| This thesis contributes toward the design of a new adaptive quality of service paradigm for emerging wireless ad hoc networks. We address some of the key issues in the broader realm of wireless ad hoc networks, which includes mobile ad hoc networks and wireless sensor networks. Wireless ad hoc networks represent autonomous distributed systems that are infrastructureless, fully distributed, and multi-hop in nature. In the recent past, the wireless ad hoc network has attracted considerable research attention. This has been fueled by the recent technological advances in the development of multifunctional and low-cost communication devices. Wireless ad hoc networks have diverse applications spanning several domains, including military, commercial, medical, and home networks. In fact, as of today, the wireless ad hoc networks are moving from the research domain into the real world and are being gradually integrated into our daily lives.; To cope with the unpredictable nature of our dynamic environment, wireless ad hoc networks should be able to adapt to changes in resource availability (i.e., energy, bandwidth, processing power, network density, and topology changes) and overcome any unanticipated networking problems whilst satisfying, a wide range of application requirements. Fulfilling these requirements in such an environment is very challenging because the traffic present in the network is continuously afflicted by performance degrading network dynamics.; This thesis addresses some of the key issues needed for fulfilling the requirements in support of the adaptive QOS for wireless ad hoe networks. They include (1) an adaptive QOS framework and signaling protocol for mobile ad hoc networks, (2) congestion mitigation in mobile ad hoc networks, and (3) a cost-efficient agile routing mechanism for wireless sensor networks.; Despite the significant advances in the broader area of wireless ad hoc networks, and the issues addressed in this thesis will be continuously researched and their solutions enhanced. The effort to develop more practical routing algorithms and more efficient MAC will continue, and the classic problem of congestion (i.e., hotspots) in wireless ad hoc networks will be continuously revisited. We believe that the advances in modulation techniques, antenna technology; sensor hardware (i.e., MEMS), and better protocol design will allow the wireless ad hoc networks to be deeply integrated into our daily lives. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)... |
