Vertex-Linked Infrastructure for ADHOC Networks

Abstract

An ad hoc network is composed of geographically dispersed nodes that may move arbitrarily and communicate with each other without the supporc of a stationary infrastructure. Compared with a wireless network with a stationary infrastructure, such as a cellular network, an ad hoc network is inherently less efficient. Therefore, a number of proposals have been made to develop a quasktationary infrastructure for ad hoc networks. However, the dynamic nature of id hoc networks makes it very costly to maintain such an infrastructure. This article proposes a VertexLinked Infrastructure (VLI) for ad hoc networks. This novel approach uses an easily deployable, survivable, wired infrastructure as a backbone of the ad hoc network, thus realizing the advantages of an infrastructure in wireless communications, but without the overhead due to maintaining such an infrastructure.