Simple and efficient protocols for guaranteed message delivery in wireless ad-hoc networks

The paper presents several new protocol classes for mobile wireless ad-hoc networks that rely on specific mobility patterns of router nodes in order to guarantee tight upper bounds on communication delays. We introduce a generic formal model of a heterogeneous network in which regular nodes exchange messages through a subnetwork of dedicated router nodes, and use it to identify desirable properties of router mobility patterns. In particular, the analysis focusses on protocols that periodically cover ('sweep') the entire communication zone. We define specific classes of sweep protocols and prove the upper bounds on router contact delays and on end-to-end message delivery times that they guarantee to stationary or mobile populations of regular nodes. The results of simulation experiments show that a translatory chain sweep protocol outperforms the runners protocol with respect to end-to-end message delivery times for both stationary and mobile regular nodes.