Multipath Source Routing Algorithm Based On The Stable Clusters

A mobile ad hoc network (MANET) is a self-organizing and self-configuring multi-hop wireless network, where the network structure changes dynamically due to member mobility. Each node has the function of a host and a router. With the rapid development of Ad hoc wireless network continuously, the researchers attach more and more importance to the topology structure and the performance evaluation of its routing protocol and have already analyzed and studied those protocols to a great extent. Those protocols are divided into Table driven routing protocol and On-demand driven routing protocol generally. To enhance the wireless network expansibility, large-scale Ad hoc wireless network often use the hierarchical(or clustering)structure. The Ad hoc wireless network is divided into some clusters, which consist of the Cluster Head and Ordinary Node. Compared with the network scale of planar structure, one of hierarchical structure is not limited to a large extent and has smaller routing and control overhead. It realizes mobile management and local synchronization of network more easily.To combine the advantages of hierarchical structure with those of Ad hoc routing protocol, a stable cluster based multipath source routing(CBMSR) algorithm is brought forward in order to improve and enhance the general performances of wireless network. The CBMSR is based on a 2-level hierarchical scheme: the first level consist of cluster head and gateway, we call it main network. The second level is the cluster member. The main idea of the proposition is to transfer the route discovery procedure to the main network to prevent the network flooding due to the DSR route discovery. Thus, route discovery does not require flooding mechanism and the overhead is minimized, thus improving the network scalability. Furthermore, the CBMSR proposes a weighted multipath routing algorithm which concerns the busy degree and the length of path. By implementing the algorithm in the NS2 environment, the results show that the CMDSR can balance the load of the network and prolong the network life time, thus improving the reliability and robustness of the network efficiently.