Ad-hoc wireless network is a collection of two or more devices equipped with wireless communications and networking capability. Such devices can communicate with another node that is immediately within their radio range or one that is outside their radio range.

An ad hoc wireless network is self-organizing and adaptive. This means that a formed network can be de-formed on-the-fly without need for any system administration. The term “ad-hoc” tends to imply “can take different forms” and “can be mobile, standalone, or networked”.

As mobile devices can exist in many forms. There are great differences among these devices which can affect communication performance and design of communication protocols.

The ability of an ad hoc mobile device to act as a server or service provider will depend on its computation, memory, and storage and battery life capacity.

The presence of heterogeneity implies that some devices are more powerful than others, and some can be servers while others can only be clients.