sensor networks, and MANETs. However, we lack a comprehensive review that classifies these solutions and compares them on the basis of a set of properties desired in wireless networks. In this review, we classify different techniques implemented and evaluated by the research community, define a set of properties, and functionally compare representative techniques from each class.

Keywords: link estimation; routing protocols; wireless protocols; sensor networks; mesh networks; multihop wireless networks; self-configuration; addressing schemes; MANETs; mobile ad hoc networks.

DOI: 10.1504/IJAHUC.2017.082850

International Journal of Ad Hoc and Ubiquitous Computing, 2017 Vol.24 No.4, pp.252 - 270

Received: 28 Jul 2014
Accepted: 01 Dec 2014

Published online: 14 Mar 2017 *

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