Load Balanced Link Reversal Routing in Mobile Wireless Ad Hoc Networks

Link reversal routing (LRR) is a local, distributed, and low-overhead technique used to maintain loop free routes in mobile wireless ad hoc networks. We explore the problem of load balancing the packet traffic in the network when using the LRR created routes. We study a fundamental LRR algorithm and identify usual situations which cause the load to be unbalanced. We propose three modifications to the LRR algorithm such that the load is distributed in a more uniform manner. The modifications preserve all the desirable qualities of LRR algorithms such as loop free routes, local response to topology change, low overhead and are completely distributed in nature. We perform simulations in order to evaluate the performance of the proposed modifications for both single-path and multi-path scenarios. The simulation results show that the modifications enable LRR to provide a much improved load balancing and ensure higher network lifetime.