A low overhead dynamic route repairing mechanism for mobile ad hoc networks

Ad hoc networks are wireless networks with no fixed infrastructure. Each mobile node in the network functions as a router that discovers and maintains routes for other nodes. These nodes may move arbitrarily, therefore network topology changes frequently and unpredictably. Many routing protocols have been designed for ad hoc networks. However, most of these kinds of protocols are not able to react fast enough to maintain routing. In this paper, we propose a new protocol that repairs the broken route by using information provided by nodes overhearing the main route communication. When links go down, our protocol intelligently replaces these failed links or nodes with backup ones that are adjacent to the main route. Theoretical analysis reveals that, in a given circumstance, our proposed protocol can find a backup route in more than 60% of time. Simulation results also demonstrate that our protocol achieves better (or as good) in terms of the packet delivery rate, control packet overhead and communication delay than the major ad hoc routing protocols under light and moderate traffic conditions. 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.