Unreachability problem in mobile ad hoc networks: A medium access control perspective

A medium access control (MAC) protocol to address the so-called unreachability problem in mobile ad hoc networks is proposed. Stations maintain double hop neighborhood graphs and exchange designated eMAC tables to share their knowledge about their neighborhood topology. An adaptive table broadcasting technique to facilitate topology information dissemination in mobile ad hoc networks is also proposed. Performance of the proposed schemes is evaluated and compared with earlier schemes through simulations. Our results show performance enhancement due to better handling of unreachability, possible heterogeneous power distributions among contending stations, and mobility issues.