Link Availability Prediction in Ad Hoc Networks

Since mobility may cause radio links to break frequently, one pivotal issue for routing in mobile ad hoc networks is how to select a reliable path that can last longer. Several metrics have been proposed in previous literatures, including link persistence, link duration, link availability, link residual time, and their path equivalents. In this paper, we present a novel algorithm for predicting continuous link availability between two mobile ad hoc nodes. By a rough estimation of the distance between two nodes, our approach is able to accurately predict link availability over a short period of time. Simulation results are given to verify our approach. This study could serve as groundwork for further ad hoc network researches including analyzing and optimizing other network protocols.