A virtual multiple message ferry backbone routing scheme for mobile ad-hoc networks

A MANET (Mobile Ad-Hoc Network) consists of relocating wireless communication devices without infrastructure installed in its network environment. Due to the mobility of the devices, the network topology changes frequently and consequently results in poor network performance. When the density of nodes in a MANET is sparse, the performance becomes even worse due to the intermittent connected routing problem arising. To cope with this problem, this paper integrates mechanisms of Virtual Multiple Message Ferry Routing (VMMFR) and Virtual Multiple Message Ferry Dispatch Scheduling (VMMFDS) into the routing protocol design of MANETs and proposes a Virtual Multiple Message Ferry Backbone Routing (VMMFBR) scheme for MANETs. Several simulations have been conducted using the network simulator NS-2 to evaluate the performance of the proposed VMMFR mechanism. Due to the VMMFR mechanism providing a reliable and predictable backbone routing for MANETs communications. The results show that the proposed method has a higher packet delivery ratio, low bandwidth consumed, and that there is greater precision of packet delivery time, compared to the traditional MANETs routing protocols (AOMDV and DSR). In addition, some theoretical results for the proposed VMMFDS mechanism to minimize the transfer waiting time are also given in this paper.