Mobile agents for clustering and routing in mobile ad hoc networks

A mobile ad hoc network (MANET) is a dynamic wireless network that can be formed without the need for any pre-existing infrastructure in which each node can act as a router. One of the main challenges in ad hoc networks 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 method for clustering and routing in mobile ad hoc networks. All mobile nodes use two agents to perform routing and clustering operations. Using this method, reactive, proactive or hybrid routing schemes can be employed for intra-cluster and inter-cluster routing to improve the performance of routing.