The use of mobile agents for clustering in mobile ad hoc networks

A mobile ad hoc network is a dynamic mobile wireless network that can be formed without the need for any pre-existing wired or wireless infrastructure. One of the main challenges in an ad hoc network is the design of robust routing algorithms that adapt to the frequent and randomly changing network topology. Organizing mobile nodes into manageable clusters can reduce routing overhead and provide more scalable solutions. In this paper we propose a mobile agent-based clustering architecture for routing in mobile ad hoc networks. Using this clustering architecture, hybrid routing schemes can be employed for intra-cluster and inter-cluster routing to improve the performance of routing. All nodes use two mobile agents to perform routing and clustering operations. They collect routing and clustering information and periodically maintain the corresponding tables. We identify various parameters for improving network performance in the proposed clustering architecture. By using some optimal values for these clustering and routing parameters, more robust and scalable routing can be attained.