Multihop ad hoc networking: The theory

This article reviews the basic principles behind mobile ad hoc networks (MANET) and critically discusses approximately ten years of research in this field. We summarize the main achievements and point out the limits of MANET research. This research was conducted under the assumption that the networks mainly will be used for large-scale general consumer applications, and nodes would be ubiquitous, thus reasonably dense and active. Both assumptions do not reflect reality and certainly would not be true in an initial phase of deployment. A lack of realism regarding the objective of MANET coupled with a lack of realism during the design of MANET are the main causes of MANET running a high risk of failure.