Chapter 5 : MULTI - HOP WIRELESS NETWORKS

In cellular and wireless local area networks, wireless communication only occurs on the last link between a base station and the wireless end system. In multi-hop wireless networks there are one or more intermediate nodes along the path that receive and forward packets via wireless links. Multi-hop wireless networks have several benefits: Compared to networks with single wireless links, multi-hop wireless networks can extend the coverage of a network and improve connectivity. Moreover, transmission over multiple " short " links might require less transmission power and energy than over " long " links. Moreover, they enable higher data rates resulting in higher throughput and more efficient use of the wireless medium. Multi-hop wireless networks avoid wide deployment of cables and can be deployed in a cost-efficient way. In case of dense multi-hop networks several paths might become available that can be used to increase robustness of the network. Unfortunately, protocols developed for fixed or cellular networks as well as the Internet are not optimal for multi-hop wireless networks. This is in particular the case for routing protocols, where completely new unicast, multicast, and broadcast routing protocols have been developed for (mobile) ad-hoc and sensor networks.