Location, location, location: Border effects in interference limited ad hoc networks

Abstract: Wireless networks are fundamentally limited by the intensity of the received signals and by their inherent interference. It is shown here that in finite ad hoc networks where node placement is modelled according to a Poisson point process and no carrier sensing is employed for medium access, the SINR received by nodes located at the border of the network deployment/operation region is on average greater than the rest. This is primarily due to the uneven interference landscape of such networks which is particularly kind to border nodes giving rise to all sorts of performance inhomogeneities and access unfairness. Using tools from stochastic geometry we quantify these spatial variations and provide closed form communication-theoretic results showing why the receiver's location is so important.