Multi-hop routing

Multi-hop routing (or multihop routing) is a type of communication in radio networks in which network coverage area is larger than radio range of single nodes. Therefore, to reach some destination a node can use other nodes as relays.^[1]

A typical multi-hop wireless sensor network architecture

Since the transceiver is the major source of power consumption in a radio node and long distance transmission requires high power, in some cases multi-hop routing can be more energy efficient than single-hop routing.^[2]

Typical applications of multi-hop routing:

Wireless sensor networks
Wireless mesh networks
Mobile ad hoc networks
Smart phone ad hoc networks
Mobile networks with stationary multi-hop relays

References

[1]

[2]