Understanding the Performance Limitations of a Simulated Large Scale Wireless Ad Hoc Network

We use a cellular automaton analogy to simulate a large scale wireless ad-hoc network. This approach combines mobility in its simplest form with some fundamental attributes of radio propagation and enables us to examine the communicative properties of the network which would not otherwise be accessible. The analysis shows that there is an optimal network density for which the throughput of the network is maximized. We examine this finding under a range of processing gain values and confirm (a) that both the maximum total network throughput and the network´s sustainability increases proportionately with the processing gain and (b) that single-hop communication is always preferable to extended-hop communication. Furthermore we consider the performance of the system when communication is not limited to a single-hop. We show how processing gain can be used adaptively in order to control the transmission range and hence guarantee end-to-end connectivity in the network.