Location-free topology control protocol in wireless ad hoc networks

Topology control emphasizes the proper adjustment of the transmission power of each node in wireless mobile ad hoc networks. It not only saves power but also increases the system throughput by increasing the spatial reuse of communication channels. However, there is a hidden terminal problem at the medium access control (MAC) layer if we merely address the topology control issue at the network layer. This paper proposes a distributed protocol that deals with topology control at the network layer and at the same time overcomes the hidden terminal problem at the MAC layer. Each node in the networks determines its power for data transmission and control packets transmission according to the received beacon messages from its neighbors. The proposed protocol works without location information and use little control packet overhead to prevent potential collisions due to hidden terminals. Simulations show that our protocol significantly decreases the total power consumption in the networks and has a better network throughput compared to other protocols.