System Lifetime Enhancement Relaying Framework in Heterogeneous Wireless Ad Hoc Networks

Energy efficient routing in ad hoc networks has been the subject of intensive study in recent years. Most work has been focused on residual battery power related cost metrics for a homogeneous ad hoc network, where all the nodes are considered identical in terms of functioning and available resources. Energy conservation is of great importance for mobile ad hoc networks in which most nodes are equipped with limited energy sources. This paper addresses energy conservation, a fundamental issue of paramount importance in heterogeneous wireless ad hoc networks consisting of powerful nodes (i.e., P-nodes) as well as normal nodes (i.e., B-nodes). By utilizing the inherent device heterogeneity, a cross-layer designed Device-Energy-Load Aware Relaying framework, named DELAR, is proposed to achieve energy conservation from multiple facets, including power-aware routing, transmission scheduling and power control. We propose an Asymmetric MAC (A-MAC) as an elegant solution. Taking full advantage of P-nodes, DELAR can significantly prolong the network lifetime. It strikes a good balance between power efficiency and the overall system performance.