Router handoff: An approach for preemptive route repair in mobile Ad Hoc networks

Abstract

Mobile Adhoc Networks (MANET) are distributed, mobile, wireless, multihop networks that operate without pre-existing communication infrastructure. Several routing protocols both reactive and proactive have been proposed to provide the self starting behavior needed for adhoc networks. Unreliable wireless links and node mobility may result in a large number of route breakages. The standard approach followed in reactive routing protocols in case of broken routes is to flag an error and re-initiate route discovery either at the source or at an intermediate node. Repairing these broken links increases routing overhead and the delay in delivering packets. In this paper, we propose an approach called Router Handoff which repairs routes preemptively, before they break, by using other nodes in the vicinity of a weak link. We have incorporated Router Handoff into the AODV routing protocol and have validated the idea through analysis and simulations. The results of the simulations indicate an increase in throughput under certain conditions. This improvement is a result of smaller overhead and delay. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2002.