Energy v. performance in wireless networks
Hari Balakrishnan · 2002
Wireless energy consumption is a significant and growing problem in mobile and sensor computing. I will discuss several examples of trade-offs between energy and performance in wireless networks, including some counter-intuitive, unintended consequences of cross-layer interactions between link-layer energy-saving techniques and higher-layer transport protocols. These examples demonstrate that performance-energy trade-offs are poorly understood. I will argue that this is one area where theory can have significant practical impact. What we need is a principled and formal way of designing energy-saving algorithms whose performance trade-offs are precisely quantifiable. I will show some examples of the types of problems that can marry theory and practice in this area.