Max-min d-cluster formation in wireless ad hoc networks

An ad hoc network may be logically represented as a set of clusters. The clusterheads form a d-hop dominating set. Each node is at most d hops from a clusterhead. Clusterheads form a virtual backbone and may be used to route packets for nodes in their cluster. Previous heuristics restricted themselves to 1-hop clusters. We show that the minimum d-hop dominating set problem is NP-complete. Then we present a heuristic to form d-clusters in a wireless ad hoc network. Nodes are assumed to have a non-deterministic mobility pattern. Clusters are formed by diffusing node identities along the wireless links. When the heuristic terminates, a node either becomes a clusterhead, or is at most d wireless hops away from its…