A Distributed Weighted Cluster Based Routing Protocol for MANETs

Mobile ad-hoc networks (MANETs) are a form of wireless networks which do not require a base station for providing network connectivity. Many MANETs’ characteristics that distinguish MANETs from other wireless networks also make routing a challenging task. Cluster based routing is a MANET routing schemes in which various clusters of mobile nodes are formed with each cluster having its own clusterhead which is responsible for routing among clusters. In this paper we propose and implement a distributed weighted clustering algorithm for MANETs. This approach is based on combined weight metric that takes into account several system parameters like the node degree, transmission range, energy and mobility of the nodes. We have evaluated the performance of the proposed scheme through simulation in various network situations. Simulation results show that improved distributed weighted clustering algorithm (DWCAIMP) outperforms the original distributed weighted clustering algorithm (DWCA).