M-LionWhale: multi-objective optimisation model for secure routing in mobile ad-hoc network

Mobile ad-hoc network (MANET) is an emerging technology that comes under the category of wireless network. Even though the network assumes that all its mobile nodes are trusted, it is impossible in the real world as few nodes may be malicious. Therefore, it is essential to put forward a mechanism that can provide security by selecting an optimal route for data forwarding. In this study, a goal programming model is designed using a hybrid optimisation algorithm, called M-LionWhale, for secure routing. M-LionWhale is an optimisation algorithm that incorporates lion algorithm (LA) into whale optimisation algorithm (WOA) for the optimal selection of the path in MANET. The multi-objective optimisation model considers several quality of service (QoS) parameters, namely energy, distance, link lifetime, delay, and trust. With the estimated multi-objective parameters, a fitness function is developed for the best selection of routes. The performance of the proposed algorithm is evaluated using three metrics, such as packet delivery ratio (PDR), throughput, and energy and is compared with that of existing trust-based QoS routing model, LA, and WOA. The proposed M-LionWhale algorithm could attain the maximum performance with 24.1313% residual energy, throughput of 0.2966kbps, and PDR of 0.3051 at maximum simulation time.