A power-aware routing scheme based on genetic algorithm for wireless ad hoc networks

Wireless ad hoc networks are power constrained since nodes operate with limited battery energy. Hence, One of the most important and challenging issues is power consumption. To maximize the lifetime of ad hoc mobile networks, a power-aware dynamic routing optimization scheme is proposed. Taking account of nodes' mobility feature and remaining battery power, the scheme attempts to reduce the total transmission power for each connection by prolonging the lifetime of each node and using the battery fairly, which are concluded in a routing problem model. The evolutionary strategy is introduced into search methods for global searching, and then a genetic algorithm is proposed. The algorithm not only avoids the difficulty of coding, but also possesses global optimizing capability. Interacting with the algorithm, the routing protocol discovers-a power-aware route according to local state information of network neighboring paths refresh and nodes remaining power. And it adopts a dynamic and distributed method to maintain the route. The scheme could balance the energy consumption of the network and prolong the lifetime of heavily loaded nodes. On the other hand, it could avoid rebuilding lots of source route to improve throughput, and thus prolong the lifetime of the network. Simulation results show that the proposed scheme has a higher performance than other power-aware routing protocols in terms of network lifetime.