A Link-cluster Route Discovery Protocol for Ad Hoc Networks

Abstract

In MANETS, node mobility induces structural changes for routing.
We propose a route discovery algorithm for MANET based on
the link-cluster architecture.
The algorithm selects the clusterheads and gateway nodes,
and then builds routing tables for nodes both inside and
outside the cluster.
The algorithm attempts to minimize the number of clusterheads
and gateway nodes to avoid storing redundant data.
For intra-cluster routing, the shortest
paths are maintained. For inter-cluster routing,
we implement routing on-demand (the shortest paths are maintained
only for the nodes that need to send packets).
The proposed algorithm adapts to arbitrary movement of
nodes, and joining and/or leaving of existent nodes.