On Multiflows in Random Unit-Disk Graphs, and the Capacity of Some Wireless Networks

We consider the capacity problem for wireless networks. Networks are modeled as random unit-disk graphs, and the capacity problem is formulated as one of finding the maximum value of a multicommodity flow. In this paper, we develop a proof technique based on which we are able to obtain a tight characterization of the solution to the linear program associated with the multiflow problem, to within constants independent of network size. We also use this proof method to analyze network capacity for a variety of transmitter/receiver architectures, for which we obtain some conclusive results. These results contain as a special case (and strengthen) those of Gupta and Kumar for random networks, for which a new derivation is provided using only elementary counting and discrete probability tools.