Neighbor Selection Algorithm for Ad Hoc Networks with Highly Dynamic Urban Mobility

In this paper, we present an algorithm called friend management algorithm (FMA in short) for each node to select stable neighbors in urban ad hoc networks, only by their beaconing messages. On designing the algorithm, we fully exploit simple knowledge about urban mobility characteristics. Our major design goal is simplicity in which we do not rely on any specific technologies except beaconing among neighbors. This kind of neighbor selection has mainly been considered in routing protocols which determine the link metrics by the residence time of neighbors within the wireless range. Meanwhile, FMA is aimed at filtering unreliable nodes considering the characteristics of urban mobility. We have shown that these friends could sustain friendship for a long time, which leads to better quality of services like information sharing among neighbors via ad hoc links. Also we have demonstrated how this FMA contributes to improve the stability of networks by applying FMA to the OLSR multi-point relay (MPR) generation.