Abstract:
We study broadcasting of information in a system
of moving agents equipped with omnidirectional as well as directional
antenna. The agent communication protocol is inspired
by the classical SIRS epidemics dynamics. We assume that the
antennas of all agents have a fixed transmitting power, while
signal reception only occurs when the receivers sense signals with
power exceeding a certain threshold. Thus, information exchange
is a local phenomenon which depends on the relative distance and
antenna orientation between the transmitting and the receiving
agent. We derive an expression for the mean broadcasting time
and study the information dissemination robustness of the system
using elements of classical epidemiology and physics. In particular,
we show that the mean broadcasting time depends upon Ã
which quantifies the area the radiation pattern of the antenna
sweeps as it moves. We report three important observations
(a) directional antennas perform better than omnidirectional
antennas, (b) directional antennas whose beam-width is narrower
perform even better, and (c) the performance enhances a lot if
directional antennas rotate. These behaviors can be understood
in the light of the reported analytical findings.