Impact of Node Mobility on Link Duration in Multihop Mobile Networks

In this paper, we study the impact of node mobility on link duration in multihop mobile networks. In multihop mobile networks, each node is free to move, and each link is established between two nodes. A link between two nodes is established when one node enters the transmission range of the other node, and the link is broken when either node leaves the transmission range of the other. The time interval during which the link remains active is referred to as the link duration. We develop an analytical model for link duration in multihop mobile networks. We find that the link duration for two nodes is determined by the relative speed between the two nodes and the distance during which the link is connected, which are, in turn, determined by the angles between the two nodes´ velocities and the angle of one node incident to the other node´s transmission range, respectively. The analytical result is then extended to model multipoint links, which appear in existing group mobility models. The accuracy of our framework is validated by simulations based on existing mobility models. The results show that our model can accurately describe the link-duration distribution for point-to-point and multi-point links in multihop mobile networks, particularly when the transmission range of each node is relatively smaller than the entire network coverage.