Special Issue on “Mobile Ad-Hoc Wireless Networks”

Mobile Ad Hoc wireless Networks (MANETs) is defined as a multi-hop infrastructureless wireless network which is self-organized and connects two or more stations spontaneously in the absence of central point or any access point. It allows peer-to-peer connections between devices that are operating in ad-hoc mode and are within the wireless range. They can form standalone groups of wireless nodes and can be connected to a cellular or fixed network. Nodes in a mobile ad-hoc network are free to move and organize themselves in an arbitrary fashion. Each user is free to roam about while communicating with others. Ad-hoc networks are suited for use in situations where an infrastructure is unavailable or when the costs to deploy one are very high. Mobile ad-hoc networking is a multi-layer architecture that normally involves the physical, medium access layer (MAC), network layer and transport layers. Nodes in ad-hoc networks perform self-organization. Their tasks include neighbor discovery and topology organization and reorganization. Every node looks for activities from its neighbor and exchange topol-ogy information periodically. Additionally, ad-hoc networks have self-configuring and self-healing capabilities. Ad-hoc networks are also very scalable. The hybrid architectures in ad-hoc networks can increase scalability by combining multi-hop relaying and base stations. Ad-hoc wireless networks can easily address the shortcomings of presently available wireless networks. They can also improve the efficiency of wireless networks. The application of this technology is far-reaching as it can achieve numerous functionalities which have never been possible before. Hence, development of wireless Ad-hoc networks can immensely change the way we visualize, implement, and use the wireless technology today. Ad-Hoc networks have many applications. For home applications , smart sensor nodes and actuators can be buried in appliances to allow end users to manage home devices locally and remotely. Concerning environmental applications, ad-hoc networks can be used to track the movements of animals, chemical/biological detection, precision agriculture, etc. They can also be used in healthcare industry by getting early retrieval and transmission of patient data (record, status, diagnosis) from/to the hospital. The patients' health can be monitored remotely. In e-commerce, wireless ad-hoc networks can be used for electronic payments from anywhere. Ad-hoc networks have many applications in the military environment. They are widely used for communications in the battlefield and for tracking all military vehicles and equipment without the need of a centralized controller. They can be used for battlefield communication as well. Ad-hoc networks can also …