Throughput and Delay Tradeoffs for Mobile Ad Hoc Networks With Reference Point Group Mobility

In this paper, we explore the throughput-delay tradeoff in a mobile ad hoc network (MANET) operating under the practical reference point group mobility model and also a general setting of node moving speed. In particular, we consider a MANET with unit area and n nodes being divided evenly into Θ(n^α) groups, α ε [0, 1], where the center of each group moves according to a random direction model with speed of no more than ν ε [0, 1]. We determine the regions of per-node throughput and average delay and their tradeoffs that can be achieved (in order sense) in such a network. For the regime of ν = 0, we first prove that the per-node throughput capacity is Θ(n^-α/2) and then develop a routing scheme to achieve this capacity, resulting in an average delay of Θ(max{n^1/2, n^1-α}) for any α ε [0, 1]. Regarding the regime of ν > 0, we prove that the per-node throughput capacity can be improved to Θ(1), which is achievable by adopting a new routing scheme with an average delay of Θ(max{n^1-α, n^α/2/ν}) for ν = o(1) and Θ(n) for ν = Θ(1). The results in this paper help us to have a deep understanding on the fundamental performance scaling laws and also enable an efficient throughput-delay tradeoff to be achieved in MANETs with correlated mobility.