Are classes of nodes with different power amplifiers good for wireless multi-hop networks?

Abstract

It has been shown that optimization of wireless network operations can be achieved by transmission power control of wireless nodes. Controlling the transmission power is mostly performed as a regulation of the final power amplifier, which is the major power sink. Depending on the desired transmission power level, currently popular amplifiers work at different levels of efficiency: highest in case of maximum emitted power, lower in case of reduced emitted power. In this paper we present a novel approach for improving the liftime of mobile devices in multi-hop wireless networks by using nodes with heterogeneous efficiency characteristics of their power amplifiers. To assess the potential of such amplifier-heterogeneous networks, we have performed multi-hop network simulations under the idealistic assumption of optimal routing based on global knowledge. The obtained results demonstrate an appealing potential of a reduction in energy consumption to less than 40 % compared to classical networks with uniform amplifiers. © IFIP International Federation for Information Processing 2003.