Threshold effect in the throughput of large clustered ad hoc networks

The performance of an ad hoc network that contains many nodes within circular clusters with fixed node density is studied. These clusters lie within a finite square area, and the space between clusters is filled with nodes such that the density of nodes is much smaller than the density of nodes in the clusters. We obtain an upper bound on the throughput and investigate the achievability of the upper bound. Through these studies, the effect of clustering on throughput is uncovered. The impact of changing the finite square area, in which the system resides, called the system size, becomes evident. In particular, we show that in clustered networks, the size of the network is important, and in particular, the behavior of the network changes greatly for small and large networks