Full Connectivity and Percolation in Large Cooperative Wireless Networks

We study how physical layer cooperation impacts the requirements for asymptotic connectivity of large wireless networks. Under a model where receivers in a connected cluster cooperate, as well as the assumed cooperation between transmitters, we present a complete characterization of the conditions under which the network is fully connected in terms of the path loss exponent and node density. We also present results on whether percolation occurs under various conditions. Finally, we have considered the case where receivers do not collaborate, where recent results of other researchers for such based on fluid approximations are erroneous. All of these results illustrate the significant positive impact that cooperation can have on the connectivity of large wireless networks.