A beginner's guide to infrastructure-less networking concepts

Abstract

Infrastructure-less networks connect communication devices end-to-end by managing links and routes independent of fixed networking facilities, relying on dedicated protocols running on end-user devices. The large variety of infrastructure-less concepts and related aspects can be confusing both for beginning Ph.D. students as well as experienced researchers who wish to get an overview of neighbouring areas to their own research foci. Frequently discussed topics such as different types of sensor-, vehicular-, or opportunistic networks are covered. The authors describe different networking concepts by looking at aspects such as the main properties, common applications, and ongoing research. Furthermore, the concepts by common characteristics such as node mobility, network density, or power consumption are compared. The authors also discuss network performance evaluation by describing commonly used metrics, different evaluation techniques, and software tools for simulation-based evaluation. The references given in each section help obtain in-depth information about the presented topics and give hints about open research questions, which can be a starting point for own investigations.