State-of-the-Art Clustering Schemes in Mobile Ad Hoc Networks: Objectives, Challenges, and Future Directions

Abstract

Mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) are self-organized networks without any fixed infrastructure. The topology changes are very frequent in MANETs due to nodes' mobility. The topology maintenance creates an extra overhead, as the mobility information of a single node is shared with all nodes in the network. To address the topology maintenance overhead problem in MANETs, the researchers proposed different cluster-based algorithms to reduce the size of a routing table. The clusters are formed to locally adjust the topology changes within the cluster. If a node wants to communicate with a node outside the cluster, it only communicates with its cluster head (CH). The CH communicates with other CHs to transmit data toward the destination. To efficiently utilize the clustering mechanism in MANETs, stable and balanced clusters are required. To form good quality and optimized clusters, some metrics, such as relative mobility (node speed and direction), node degree, residual energy, communication workload, and neighbor's behavior, are required. In this paper, we present a comprehensive survey of recent CAs in MANETs. We also present the objectives, goals, and contributions of recent research. Similarly, the findings, challenges, and future directions are stated. The validation of each proposed work is analyzed critically in terms of the mobility model, the simulation tool used during simulation, simulation metrics, and the performance metrics used in the validation process. INDEX TERMS MANETs, clustering algorithms, routing, cluster based MANET.

A Game Theory Based Clustering Protocol to Support Multicast Routing in Cognitive Radio Mobile Ad Hoc Networks

“…Clustering algorithms in CRAHNs can be classified into different categories [4], [5], [10] such as (1) Dominatingset-based clustering [11]- [13], (2) Combined-metricsbased clustering [14], [15], (3) Common-control-channelestablishment-based clustering [16], [17], (4) Stability-based clustering [8], [18], (5) Energy-efficient clustering [19], [20] and (6) Spectrum-sense-improvement-based clustering [21]- [23]. Particularly, (1) The idea of dominating-set-based clustering is to find a minimum dominating set of CRAHNs which is used as a minimum routing space to optimize system performance in terms of control overheads, packet delivery ratio, delay, etc.…”

“…Finally, a routing protocol was proposed with a channel assignment scheme based on node capacity to improve total throughput of control channels, end-to-end delay and packet delivery ratio. (5) In energy-efficient clustering, the aim is to reduce unnecessary energy consumption or balance energy consumption to prolong network lifetime by reducing transmission power, distance between members and cluster heads. In [19], the authors proposed a spectrum-aware cluster-based energy efficient multimedia routing (SCEEM) protocol for cognitive radio sensor network (CRSN) to overcome formidable limitations of energy and spectrum issues.…”

A Nested Genetic Algorithm for Mobile Ad-Hoc Network Optimization with Fuzzy Fitness

“…Another interesting finding in the literature is the clustering of MANETs as a mean to reduce the complexity of the routing table. M. Ahmad et al [18] provided a comprehensive survey about the different clustering algorithms that address this issue. It concluded that the effectiveness of the clustering algorithms depends on a set of specific parameters, which the nodes are remaining power, the relative mobility, the overhead data, the trust value, and the node reputation.…”

A new clustering technique based on replication for MANET routing protocols

“…The other nodes can serve as ordinary nodes inside the cluster or gateways between clusters according to the cluster formation technique. Many algorithms have been proposed for dealing with the clustering problem [5]. An example of this type is the cluster-based routing protocol (CBRP) [6].…”