Opportunistic routing - A review and the challenges ahead

Opportunistic routing (OR) is an upcoming and promising routing technique for wireless multihop networks. The key concepts behind OR is overhearing and cooperation among relaying nodes; therefore. OR works well in wireless multihop networks with higher node density, such as mesh or sensor networks. OR enables multiple routes and dynamic relay selection, thus, it obtains higher link reliability and larger transmission range. This paper reviews the basic concepts and describes components of OR with examples. Current trends, issues and challenges of OR are also discussed. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.