A power-saving routing algorithm based on ant algorithm in mobile ad hoc networks

In this paper, a method of an improved ant algorithm called PSAA (Power-Saving Ant Algorithm) is proposed for ad hoc networks to prolong the life-time of ad hoc networks as long as possible. The battery remainder power and its variance of nodes in ad hoc networks are taken into account in PSAA. Variance of battery remainder power of nodes shows the equilibrium of every nodes power consumption partially. Leading in the mutation strategy that has a random small probability, PSAA can avoid getting into local optimal solutions. So the selected routing is more reasonable. Furthermore, PSAA sets hop constraint to provide QoS guarantee. Simulation shows PSAA is more efficient and robust than other power saving algorithms, especially when topology of networks changes rapidly. PSAA also has a longer life-time.