A probability-based adaptive scheme for broadcasting in MANETs

The broadcast process is a vital mechanism in Mobile Ad Hoc Networks (MANETs), as it is the key element for maintaining network connectivity and stability by aiding management tools to distribute control packets and routing protocols to keep their routing tables up to date. Simple Flooding (SF) is the simplest broadcast scheme to use in MANETs. It is neither resource efficient nor reliable, especially in high populated and dense networks. The Probability-Based (PB) scheme is one of the schemes proposed to alleviate the SF effects, also known as Broadcast Storm Problem. The algorithm for PB dictates the use of a fixed and pre-determined probability threshold value regardless of network dynamics. In this paper, we propose an Adaptive Probability-Based (ProbA) scheme, which locally makes a decision upon the density volume of the network and adjusts the probability threshold accordingly. ProbA does not rely on exchanging of HELLO packets or using GPS systems. Our extensive simulation study shows that our proposed broadcast scheme considerably outperforms the PB scheme while achieving minimal volumes of energy consumption.