The Role of Ad Hoc Networks in Mobile Telecommunication

Abstract

The installation, improvement, maintenance and operation of telecommunication networks are hampered by the ever changing trends in technology. The nature and design of existing telecommunication networks makes it difficult to integrate different segments, created by technological difference and fragments of various network operators and manufacturers. In addition to the enormous bandwidth and quality of service demands of telecommunications network users, they desire to ensure the availability of all the services and resources. Moreover, the users anticipate the availability of information services whenever or wherever they need it, while at the same time, satisfying temporal and spatial diversity considerations. In the midst of this ongoing progress in technology and continuing effort to integrate network resources from different providers, the ad hoc networks paradigm, with its unique benefits, is capable of easing the integration process and providing seamless access to information resources and connectivity in many practical scenarios (Remondo & Niemegeers, 2003). The ad hoc networks are self organizing networks and any kind of central management is not an essential requirement. In contrast to other prevailing telecommunication networks which support mobility, the case of ad hoc networks management is different and no stringent predefined infrastructure is critical to the establishment and operation of these networks. While the implementation of ad hoc networks seems to be simple at a first glance with apparent advantages in specific situations over existing mobile networks, there are significant challenges which inhibit the attachment and use in an integrated environment with existing mobile telecommunication networks (Freedman, 2009). In this chapter, we discuss the role of ad hoc networks in mobile telecommunications. The trends in mobility are discussed with respect to the technological aspect, that is, from physical layer to application layer and social aspects which inherently influence the telecommunication network design and direct the future development trends in technology and its usage. The existing network technologies and implementations are striving hard to accommodate the needs of users which indirectly govern the core design, life cycle, accessibility and