A stable clustering scheme for large scale mobile ad hoc networks

Wireless ad hoc networks are autonomous systems of heterogeneous, mobile nodes that communicate with each other over wireless links. Hierarchical methods can efficiently manage any large scale commercial application that is realizable using ad hoc networks and addresses the problem of routing in these networks. Clustering provides a method of building and maintaining hierarchies in ad hoc networks. We consider the problem of partitioning a large scale multihop wireless network into clusters and we propose a new realistic clustering scheme to create a hierarchical control structure for very large scale ad hoc networks. The proposed clustering scheme is distributed and enables the formation of stable and scalable clusters. An efficient cluster maintenance scheme is also proposed. Simulation experiments are conducted to study the performance of the algorithm