Mobile Ad hoc Network

A Mobile Ad hoc wireless Network (MANET) is a network established for a special, often extemporaneous service customized to applications.
The ad hoc network is typically set up for a limited period of time, in an environment that may change from application to application.
As a difference from the Internet where the TCP/IP protocol suite supports a vast range of applications, in the MANET the protocols are tuned to a specific customer and application.
The customers move and the environment may change dynamically and unpredictably.
For the MANET to retain its efficiency, the ad hoc protocols at various layers may need to self-tune to adjust to environment, traffic and mission changes.
From these properties emerges the vision of the MANET as an extremely flexible, malleable and yet robust and formidable network architecture.

Mario Gerla et al. (Dealing with Node Mobility in Ad Hoc Wireless Network)