Fuzzy-controlled Power-aware Multicast Routing (FPMR) for Mobile Ad Hoc Networks

Ad hoc networks are highly dynamic networks where the nodes are battery-powered. Routing in such networks is an issue of upcoming concern due to the possibility of frequent link breakage as a result of node mobility and/or high rate of energy depletion of nodes. Also to fulfill certain quality parameters, presence of multiple node disjoint paths become essential. Such paths aid in the optimal traffic distribution and reliability in case of path breakages. In this paper we propose a fuzzy controlled power aware multicast routing (FPMR) protocol that takes into account estimated network evolution in terms of residual energy of nodes w.r.t. approximated energy required to complete the multicast operation, link stability, geographical positions of multicast receivers etc. Extensive simulation experiments have been conducted to compare the performance of FPMR with other state-of-the –art multicast protocols. The results w.r.t. a wide range of parameters show that FPMR attains significantly high packet delivery ratio at much lesser cost than its competitors, thereby improving the lifetime of nodes.