Fast message dissemination in random geometric ad-hoc radio networks

Abstract

We study the complexity of distributed protocols for the classical information dissemination problem of distributed gossiping. We consider the model of random geometric networks, one of the main models used to study properties of sensor and ad-hoc networks, where n points are randomly placed in a unit square and two points are connected by an edge/link if they are at at most a certain fixed distance r from each other. To study communication in the network, we consider the ad-hoc radio networks model of communication. We examine various scenarios depending on the local knowledge of each node in the networks, and show that in many settings distributed gossiping in asymptotically optimal time O(D) is possible, where D is the diameter of the network and thus a trivial lower bound for any communication. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2007.