Implications of route oscillation in partial interference

Abstract

Conventional routing protocols in ad hoc networks can experience route oscillation and data loss when interference or jamming partially affects data delivery. This problem has a severe effect on network performance; however, this has not been studied in great detail. Partial interference leads to route oscillation, which results in repeated changes between unreliable and reliable paths. First, we analyze this problem to identify its cause and effects. Second, we discuss the implications of this problem in achieving intelligent jamming attack. Although research has been conducted on link-layer-based jamming attacks, network-layer jamming schemes have rarely been discussed. A significant impact can be made on data loss and network resource dissipation by utilizing this route oscillation problem occurring in partial interference.