Quality of service enhancement in MANETs with an efficient routing algorithm

Mobile Ad Hoc Networks (MANETs) are a self-configuring network of mobile nodes connected by wireless links where each mobile node works as a host as well as a router. With the growth and proliferation of these devices in every aspect of society, the need for such devices to communicate in a seamless manner is becoming increasingly essential. Applications supported by MANETs have stringent Quality of Service (QoS) requirements and to support these QoS parameters MANETs should have efficient routing protocols. Most of the reactive routing protocols like AODV provide a single route for packet delivery. However, when the single route fails, it results in a decline in a performance of various QoS parameters. Providing a single backup route also does not solve the problem completely as the backup route may also fail. Also, providing multiple backup routes may lead to multiple packets flooding the network. Hence, an efficient routing protocol is required which provides solution to this problem. This paper proposes AODV routing protocol with nth backup route (AODV nthBR) that provides source node with more than one back up routes in case of a link failure. The proposed scheme results in better throughput, lesser end to end delay and improved lifetime of devices.