Low-complexity beamforming techniques for wireless multihop networks

Abstract

Protocols for beamforming antennas usually direct the beam toward the respective communication partner. This requires significant coordination between nodes and results in frequent changes of the beam direction. In this paper, we present much simpler algorithms that instead aim at improving connectivity and robustness of routing. A node computes the optimal beam direction using aggregate information about its neighborhood such as the number of neighbors in each beam direction. We analyze the performance of such algorithms in terms of number of paths to a destination, mutual interference, and route lifetime in mobile networks, and show that they are a promising alternative to existing beamforming schemes