On the optimal multi-zone configuration for the position-guided sliding-window routing (PSR) protocol for mobile ad-hoc networks

The position-guided sliding-window routing (PSR) protocol is a scalable single-tier routing protocol designed for operation in mobile ad hoc networking environments. Previous work has demonstrated that the PSR protocol possesses the scalability property and provides for very efficient routing thus being an extremely attractive solution for large scale ad hoc networks. PSR is based on is the superposition of link-state forwarding for local destinations and position-based forwarding for remote destinations, and the underlying principle behind its development is to reduce the network routing overhead by making the accuracy of the routing information in each node inversely proportional to its distance from any other node in the network. The use of multiple zones provides a method of implementing that principle in a discrete way. By selecting appropriately the number of zones and the corresponding radii of the zones our approach intends to control the routing overhead generation and propagation by making the overhead generation rate and propagation distance directly proportional to the amount of change in a node´s geographic position. This paper investigates the dependence of the optimum zone configuration (i.e. number of zones and corresponding radii) on network configuration and node behavior (i.e. mobility), in order to evaluate the protocol´s sensitivity to those parameters and provide guidelines for determining the optimal zone configuration for efficient operation of the PSR protocol