The Theory of Natural Movement and its Application to the Simulation of Mobile Ad Hoc Networks (MANET)

The theory of natural movement is fundamental to space syntax: a set of theories and methods developed in the late 1970s that seeks, at a general level, to reveal the mutual effects of complex spatial systems on society and vice versa. In particular, over the years, space syntax analyses have been shown to correlate highly with pedestrian movement and hence are regularly used as a predictive tool, to forecast relative levels of people-flow along streets. Mobile ad hoc networks (MANET) are wireless networks that are self- creating, having an unfixed and constantly shifting topology. This paper demonstrates how ad hoc networks based on pedestrians carrying mobile wireless devices can be simulated using the theory of natural movement. It suggests that the application of natural movement simulations to mobile ad hoc networks appears to be a useful contribution to the field and that further work should be conducted in this area.