In conclusion, an ad-hoc network has a number of different constraints which limit the availability of these networks to support distributed applications in an effective manner. As research in ad-hoc network is grows, expect to see significant improvement in existing routing protocols to handle distributed applications in an advanced and efficient fashion.

Heather Wardell received her first Palm handheld in 1997 (from a boss who couldn't get the hang of Graffiti) and has never looked back. She worked in banking as a systems analyst for four years, and then moved into elementary education, teaching computers at a private elementary school for four years. Heather is now a full-time writer with two main specialties: articles that explain how a particular technology works, and short stories that usually involve technology run amok. You can reach her on the Web at http://www.heatherwardell.com.