Energy Efficient Relaying within a Cell: Multi Path versus Shortest Path Routing

Even though it may be counterintuitive, we have shown that multi path routing is more energy efficient than single path routing for relaying within a cell. This result opens up the path for future research work on the development of approximate but very low complexity algorithms to provide multi path relaying. Also, from the results presented herein we can conjecture that a threshold policy can be devised for switching off between single and multi path relaying for energy efficiency based on the aggregate load of the network and the overhead, in terms of communication complexity, of establishing multiple paths. The above issues are part of our future research work plan.