Optimal Routing in Dense Wireless Multihop Networks as a Geometrical Optics Solution to the Problem of Variations

Recently trajectory based forwarding (TBF) has been proposed for dense wireless multihop networks. However, no strategies have been proposed so far for the minimization of the communication energy cost. In this paper a framework is proposed for the evaluation of the optimal route in wireless multihop networks which exploits analogies with geometrical optics. In the proposed framework a communication cost function is defined which represents the communication cost in each point of the deployment area. Such function has been calculated using the node density function. Accordingly, the proposed framework requires the density of nodes in the network to be known a priori. The proposed framework has been used in a relevant scenario. Finally, several ideas for future research are presented.