Fine grained load balancing in multi-hop wireless networks

In this paper we address the problem of local balancing in multi-hop wireless networks. We introduce the notion of proactive routing: after a short pre-processing phase in which nodes build their routing tables by exchanging messages with neighbors, we require that nodes decide the relay of each message without any further interaction with other nodes. Besides delivering very low communication overhead, proactive routing protocols are robust against some well known active attacks to network routing. In this framework, we develop a proactive routing protocol that is able to balance the local load. Experiments show that our protocol improves network lifetime up to 98% and that it delivers a network that is more robust against attacks that have the goal of getting control over a large part of the network traffic.

► Load unbalance due to local topological irregularities is isolated from the unbalance due to global network geometry.
► Nodes cooperate in a short pre-processing stage in order to construct fair routing schedules.
► Fair workload among nodes is preserved for the whole of the network lifetime with no extra overhead.
► During network activity routing decisions cannot be altered by malicious nodes.
► Corrective measures against local load unbalance lead to better network performance.