On energy efficiency and network connectivity of mobile ad hoc networks

In mobile ad hoc networks, it is often more important to optimize for energy efficiency than throughput. In this paper, we investigate the effect of transmit range on energy efficiency of packet transmissions. We determine a common range for all nodes such that the average energy expenditure per received packet is minimized. In the first part of this paper, we consider stationary networks. We show that energy efficiency depends on various system parameters that includes path loss exponent of the channel, energy dissipation model and network offered load. In particular, when the path loss exponent is large, energy efficiency decreases when the transmit range increases. Hence, the network should be operated at the critical range that just maintains network connectivity. However, when the path loss exponent is small, operating at the critical range yields inferior throughput and energy efficiency. Our results show that energy efficiency is intimately connected to network connectivity. Three network connectivity regimes are identified as the transmit range of all nodes increases. In the second part, we examine the effect of node mobility on energy efficiency. We show that at normal offered load, an optimal transmit range exists such that energy efficiency is maximized. The optimal range turns out to be insensitive to node mobility, and is much larger than the critical range. We show that the energy expenditure can be reduced by 15% to 73% in different mobility scenarios, if the network is operated at the optimal range.