Implementation and Performance Evaluation of an Adaptive Routing Algorithm in MANETs

A mobile ad hoc network (MANET) is a noncentralized, multihop, wireless network that lacks a common infrastructure. It therefore needs self-organization. MANETs are autonomous, adaptive and dynamic in nature. In this paper, we have implemented and tested the performance of the AntHocNet algorithm for routing in mobile ad hoc networks. AntHocNet is an adaptive hybrid algorithm, which combines reactive path setup with proactive path probing, maintenance and improvement. The algorithm is based on the nature-inspired ant colony optimization framework. Using an extensive set of simulation experiments in QualNet, we have compared AntHocNet with traditional AODV routing algorithm. We have observed that the bio-inspired algorithm has outperformed AODV on different evaluation criteria such as average end to end delay, throughput, average jitter, packet delivery ratio, queuing delay and control packet overhead.