Deployment of a rational swarm routing algorithm in ad hoc networks of mobile hosts

Mobile ad hoc networks are characterized by many small processors that work together to perform complex tasks with no outside help. These systems are rapidly deployable and can be used to create wireless sensor networks. The challenge lies in developing a protocol that allows the processors to automatically set up multi-hop communication paths among themselves. If the nodes are mobile then the network topology changes when nodes move out of wireless range and nodes may have to reestablish broken paths. The rational swarm protocol developed at the University of Virginia attempts to discover several paths between a source and destination by tracking the quality of each path to minimize the expensive need to perform route discovery when a path breaks. This thesis project deployed rational swarm onto a real system of small Sun SPOTs to serve as a proof of implementation. A graphical user interface allows a user to control and display the system to demonstrate its capabilities to a large audience.