On practical multihop wireless communication: Insights, limitations, and solutions

Due to the exponential advancements in mobile and IoT device capabilities, we are currently witnessing a resurrection in the domains of ubiquitous and pervasive systems. These systems and devices heavily rely on efficient wireless communication as an enabler of single and multi-hop wireless data transfers. Awareness of the practical performance capabilities and limitations of existing wireless technologies in various heterogeneous settings is fundamental for the deployment of effective ubiquitous applications. We conduct and analyze an in-depth and detailed single-hop and various multi-hop networking measurements study utilizing a representative set of emerging mobile and IoT devices equipped with a variety of wireless interfaces. Additionally, given the popularity of Android-based D2D systems developed, we propose two solutions that would overcome the inherent two-hop D2D WiFi-Direct limitation, and provide many-hop WiFi-Direct-based communication. Our results provide deep insights on the performance of multi-hop D2D communication within various environments, along with the limitations and trade-offs in the communication technologies, topologies, and solutions adopted.