10-08-2012, 02:50 PM
A Distributed Weighted Cluster Based Routing Protocol for MANETs
INTRODUCTION
Mobile ad-hoc networks (MANETs) are a form of wireless networks which do not require a base station for providing network connectivity. Mobile ad-hoc networks have many characteristics which distinguish them from other wireless networks which make routing in such networks a challenging task. Cluster based routing is one of the routing schemes for MANETs in which various clusters of mobile nodes are formed with each cluster having its own cluster head which is responsible for routing among clusters. In this paper we have proposed and implemented a distributed weighted clustering algorithm for MANETs. This approach is based on combined weight metric that takes into account several system parameters like the node degree, transmission range, energy and mobility of the nodes. We have evaluated the performance of proposed scheme through simulation in various network situations. Simulation results show that proposed scheme outperforms the original distributed weighted clustering algorithm (DWCA).
Advantages:
• It reduces the cluster head formation and control messages overhead thus improving overall performance and reducing energy utilization.
• Since energy utilization is the most important criteria in cluster based routing schemes, our protocol provides better results than existing distributed clustering algorithm.
Disadvantages:
• This algorithm, the cluster head selection is limited to single hop neighbors.