Field Division Routing

Abstract

Multihop communication objectives and constraints impose a set of challenging requirements that create difficult conditions for simultaneous optimization of features such as scalability and performance. Routing in wireless multihop networks represents a crucial component of the overall network efficacy because it is a lower layer that enables the actual functionality of networks. We have developed field division routing (FDR), a distributed and nonhierarchical routing protocol that aims to coordinated addressing of scalability, topology alternations, latency, throughput, energy efficiency, and local storage requirements. FDR is based upon two optimization mechanisms: a reactive and focused diffusion that collects only network topology information directly required for making localized routing decisions, and a protocol for sharing routing information among neighboring nodes. Routing table initialization and maintenance are scalable in terms of both storage and overhead traffic necessary for building routing tables. FDR provides guaranteed connectivity while providing near-optimal all-node-pairs message delivery. The protocol is also power-efficient to a wide spectrum of topology changes that induce relatively few messages to update routing tables network-wide. We analyzed the new routing protocol both theoretically and using simulation.

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