A reliable multipath routing protocol based on link quality and stability for MANETs in urban areas

Abstract

A mobile ad hoc network (MANET) is a set of mobile and self-organizing nodes that cooperate to create dynamic network architecture to establish communications. Its characteristics present critical challenges: limited residual energy of nodes and transmission range, wireless links sensitivity to environmental effects, and the mobility aspect, which leads to frequent link failure and rapid changes in the network topology. In this paper, we propose a new multipath routing protocol RMQS-ua (Reliable Multipath Routing Protocol based on Link Quality and Stability in Urban Areas). Our objective is to select the path that has better link quality and more stable links to guarantee reliable data transmission. We consider a combination of signal to noise ratio SNR and an enhanced packet reception ratio PRR to evaluate link quality, and the exponential moving average (EMA) to estimate the link stability. RMQS-ua is designed for an urban area that includes shadowing effect and background noise which deteriorates the link quality. Simulation results show that RMQS-ua improves network performance, and provides more reliability compared to some recent existing protocols.