Route Fragility: A Novel Metric for Route Selection in Mobile Ad Hoc Networks

Overview

A key factor deciding the performance of a routing protocol in mobile ad hoc networks is the manner in which it adapts to route changes caused by mobility. Exploiting the intuition that a less dynamic route lasts longer, this paper proposes a new metric, the Route Fragility Coefficient (RFC), to compare routes. RFC estimates the rate at which a given route expands or contracts. Expansion refers to adjacent nodes moving apart, while contraction refers to their moving closer. RFC combines the individual link contraction or expansion behavior to present a unified picture of the route dynamics. The paper demonstrates that lower the value of RFC, more static (less fragile) the route.