Architecture and prototyping of an 802.11-based self-organizing hierarchical ad-hoc wireless network (SOHAN)

This paper describes the design and implementation of a novel 802.11-based self-organizing hierarchical ad-hoc wireless network (SOHAN), and presents some initial experimental results obtained from a proof-of-concept prototype. The proposed network has a three-tier hierarchy consisting of low-power mobile nodes (MNs) at the lowest layer, forwarding nodes (FNs) with higher power and multi-hop routing capability at the middle layer, and wired access points (APs) without power constraints at the highest layer. Specifics of new protocols used for bootstrapping, node discovery, and multi-hop routing are presented, and the overall operation of the complete hierarchical ad-hoc network is explained. A prototype implementation of the SOHAN network is outlined in terms of major hardware and software components, and initial experimental results are given.