Optimum transmission range for wireless ad hoc networks

The transmission range that achieves the most economical use of energy in wireless ad hoc networks is studied under homogeneous node distribution. By assuming the knowledge of node location, we first proposed a transmission strategy to ensure the progress of data packets toward their final destinations. Then the average packet progress for a transmission range universal for all nodes is derived, which is accordingly used to determine the optimal transmission range that gives the maximum efficiency of energy consumption. Different from some previous work, our analysis does not make the assumption of large nodal density in the wireless ad hoc networks studied. Numerical and simulation results are presented to examine our analysis for wireless ad hoc networks.