Cesar Santivanez

Mechanisms toward a Multi-mode Routing Protocol for Mobile Ad hoc Networks"

Date: November 5, 2000

ABSTRACT

Traditional routing protocols for MANET networks are usually designed with a particular environment in mind and fail to adapt to the wide range of environments present in a MANET network. Because of the wide diversity of the conditions that may be encountered in a MANET network it seems that it would be difficult to effectively route informationn by engaging a single type o protocol that would fail to adapt to the wide range of environments present in such a network. Instead, a multi-mode protocol should be developed that applies the appropriate ``mode'' or protocol that is determined to be effective at a given point in time and for the appropriate subset of the network." This research introduces two novel algorithms, namely Limited Link State (LLS) and Self-Organizing (SO), that are expected to adapt to any MANET network condition --from small networks with nodes with low mobility to large networks with highly mobile nodes to an heterogeneous network with different classes of users -- in order to make the most efficient routing decisions. These algorithms may employ new metrics that capture the mobility and traffic pattern of (subsets of) the network. Once the instantaneous structure of the network is determined, a multi-mode routing protocol may select its `mode' of operation (although the proper specification and simulation of such a protocol is out of the scope of the present work).

Dissertation Committee:
David Brady
Elias Manolakos (Advisor)
Ioannis Stavrakakis