Sending data to a sink node is a crucial operation in wireless ad hoc networks serving humanitarian, environmental, industrial, military, or other purposes. While seemingly the inverse of broadcasting, this operation, known as “convergecast”, is more complex, because each node sends different data to the sink. Convergecast should minimize convergence time (i.e., the time at which the root hears from other nodes) and energy consumption, but since these two objectives are conflicting, most algorithms will set for one and disregard the other. In this paper, we propose a family of convergecast algorithms, called CHOPIN, offering a configuration parameter that explicitly trades convergence time for energy. Using closed-form analysis and simulation, we are able to show that CHOPIN can reach operation points that are either in, or very close to the Pareto frontier. This makes the network much more adaptable to changing external conditions.

在服务于人道主义，环境，工业，军事或其他目的的无线自组织网络中，将数据发送到宿节点是至关重要的操作。虽然看似与广播相反，但此操作（称为“聚合广播”）更为复杂，因为每个节点发送的信号不同数据发送到接收器。Convergecast应该使收敛时间（即，根从其他节点听到消息的时间）和能量消耗最小化，但是由于这两个目标是矛盾的，因此大多数算法将设置为一个而忽略另一个。在本文中，我们提出了一套称为CHOPIN的融合广播算法，该算法提供了一个配置参数，该参数明确地将收敛时间与能量进行了交换。使用封闭形式的分析和仿真，我们可以证明CHOPIN可以到达帕累托边界内或非常接近帕累托边界的操作点。这使网络更加适应不断变化的外部条件。