Harris Hawk Optimization Algorithm‐based Effective Localization of Non‐Line‐of‐Sight Nodes for Reliable Data Dissemination in Vehicular Ad hoc Networks

Abstract

SummaryVehicular Ad hoc NETwork (VANET) is considered as the appropriate candidate for provisioning risk‐free environment that confirms secure cooperation and very minimal congestion among the vehicular nodes in the network. The establishment and maintenance of connectivity between vehicular nodes are determined to be influenced by the existence of Non‐Line‐of‐Sight (NLOS) nodes that introduce channel congestion and broadcasting storm into the network during emergency message delivery. Thus, NLOS nodes need to be localized with optimality for enhancing the emergency data delivery rate with minimized latency degree and energy consumption in the network. In this paper, Harris Hawk Optimization Algorithm (HHOA)‐based NLOS nodes Localization Scheme (NLOS‐LS) (HHOA‐NLOS‐LS) is proposed for facilitating reliable data dissemination among vehicular nodes under emergency situations. HHOA utilizes chasing styles and cooperative behavior of Harris hawks termed as surprise pounce for efficient localization based on reference nodes. In particular, the intelligent strategy of Harris hawks' behavior in attacking the prey in all directions is included for localizing the NLOS nodes from the reference nodes positioned in all directions of the network. It is capable of localizing the NLOS nodes based on adaptive localizing (chasing) styles attained through reference nodes dependingon the dynamic nature of NLOS nodes. The simulation results prove that the mean localization rate is improved by 23.21%, mean neighborhood awareness rate by 19.82%, mean emergency message delivery rate by 18.32% and mean channel utilization by 17.28% when compared to the baseline Weighted Inertia‐based Dynamic Virtual Bat Algorithm (WIDVBA)‐based NLOS‐LS (WIDVBA‐NLOS‐LS), Cooperative Volunteer Vehicular Nodes (CVVN)‐based NLOS‐LS (CVVN‐NLOS‐LS), Vote Selection Mechanisms and Probabilistic Data Association (VSMPDA)‐based NLOS‐LS (VSMPDA‐NLOS‐LS), and Weighted Distance Hyperbolic Prediction (WDHP)‐based NLOS‐LS (WDHP‐NLOS‐LS) for a varying number of vehicular nodes in the network.