A Framework for Characterizing the Wireless and Mobile Network Continuum

The vast majority of research in wireless and mobile (WAM) networking falls in the MANET (Mobile Ad Hoc Network) category, where end-to-end paths are the norm. More recently, research has focused on a different Disruption Tolerant Network (DTN) paradigm, where end-to-end paths are the exception and intermediate nodes may store data while waiting for transfer opportunities towards the destination. Protocols developed for MANETs are generally not appropriate for DTNs and vice versa, since the connectivity assumptions are so different. We make the simple but powerful observation that MANETs and DTNs fit into a continuum that generalizes these two previously distinct categories. In this paper, building on this observation, we develop a WAM continuum framework that goes further to scope the entire space of Wireless and Mobile networks so that a network can be characterized by its position in this continuum. Certain network equivalence classes can be defined over subsets of this WAM continuum. We instantiate our framework that allows network connectivity classification and show how that classification relates to routing. We illustrate our approach by applying it to networks described by traces and by mobility models. We also outline how our framework can be used to guide network design and operation.