QoS Multipath Routing Protocol Based on Cross Layer Design for Ad hoc Networks

Much research efforts have been devoted to develop protocols based on one criterion, majority of the routing protocols consider energy conservation or minimum bandwidth. But only one factor could not guarantee the requirements for quality of the service (Qos) in ad hoc networks. In this paper, a route protocol called Qos-AOMDV is proposed which considers two criteria. Both the balance of the route and power conservation is considered. Qos-AOMDV is based on cross-layer design, which could cooperate in sharing network-status information in different layers while maintaining the layers´ separation to optimize overall network performance. Both the information in network layer and data link layer are combined to make a general criterion, so that it could satisfy the dynamics of ad hoc network. In the path selection phase, the destination nodes do not reply route request (RREQ) immediately. Route reply (RREP) is carried out based on the general cost criterion. In transmission phase, data is transmitted in multiple paths one by one to balance the energy and the traffic loads in multiple paths. It is shown by simulation that QoS-AOMDV could achieve remarkable improvements in terms of end to end delay, throughput and lifetime as compared to AOMDV.