MAC-assisted topology control for ad hoc wireless networks

We consider ad hoc wireless networks and the topology control problem defined as minimizing the amount of power needed to maintain connectivity. The issue boils down to selecting the optimum transmission power level at each node based on the position information of reachable nodes. Local decisions regarding the transmission power level induce a subgraph of the maximum powered graph G(max) in which edges represent direct reachability at maximum power. We propose a new algorithm for constructing minimum-energy path-preserving subgraphs of G(max), i.e. ones minimizing the energy consumption between node pairs. Our algorithm involves a modification to the medium access control (MAC) layer. Its superiority over previous solutions, up to 60% improvement in sparse networks, demonstrates once again that strict protocol layering in wireless networks tends to be detrimental to performance. Copyright (C) 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.