Force-directed algorithms have been developed over the last 50 years and used in many application fields, including information visualisation, biological network visualisation, sensor networks, routing algorithms, scheduling, and graph drawing. Our survey provides a comprehensive summary of developments and a full roadmap for state-of-the-art force-directed algorithms in schematic drawings and placement. We classified the model of force-directed algorithms into classical and hybrid. The classical force-directed algorithms are further classified as follows: (a) accumulated force models, (b) energy function minimisation models and (c) combinatorial optimisation models. The hybrid force-directed algorithms are classified as follows: (a) parallel and hardware accelerated models, (b) multilevel force-directed models and (c) multidimensional scaling force-directed algorithms. Five categories of application domains in which force-directed algorithms have been adopted for schematic drawings and placement are also summarised: (a) aesthetic drawings for general networks, (b) component placement and scheduling in high-level synthesis of very-large-scale integration circuits design, (c) information visualisation, (d) biological network visualisation and (e) node placement and localisation for sensor networks.

Force-directed algorithms such as the Kamada-Kawai algorithm have shown promising results for solving the boundary detection problem in a mobile ad hoc network. However, the classical Kamada-Kawai algorithm does not scale well when it is used in networks with large numbers of nodes. It also produces poor results in non-convex networks. To address these problems, this paper proposes an improved version of the Kamada-Kawai algorithm. The proposed extension includes novel heuristics and algorithms that achieve a faster energy level reduction. Our experimental results show that the improved algorithm can significantly shorten the processing time and detect boundary nodes with an acceptable level of accuracy.

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Lifeline is a group of systems designed for mobile phones and battery powered wireless routers for forming emergency Ad hoc networks. Devices installed with Lifeline program can automatically form Ad hoc networks when cellular signal is unavailable or disrupted during natural disasters. For instance, large scale earthquakes can cause extensive damages to land-based telecommunication infrastructures. In such circumstances, mobile phones installed with Lifeline program can be used to send emergency messages by the victims who are trapped under collapsed buildings. In addition, Lifeline also provides a function for the rescuers to estimate the positions of the victims based on network propagation techniques. Lifeline also has the ability to recover from partial crash of network and nodes lost.