A
wireless ad hoc network (WANET) is a decentralized type of
wireless network. The network is
ad hoc because it does not rely on a pre existing infrastructure, such as
routers in wired networks or
access points in managed (infrastructure) wireless networks. Instead, each
node participates in routing by forwarding data for other nodes, so the determination of which nodes forward data is made dynamically on the basis of network connectivity. In addition to the classic
routing, ad hoc networks can use
flooding for forwarding data.