Energy-Connectivity Tradeoff through Topology Control in Wireless Ad Hoc Networks

In this study, we investigate topology control as a means of obtaining the best possible compromise between the conflicting requirements of reducing energy consumption and improving network connectivity. A topology design algorithm capable of producing network topologies that minimize energy consumption under a minimum-connectivity constraint is presented. To this end, we define a new topology metric, called connectivity efficiency, which is a function of both algebraic connectivity and the transmit power level. Based on this metric, links that require a high transmit power but only contribute to a small fraction of the network connectivity are chosen to be removed. A connectivity-efficiency-based topology control (CETC) algorithm then assigns a transmit power level to each node. The network topology derived by the proposed CETC heuristic algorithm is shown to attain a better tradeoff between energy consumption and network connectivity than existing algorithms. Simulation results demonstrate the efficiency of the CECT algorithm.