A QoS-based robust multipath routing protocol for mobile ad hoc networks

In mobile ad hoc networks, the unstable transport layer and inhibited amount of traffic being carried out by the network is owing to the high packet loss rates and frequent topological changes. It is essential that least available bandwidth and end-to-end latency along with congestion around a link are integrated in a QoS-based routing metric for MANETs. In this paper we develop a QoS-based, robust multipath routing (QRMR) protocol for mobile ad hoc networks to allot weights to individual links, depending on the metrics link quality, channel quality and end-to-end delay. The individual link weights are combined into a routing metric to validate the load balancing and interference between links using the same channel. Consequently, the traffic is balanced and the network capacity is improved as the weight value assists the routing protocol to evade routing traffic through congested area. Subsequently, the selection of the proportion of traffic to be routed to each neighbor is made to perform routing such that the weight of the node is a possible minimum. We illustrate the robustness of our protocol as it accomplishes increased packet delivery ratio with reduced latency, through simulation results.