Scatternet Formation for IEEE 802.15.3 WPANs

In this paper, we consider the unique properties of the scatternet formation problem for IEEE 802.15.3 wireless personal area networks and formulate it as a set covering problem. We propose a fully distributed stochastic scatternet formation algorithm and compare its performance against a greedy algorithm and idealized best/worst case scenarios. The stochastic algorithm avoids using weight information and hence saves the cost of message exchange incurred in other clustering algorithms while achieving better connectivity and requiring less maintenance. Simulation results show that the stochastic algorithm results in only 20% more piconets than the ideal but impracticable greedy algorithm, and the resulting scatternet topology scales well with network size and is robust and stable.