Enhancement of passive cluster based routing protocol for mobile adhoc networks

On-demand routing protocols in mobile ad hoc networks use a process called flooding to seek the route to a destination computer. This process usually incurs a very large overhead. We examine a protocol called passive cluster-based routing protocol (PCBRP). This protocol when applied on top of any of the current routing protocols provides substantial advantages in the form of reduced overhead during flooding, minimal or no setup time and formation of more stable mobile device clusters. There are however several enhancements that can be applied to this protocol to make it more efficient and provide better connectivity among the mobile nodes. Some of the assumptions made in PCBRP regarding network traffic may not be general or realistic enough for real-world network applications. We simulate our modified protocol under a number of different conditions and attempt to optimize it so that it can perform better under varying conditions of network traffic patterns and node positions.