LAROD-LoDiS-An Efficient Routing Algorithm for Intermittently Connected Mobile Ad Hoc Networks (IC-MANETs)

Mobile Ad Hoc Network (MANET) environments in which nodes are characterized by opportunistic connectivity are referred to as Intermittently Connected Mobile Ad Hoc Network (IC-MANETs). It is a form of Delay Tolerant Network (DTN). High Latency applications such as disaster scenario, military operations, wildlife tracking and etc., falls into this category. Routing is one of the major components significantly affecting the overall performance of IC-MANETs in terms of Resource Consumption, Delivery Rate and Latency. The Traditional routing protocols such as AODV, DSR and etc fail in the case of IC-MANET due to its sparse nature and no end to end connectivity between the nodes. Over the past few years a number of routing protocols have been proposed. This work proposes a geographical routing algorithm called location-aware routing for delay-tolerant networks (LAROD), enhanced with a location service, location dissemination service (LoDiS), which together are shown to suit an IC-MANET. LAROD uses a beaconless strategy combined with a position-based routing for forwarding the packets resulting in less overhead. LoDiS maintains a local database of node locations, which is updated using broadcast gossip combined with routing overhearing. LAROD-LoDiS is implemented and evaluated in Opportunistic Network Environment (ONE) simulator. Performance of LAROD-LoDiS is compared with SPRAY & WAIT exiting routing algorithm.