The whole idea behind the formation of wireless systems was to achieve faster and broader network coverage at a reduced cost. That's why we find most of the techniques to support various network operations are modified versions of techniques that were used to support conventional networks. As time passes, researchers have started to look into possible network structures which can aid networking operations in places where a supporting structure isn't present or it's too costly or time consuming to deploy one.

Mobile ad-hoc networks have widely been seen as a potential technology which can turn the dream of getting connected at any time into reality. These networks were first implemented for military use. Recent advancements have reached the consumer market, as you're probably more familiar with Bluetooth, WiFi and hyper LAN.

The phrase ad-hoc originates from Latin, which means "for this or for this only". Unlike fixed wireless networks, mobile ad-hoc networks are the temporary networks which can be deployed anyplace and anytime without the need of a pre-existing infrastructure. That's why we occasionally refer to these networks as infrastructure-less or multi-hop networks.

The focus of current research is to come up with different strategies which can make these networks able to support routine networks jobs. Examples of some of the areas awaiting suitable solutions include routing, bandwidth constraints, security, hidden terminal problems and low power devices.

One of the fundamental purposes of any network formation is to exchange information between two parties. Sadly, most of the existing Internet protocols were designed to establish routing or packets exchange in networks that operate in the presence of some supporting structure. Basically, in mobile ad-hoc networks, nodes have to rely on each other in order to forward data packets from one to the other node in the network.

There are several reasons why mobile nodes in ad-hoc networks would prefer not to cooperate. When nodes do cooperate they establish the necessary ad-hoc structure that can make multi-hop communication possible by allowing traffic flow from a node to reach those destinations that would either require a significant amount of transmission energy using single-hop communication or simply not be possible without routing the traffic through other nodes.