Modeling, simulation and optimization of a wireless ad hoc network's communication performance with regard to node deployment

Abstract

Wireless ad hoc networks have several applications in different domains. The main goal of these networks is to enable connectivity among the communication nodes. The communication activity in a wireless network mainly depends on the locations of the nodes. Nodes may be randomly located or follow a predetermined deployment plan. Therefore, it might be necessary to relocate node positions after the initial deployment, either to ensure the connectivity or to improve the performance of the communication in the network. In this study, a novel node location optimization algorithm is proposed to provide connectivity and improve communication performance of the network in a three dimensional environment. Performance of the network is evaluated by the desirability functions in terms of communication quality and relaying overhead under different scenarios involving various terrain types and network topologies. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm not only enables the connectivity but also improves the performance of the network.