An energy‐efficient localized topology control algorithm for wireless ad hoc and sensor networks

Topology control plays an important role in the design of wireless ad hoc and sensor networks and has demonstrated its high capability in constructing networks with desirable characteristics such as sparser connectivity, lower transmission power, and smaller node degree. However, the enforcement of a topology control algorithm in a network may degrade the energy‐draining balancing capability of the network and thus reduce the network operational lifetime. For this reason, it is important to take into account energy efficiency in the design of a topology control algorithm in order to achieve prolonged network lifetime. In this paper, we propose a localized energy‐efficient topology control algorithm for wireless ad hoc and sensor networks with power control capability in network nodes. To achieve prolonged network lifetime, we introduce a concept called energy criticality avoidance and propose an energy criticality avoidance strategy in topology control and energy‐efficient routing. Through theoretical analysis and simulation results, we prove that the proposed topology control algorithm can maintain the global network connectivity with low complexity and can significantly prolong the lifetime of a multi‐hop wireless network as compared with existing topology control algorithms with little additional protocol overhead. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.