Topology control for minimizing energy consumption and improving usability in mobile ad hoc networks

Abstract

Mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) combining various types of devices, such as smartphones, drones, and robots, are becoming more significant due to the exponential growth of Internet of Things and mobile devices. To expand the practical use of MANETs, reducing energy consumption and improving usability are indispensable. In this paper, a topology control method for MANETs is proposed, where the topology determined every update interval is optimized to minimize the cumulative energy consumption for sending data while reducing energy consumption for broadcasting Hello messages. In addition, usability is improved by introducing a topology control architecture in which suitable topologies for different MANET uses are provided using various topology generation algorithms for stationary devices. As a first step for confirming the effectiveness of the proposed method, the efficacy of energy consumption reduction is evaluated through a custom simulation. In addition, the key functions are verified by conducting an experiment using different types of devices and topology generation algorithms for stationary devices.