A Cell Biology Inspired Model for Managing Packet Broadcasts in Mobile Ad-hoc Networks

This Paper proposes a packet delivery mechanism for Mobile Ad hoc Networks (MANETs) in which the nodes are not required to keep global routing information and where there are no key nodes that act as infrastructure. The solution proposed in this Paper is based on blind-rebroadcasting with packet storm control through a mechanism inspired by the chalone mechanism found in biological cell divisions. The operation of the proposed protocol is mathematically modelled using cellular automata. The efficiency of the proposed protocol was compared with those of blind-rebroadcasting and sequence number controlled flooding using an OMNET simulation with respect to the total number of copies of the same data packet received in the network against the number of nodes in the network. The results show a significant improvement in the performance. The protocol efficiency was also analysed with respect to the spreading of the data packet against time using an analytical model based on an epidemic model. The results show comparable performance.