Routing in ad-hoc networks using minimum connected dominating sets

We impose a virtual backbone structure on the ad-hoc network, in order to support unicast, multicast, and fault-tolerant routing within the ad-hoc network. This virtual backbone differs from the wired backbone of cellular networks in two key ways: (a) it may change as nodes move, and (b) it is not used primarily for routing packets or flows, but only for computing and updating routes. The primary routes for packets and flows are still computed by a shortest-paths computation; the virtual backbone can, if necessary provide backup routes to handle interim failures. Because of the dynamic nature of the virtual backbone, our approach splits the routing problem into two levels: (a) find and update the virtual…