GS: Scalable Self-configuration and Self-healing in Wireless Networks*

We present GS, a distributed, scalable, self-configuration and self-healing algorithm for multi-hop wireless networks. The algorithm enables network nodes in a 2D plane to configure themselves into a cellular hexagonal structure such that cells have tightly bounded geographic radius and low overlap between neighboring cells. The structure is self-healing under various perturbations, such as node joins, leaves, deaths, movements, and state corruptions. For instance, it slides as a whole if nodes in many cells die at the same rate. Moreover, its configuration and healing are scalable in three respects: first, local knowledge enables each node to maintain only limited information with respect to a constant number of nearby nodes; second, local healing guarantees that all perturbations are contained within a tightly bounded region with respect to the perturbed area and dealt with in a one-way message diffusion time across the region; third, only local coordination is needed in both configuration and self-healing.