Mobile Ad Hoc Communication Networks: Capacity Analysis and Design

Known for their capability of being deployed 'on the fly', and resilience to dynamically 'heal' around failed network elements, wireless mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) are gaining widespread momentum both in the commercial and military sectors. The success of MANETs is however critically tied to the amount of network capacity available to transport a wide spectrum of applications that the MANETs are expected to transport. While capacity analysis in MANETs is in itself a challenging topic, the constraints imposed by realistic MANETs of the types envisioned in disaster areas and/or military environments complicates the analysis further. Our focus in this paper is to provide insights to the critical and challenging topic: MANET capacity analysis in networks with heterogeneous links and traffic demands. By employing formal analytic techniques, we develop a framework to assess information exchange feasibility with a focus on capacity (bandwidth) requirements. Additionally, we present a mobile ad hoc network capacity analysis tool that can be used to both design MANETs to support a given mission and analyze performance of a MANET for a specified mission.