Distributed Clusterhead Architecture for Mobile Ad Hoc Networks

Mobile Ad Hoc Network (MANET) consists of dynamic topology as nodes in the network are mobile, and connected via wireless links. The nodes are grouped in clusters for the purpose of routing. Nodes within the cluster communicate directly. However, nodes communicate outside the cluster through a centralized node that is called a clusterhead. An elected clusterhead is assigned for communication with all other clusters. The centralized clusterhead can become a bottleneck and possibly cause a lower throughput for the clustering system. We propose a mechanism in which communication outside the cluster is distributed through separate clusterheads. We prove that the overall averaged throughput for the clustering system increases considerably, about doubles for our distributed number of clusterheads. We also show that the increase in overall averaged throughput is reduced by the increase in the overall averaged error rate ratio resulting from the added clusterheads. Additionally, the routing reliability to outside the cluster is increased since routes to different clusters use distinct clusterheads.