CLUSTERING AND PARTITIONING IN MANETS: IMPORTANCE AND RELEVANCE

Mobile Ad Hoc Networks (MANETs) consist of a g roup of wireless nodes that do not need any fixed or established infrastructure. Due to their ease of establishment they and low cost they have found wide and varied uses. However, to have an efficient network, the backbone routing protocol should be very efficient. Reactive as well as proactive routing prot ocols alone may not provide the requisite facilities for the MANETs to work efficiently. In this way, various clustering schemes are discussed in detail that can help improve efficiency and quality of service in MANETs.