ZLERP: Zone and Link Expiry based Routing Protocol for MANETs

Mobile Ad hoc Network (MANET) is a self organized network where network is set up on the fly. Some of the issues in MANETs are routing, security, power management, bandwidth management, mobility management, etc. Zone Routing Protocol (ZRP) provides a flexible solution for discovering and maintaining routes in MANETs. This paper addresses the problem of routing by considering link stability (link expiry time) and node mobility. Link instability and node mobility causes frequent topology changes that result in routing complexity. The proposed Zone and Link Expiry based Routing Protocol (ZLERP) for MANETs is an enhancement to existing ZRP that offers better routing services. An attempt is made to limit control overheads in the network by selecting the path with stable links between two nodes. Nodes measure link stability using the received signal strengths from neighboring nodes at periodic time intervals. The proposed routing protocol is simulated in several network scenarios to test its operation effectiveness. It is observed that modified ZRP performs better than existing ZRP.