Title: A dynamic route change mechanism for mobile ad hoc networks

Authors: C. Wu, K. Kumekawa, T. Kato

Addresses: Graduate School of Information Systems, University of Electro-Communications, 1-5-1, Chofugaoka, Chofu-shi, Tokyo 182-8585, Japan. ' Graduate School of Information Systems, University of Electro-Communications, 1-5-1, Chofugaoka, Chofu-shi, Tokyo 182-8585, Japan. ' Graduate School of Information Systems, University of Electro-Communications, 1-5-1, Chofugaoka, Chofu-shi, Tokyo 182-8585, Japan

Abstract: A mobile ad hoc network (MANET) is a self-configuring network of mobile devices connected by wireless links. Frequent topology changes and limited bandwidth make communication in MANETs particularly challenging. We present a MANET routing protocol that can efficiently handle network mobility by a way of preemptively switching to a better route before the current route fails. The protocol uses a distributed Q-learning algorithm to infer network status information and takes in to consideration link stability and bandwidth efficiency while selecting a route. We study the performance of this protocol through simulation and demonstrate its advantages over existing protocols.

Keywords: mobile ad hoc networks; MANETs; reinforcement learning; dynamic route change; mobile networks; routing protocols; network mobility; link stability; bandwidth efficiency; simulation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJCNDS.2011.040974

International Journal of Communication Networks and Distributed Systems, 2011 Vol.7 No.1/2, pp.4 - 17

Published online: 26 Feb 2015 *

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