An energy efficient power control protocol for ad hoc networks using directional antennas

Abstract

A wireless ad hoc network is a collection of mobile nodes that can communicate with each other. Typically, nodes employ omnidirectional antennas. The use of directional antennas can increase spatial reuse, reduce the number of hops to a destination, reduce interference, and increase the transmission range in a specific direction. This is because omnidirectional antennas radiate equally in all directions, limiting the transmission range. Because most mobile nodes operate using batteries, protocols which conserve energy are of great interest. In this paper, we introduce the Dynamic Directional Power Control (DDPC) protocol. This protocol dynamically varies the energy used in directional transmission to increase battery life without sacrificing connectivity. DDPC takes into account the remaining battery power in determining the node transmission power. It can achieve a higher network lifetime when compared to a network where nodes use a fixed transmit power level. © 2010 Springer-Verlag.