Disjointed Conflict Free Address Auto-Configuration for Mobile Ad Hoc Networks

MANETs are self-organizing networks formed on-the-fly by a group of wireless hosts in an environment without infrastructure. Host mobility and lack of central administration in MANETs require dynamic and distributed network operations. Many schemes have been proposed for address configuration and management within this type of network but these are not without their problems. This paper presents distributed algorithms for new host configuration and MANETs merging. The proposed conflict-free address auto-configuration scheme facilitates an effective and efficient solution. Simulation results demonstrate the applicability of the proposed approach in acquiring a new address, message usage for address assignation and MANETs merging. In addition, the simulation demonstrates that the proposed address reclamation mechanisms are simple, efficient and reliable.