Bridging Nodes Density: A Connection Stability Heuristic for Dynamic Ad-Hoc Networks

Wireless ad-hoc networks are commonly supposed to be a key technology for future ubiquitous computing environments. The dynamic nature of such networks demands mechanisms that allow the users to assess the availability of given network connections. In this paper we present a novel connection stability heuristic based on neighborhood information of intermediary network nodes. This heuristic identifies nodes that are able to bridge broken network links and thus improve connection stability. Extensive simulation experiments are presented that show the applicability of the heuristic, even though it does not require any special hardware equipment or exact signal strength measurements. Moreover, it imposes only negligible additional effort for the nodes and for the network.