Stability and Capacity of Regular Wireless Networks

Abstract

Abstract-We study the stability and capacity problems in regular wireless networks. In the first part of the paper, we provide a general approach to characterizing the capacity region of arbitrary networks, find an outer bound to the capacity region in terms of the transport capacity, and discuss connections between the capacity formulation and the stability of node buffers. In the second part of the paper, we obtain closed-form expressions for the capacity of Manhattan (two-dimensional grid) and ring networks (circular array of nodes). We also find the optimal (i.e., capacity-achieving) medium access and routing policies. Our objective in analyzing regular networks is to provide insights and design guidelines for general networks. The knowledge of the exact capacity enables us to quantify the loss incurred by suboptimal protocols such as slotted ALOHA medium access and random-walk-based routing. Optimal connectivity and the effects of link fading on network capacity are also investigated.

Maximizing the throughput of large ad hoc wireless networks

“…But the dependency of the optimal spectral efficiency of a packet on the MAC protocol was not exploited. In [20], a multipacket reception model along with randomized time division multiplexing protocol was applied to a regular network, and a similar capacity scaling law was shown.…”

An admission control algorithm for multi-hop 802.11e-based WLANs

“…A link exists between two nodes if the distance between them is less than or equal to r tx . The transmission from node i to j is successful if [12]:…”

Duality and stability regions of multi-rate broadcast and multiple access networks

“…[13] and [14] characterize stability regions of multiple access channels with a probabilistic multi-packet reception model (MPR) with distributed scheduling policies -the ALOHA protocol in particular. [15] studies capacity and stability regions of certain large regular wireless networks with the MPR model. Early work in combining information theory with the networking approach can be found in [16], [17].…”