A distributed stable backbone maintenance protocol for ad hoc wireless networks

We have recently introduced a hierarchical structure for ad hoc wireless networks that classifies nodes into Backbone Capable Nodes (BCNs) and Regular Nodes (RNs). Under our TBONE protocol, a backbone network (Bnet) is formed by dynamically electing Backbone Nodes (BNs) among BCNs. However the current TBONE protocol requires global topological information to elect and de-elect BNs, which can induce high control message overhead and slow down the Bnet layout adaptation process. In this paper, we resolve this problem by proposing a modified MBN Protocol (MBNP) for electing and de-electing BNs, which requires each candidate node to employ only local connectivity information (within two hops). While such schemes tend many times to be unstable, we prove and demonstrate that our process involving BN-BCN conversions is oscillation free. We show that the synthesized network configuration demonstrates desirable robustness and connectivity features, while demanding low control message overhead. Key performance characteristics of the modified protocol are exhibited by conducting simulation-based evaluations.