Trigger-based distributed QoS routing in mobile ad hoc networks

Abstract

Performance of existing routing protocols in mobile ad hoc networks for real-time applications is limited by high control traffic and database maintenance overhead. We observe that by proper coupling of nodal mobility and location information, real-time applications can be served with limited control traffic and database requirements. In this paper, we investigate a trigger-based (on-demand) distributed routing protocol, called TDR, for supporting real-time applications in mobile ad hoc networks. For increased resource efficiency, the nodal database size is reduced by maintaining only the local neighborhood information. Only one route per session is maintained and the reroute routine is invoked before any active link fails. In addition, by making efficient use of the location information, the control overhead for rerouting is further reduced. Our evaluation shows that the TDR protocol provides better QoS and requires lower control overhead compared to the other existing real-time QoS aware ad hoc routing protocols.