Active route-maintenance protocol for signal-based communication path in ad hoc networks

Ad hoc wireless networks consist of mobile hosts in a network without base stations, and are characterized by a highly dynamic network topology. The network topology changes frequently due to host migration, signal interference and power outages, making routing maintenance a challenging consideration in designing routing protocols. This study presents an active routemaintenance protocol to prevent the current route from disconnecting. Monitoring the signal strength and stability of individual hosts allows the active node, which causes the route to have a weak connection, to issue actively a route-reestablishment instruction for selecting one of its neighbors as a candidate of active node. An enhanced active route-maintenance protocol is also proposed to reduce the probability of route breakage and enhance the routeʹs efficiency. Performance simulation reveals that the proposed route maintenance protocol effectively reduces both the overhead and route maintenance, and alleviates route-breakage.