Weighted dominating set based routing for ad hoc communications in emergency and rescue scenarios.

Disasters create emergency situations and the services provided must be coordinated quickly via a communication network. Mobile adhoc networks (MANETs) are suited for ubiquitous communication during emergency rescue operations, since they do not rely on infrastructure. The route discovery process of on-demand routing protocols consumes too much bandwidth due to high routing overhead. Frequent route changes also results in frequent route computation process. Energy efficiency, quick response time, and scalability are equally important for routing in emergency MANETs. In this paper, we propose an energy efficient reactive protocol named Weighted-CDSR for routing in such situations. This protocol selects a subset of network nodes named Maximum Weighted Minimum Connected Dominating Set ( MWMCDS) based on weight, which consists of link stability, mobility and energy. The MWMCDS provides the overall network control and data forwarding support. In this protocol, for every two nodes u and v in the network there exists a path between u and v such that all intermediate nodes belong to MWMCDS. Incorporating route stability into routing reduces the frequency of route failures and sustains network operations over an extended period of time. With fewer nodes providing overall network control and data forwarding support, the proposed protocol creates less interference and consumes less energy. The simulation results show that the proposed protocol is superior to other protocols in terms of packet delivery ratio, control message overhead, transmission delay and energy consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]