SDMANET: Enhancing MANETs with Hybrid Protocols through SDN Integration

As applications grow, conventional MANETs have limitations in bandwidth optimisation, node mobility, and power control. These issues affect network structure, organisational mode, stability, and upper-layer application efficiency. This paper proposes integrating SDN (software-defined networking) and MANET to address these challenges in a novel network architecture. SDN offers a centralised view of the network, enabling better control and forwarding decisions. The proposed approach combines SDN nodes with OLSR/BATMAN routing for IP-based forwarding and OpenFlow protocol for SDN forwarding. This creates seamless interoperability between SDN and legacy nodes, enhancing flexibility and performance without replacing traditional routing methods. It is worth mentioning that SDMANET surpasses conventional routing protocols regarding TCP and UDP throughput, demonstrating promising average throughput and packet drop rate findings compared to earlier studies [1]–[3]. SDMANET is particularly beneficial for 5G and 6G networks because of its scalability, dynamic network management, and resource optimisation features. This marks a significant leap forward in next-generation mobile networks, laying the groundwork for innovative developments in SDN-based MANET structures.