Virtual node based adaptive routing in wireless ad hoc networks

It is a challenge to make the routes quickly adapt to the changed network topology when nodes fail in a wireless ad hoc network. In this paper, we propose an adaptive routing protocol, which groups the network nodes into virtual nodes according to their data transfer capabilities and creates virtual-node-based routes. The protocol can accommodate the routes to node failures by adaptively updating the virtual nodes and just-in-time using available nodes during data transmission. The simulations indicate that the proposed protocol can keep the routes failed-node-free when the available virtual node members cover the failed nodes scattering area.