Mobility assisted spectrum aware routing protocol for cognitive radio ad hoc networks

Abstract

We propose a mobility assisted spectrum aware routing (MASAR) protocol for cognitive radio ad hoc networks (CRAHNs), providing robustness to primary user activity and node mobility. This protocol allows nodes to collect spectrum information during a spectrum management interval followed by a transmission period. Cognitive users discover next hops based on the collected spectrum and mobility information. Using a beaconless mechanism, nodes obtain the mobility information and spectrum status of their neighbors. A geographical routing scheme is adopted to avoid performance degradation specially due to the mobility of the nodes and the activity of the primary users. Our scheme uses two approaches to find either short or stable routes. Since mobility metrics have a significant role in the selection of the next hop, both approaches use a reactive mobility update process assisted by mobility prediction to avoid location errors. MASAR protocol performance is investigated through simulations of different scenarios and compared with that of the most similar protocol, CAODV. The results indicate that MASAR can achieve significant reduction in control overhead as well as improved packet delivery in highly mobile networks.