Predictive Divert Failure Route Protocol for Mobile Ad-Hoc Networks Based on Ad-Hoc on Demand Distance Vector

A main characteristic of Mobile Ad-hoc Network (MANET) is that its node can move randomly, and due to this, the main challenge to MANET has always been the problem of link failure. Ad-hoc On-Demand Distance Vector (AODV) protocol is one of the widely used protocols in MANET. AODV uses local repair mechanism to solve the link failure problem, but this mechanism is suitable only when the link failure occurs near the destination. The aim of this research is to present a new routing protocol based on AODV, namely the Predictive Divert Failure Route Protocol (PDFRP). The protocol has been implemented in Network Simulator 2 (ns-2) where the following functions are added: Find New Path and Divert Route mechanisms. PDFRP utilizes link prediction mechanism to measure the signal strength. If it is lower than the threshold value, the Find New Path mechanism will search a new path, and then the Divert Route mechanism diverts the current data through the new route. The combination of these techniques used by PDFRP showed superior performance to AODV. However, the new mechanism works only with the single path routing protocols. Another limitation is the false prediction when two nodes are moving closer which may cause unnecessary overhead to the network. Despite the limitations, the new routing protocol increases the packet delivery ratio and throughput. In addition, it also decreases the packet loss and delay. All these new mechanisms help to improve the network performance and overall ad-hoc network efficiency, as well as to maximize network resource utilization. The experiment results showed that the PDFRP protocol outperforms AODV in terms of routing overhead, packet loss, average delay, packet delivery and throughput.