An architecture for power-saving communications in a wireless mobile ad hoc network based on location information

A mobile ad hoc network (MANET) is one consisting of a set of mobile hosts which can operate independently without infrastructure base stations. Power saving is a critical issue for MANET since most mobile hosts will be operated by battery power. In this paper, we propose an architecture for power-saving communications in an IEEE 802.11-based MANETs. Our solutions are derived by exploiting the location information of mobile hosts to achieve the goal of energy conservation. The architecture addresses the power-saving issue on several protocol layers, including network, medium access control (MAC), and physical layers. In comparison, existing protocols only exploit location information in limited layers. Similar to cellular networks, our approach is based on partitioning the network area into squares/hexagons called grids, thus leading to powerful energy and mobility management capabilities. A superframe architecture is proposed on the MAC part to support inter-grid and intra-grid communications. Simulation results are presented to demonstrate the strength of the proposed protocols. q 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.