Enhanced AOMDV-based multipath routing approach for mobile ad-hoc network using ETX and ant colony optimization

Abstract

Mobile ad-hoc network (MANET) are self-organizing and flexible networks where communication takes place with no fixed infrastructure. The network has a dynamic nature because the devices constantly change position. Due to this, establishing reliable and scalable connections, particularly in routing and route discovery, is a challenging task here. This mobility and topological changes is taken into consideration by the ad-hoc on-demand multipath distance vector (AOMDV) protocol by creating numerous paths to a destination, hence improving network resilience. This research proposes to combine the ant colony optimisation (ACO) and expected transmission count (ETX) to optimise the performance of the AOMDV protocol. The ETX metric determines the number of retransmissions needed and determines the probability that a packet will be delivered successfully in order to determine the quality of the network. The ACO is a nature-inspired method that is used to enhance the efficiency of route discovery. By combining ETX and ACO with AOMDV, vital improvements in route discovery and computational efficiency are achieved. The proposed algorithm enhances network performance and energy efficiency in dynamic MANET environments by simulating it in a network simulator and assesses the results of route discovery time, throughput, end-to-end delay, packet delivery ratio, and energy usage.