Transmission coordination for ad hoc networks

Abstract

AHNs are wireless networks operating without the benefits of network infrastructure (basestations) or centralized control. AHNs working with limited spectrum perform best when simultaneous transmissions are coordinated to avoid collisions. Optimal transmission coordination is a combinatorial optimization problem that is, in general, intractable for large size networks, even with global information and central control. Constraints on simultaneous transmissions may arise from both transceiver limitations (e.g., half-duplex designs) and from requirements on the signal to interference ratio. We study the transmission coordination optimization problem under a variety of natural communication constraints. Our work identifies particular instances where the problem may be solved by greedy algorithms, and studies the performance of several natural heuristic solutions.