Radio aspects of hybrid wireless ad-hoc networks

In wireless ad-hoc networks, devices can communicate with each other by using intermediate terminals as relays. The use of relaying has profound consequences for the radio properties of the link. In particular, less power should be required to transfer a signal from the source to the final receiver. Since power reduction may well be translated into network capacity increase, relaying is an interesting feature also for more conventional cellular networks. We present initial simulations on the radio aspects of hybrid wireless ad-hoc networks. It is confirmed that the use of relaying results in a reduction of the average transmission power. However, for our simplified routing and resource allocation algorithms, a negative effect is observed on the number of users that can be supported simultaneously. Simulations on the use of relaying to extend the coverage area of a base station show that the probability that a link can be established strongly increases with increasing density of mobiles, and with decreasing distance to the base station.