Performance metrics for self-positioning autonomous MANET nodes

Abstract

We present quantitative techniques to assess the performance of mobile ad hoc network (MANET) nodes with respect to uniform distribution, the total terrain covered by the communication areas of all nodes, and distance traveled by each node before a desired network topology is reached. Our uniformity metrics exploit information from a Voronoi tessellation generated by nodes in a deployment territory. Since movement is one of the most power consuming tasks that mobile nodes execute, the average distance traveled by each node (ADT) before the network reaches its final distribution provides an important performance assessment tool for power-aware MANETs. Another performance metric, network area coverage (NAC) achieved by all nodes, can demonstrate how efficient the MANET nodes are in maximizing the area of operation. Using these metrics, we evaluate our node-spreading bio-inspired game (BioGame), that combines our force-based genetic algorithm (FGA) and game theory to guide autonomous mobile nodes in making movement decisions. Our simulation experiments demonstrate that these performance evaluation metrics are good indicators for assessing the efficiency of node distribution methods.