DTN Based Dominating Set Routing Technique for Mobile Ad Hoc Networks

With the wide spread of user mobility and the existence of various types of wireless networks, effective inter-networking is mandatory in order to support user roaming while maintaining the connectivity. In our previous work [1], we propose a system architecture to achieve the connectivity over a heterogeneous wireless network, which employs the delay-tolerant network (DTN) concept to overcome the problem of potential intermittent connections caused by user roaming and ensures quality of service (QoS) in the presence of a long disconnection period. In this paper, we present a new routing technique for mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) based on the DTN system architecture. We introduce the concept of virtual network topology and redefine the dominating-set based routing for the challenged network environment under consideration. In addition, we propose a time based methodology to predict the probability of future contacts between node pairs to construct the virtual network topology. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed dominating-set based routing scheme under the DTN system architecture.