Network Size and Connectivity in Mobile and Stationary Ad Hoc Networks

One of the assumptions behind tactical mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) is that routes consisting of multiple hops will be available to connect those nodes that lack line-of sight connectivity. The practical utility of MANET depends on this assumption being true and, for a mobile network, remaining true during mobility. In previous work, we showed that average node-to-node direct connectivity and the rate at which direct links break over time while moving through a given terrain can be characterized approximately using average terrain measures that are location and distance insensitive. Here, we exploit that result and extend our previous work to characterize the rate at which line-of-sight links and end-to-end shortest paths appear and disappear for mobile networks of various sizes in various terrains.