Mitigating Effects of Node Failure via Mobility in Wireless Networks

Abstract

In this work, the connectivity of a static wireless network is studied in the presence of overlaying mobile nodes. The impact of topology changes on the connectivity of an ad hoc wireless network is investigated, where topology changes occur due to node failures. To this end, first, the failure pattern of the static nodes is modeled, then the benefit of having self-organizing capabilities in a wireless network is studied in the presence of several failure patterns. It is shown that the failure pattern of the nodes has a significant impact on the connectivity of the network and having self-organizing capabilities is essential in utilizing wireless networks. Then, the joint impact of an overlaying mobile network and self-organization on the connectivity of a wireless network is studied. The results show that the deployed wireless network can continue to operate even with more than 30% node failure via self-organization and the duty of several failed static nodes can be shared by a very few number of mobile nodes instead of replacing all failed static nodes, extending the network lifetime and improving the utilization of the network significantly.