Energy-efficient deterministic routing protocols in radio networks

A radio network (RN, for short) is a distributed system populated by small, bulk-produced, handheld radio transceivers, running on batteries. Since recharging batteries may not be possible while on mission, it is important to design protocols that are highly energy-efficient. In this work we address the problem of energy-efficient routing in k-channel RNs. An important subproblem is that of permutation routing an instance of which involves p stations each storing n/p items. Since in the worst case each item must be transmitted at least once, every permutation routing protocol must take n/k time slots. Similarly, each station must be awake for at least n/p time slots. Our main contribution is to present an almost optimal energy-efficient permutation routing protocol on the k-channel, p-station RN that routes n items in at most (2d+2b+1)n/k+k time slots, with no station being awake for more than (4d+7b-1)n/p time slots, where d=[log p/k/log n/p], b=[log k/log n/p], and k⩽√(p/2)