On the /spl theta/-coverage and connectivity of large random networks

Wireless planar networks have been used to model wireless networks in a tradition that dates back to 1961 to the work of E. N. Gilbert. Indeed, the study of connected components in wireless networks was the motivation for his pioneering work that spawned the modern field of continuum percolation theory. Given that node locations in wireless networks are not known, random planar modeling can be used to provide preliminary assessments of important quantities such as range, number of neighbors, power consumption, and connectivity, and issues such as spatial reuse and capacity. In this paper, the problem of connectivity based on nearest neighbors is addressed. The exact threshold function for /spl theta/-coverage is found for wireless networks modeled as n points uniformly distributed in a unit square, with every node connecting to its /spl phi//sub n/ nearest neighbors. A network is called /spl theta/-covered if every node, except those near the boundary, can find one of its /spl phi//sub n/ nearest neighbors in any sector of angle /spl theta/. For all /spl theta//spl isin/(0,2/spl pi/), if /spl phi//sub n/=(1+/spl delta/)log/sub 2/spl pi//2/spl pi/-/spl theta//n, it is shown that the probability of /spl theta/-coverage goes to one as n goes to infinity, for any /spl delta/>0; on the other hand, if /spl phi//sub n/=(1-/spl delta/)log/sub 2/spl pi//2/spl pi/-/spl theta//n, the probability of /spl theta/-coverage goes to zero. This sharp characterization of /spl theta/-coverage is used to show, via further geometric arguments, that the network will be connected with probability approaching one if /spl phi//sub n/=(1+/spl delta/)log/sub 2/n. Connections between these results and the performance analysis of wireless networks, especially for routing and topology control algorithms, are discussed.