Hybrid routing in lossy link mobile ad hoc networks

Routing protocols in mobile ad hoc network (MANET) are designed to provide data delivery in frequently changing network topology. Existing MANET routing protocols set up an end-to-end path between source and destination prior to data forwarding. Maintaining a connected path before data delivery may not work well when the network is partially disconnected or disrupted. This paper discusses Opportunistic Multi-link Delay Tolerant Routing (OMDTR) which is designed to provide data delivery in the network where fully connected network topology is not guaranteed. OMDTR learns the local network connectivity and deliver the data if there is connectivity within two-hop. OMDTR exploits the robustness of flooding-based routing when there is no local network connectivity. Performance measurements of OMDTR protocol show that OMDTR increases the data delivery compared to pure flooding-based routing and pure end-to-end routing in mobile multi-hop wireless network with relatively high and low network density.