Swarm Intelligence Based Routing Algorithm for Mobile Ad Hoc Networks

Mobile ad hoc networks consist of mobile nodes that autonomously establish connectivity via multihop wireless communications without relying on any existing, pre-configured network infrastructure or centralized control. In addition to the traditional problems of wireless communications and wireless networking, the multi hop nature, lack of an infrastructure and dynamically changing topologies add a number of characteristics, complexities, and design constraints that are specific to ad hoc networking. Swarm intelligence (SI), as demonstrated by natural biological swarms, has numerous powerful properties desirable in the design of many engineering systems, particularly in optimization and routing. A new class of algorithms, inspired by swarm intelligence, is currently being developed that can potentially solve problems in modern communication networks. In this paper, we propose an ant based routing protocol for mobile ad hoc networks that compensate for the mobility of the nodes. Mapping the pheromone laying and following behavior of biological ants, our algorithm allows each node in the network to choose the next node for information packets to be forwarded on the basis of mobility influenced pheromone table. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is demonstrated through an extensive simulation study.