A Statistical Analysis of the Long-Run Node Spatial Distribution in Mobile Ad Hoc Networks

In this paper, we analyze the node spatial distribution of mobile wireless ad hoc networks. Characterizing this distribution is of fundamental importance in the analysis of many relevant properties of mobile ad hoc networks, such as connectivity, average route length, and network capacity. In particular, we have investigated under what conditions the node spatial distribution resulting after a large number of mobility steps resembles the uniform distribution. This is motivated by the fact that the existing theoretical results concerning mobile ad hoc networks are based on this assumption. In order to test this hypothesis, we performed extensive simulations using two well-known mobility models: the random waypoint model, which resembles intentional movement, and a Brownian-like model, which resembles non-intentional movement. Our analysis has shown that in Brownian-like motion the uniformity assumption does hold, and that the intensity of the concentration of nodes in the center of the deployment region that occurs in the random waypoint model heavily depends on the choice of some mobility parameters. For extreme values of these parameters, the uniformity assumption is impaired.