Hybrid Routing Protocol Based on the k-hop Clustering Structure for MANETs

In this paper, we propose a hybrid routing protocol based on the k-hop clustering structure for MANETs. The source sends packets to the destination directly if it is in the source's neighbor table; otherwise the source reactively sends the route request packet (RREQ) to trigger the routing process. Instead of adopting the nodes that forwards the RREQ as the route between the source and destination, the route reply packet (RREP) is broadcasted via the nodes in the clusters that the RREQ has ever passed to find the route. The route constructed in this way can avoid the clusterheads always being in the transmission route and collapsing due to overloading. In comparison with the Cluster Based Routing Protocol (CBRP), the proposed protocol can distribute the communication workload from the clusterheads to member nodes. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed protocol has better packet delivery ratio and end-to-end delay time than that of CBRP.