Energy Efficient Routing in Mobile Adhoc Networks based on Enhanced AODV Protocol using ACO

A Mobile Ad hoc network (MANET) is a self configurable network which is connected with the help of wireless links. Routing of traffic, in an ad hoc network is one of the challenging task because of mobility of the nodes, limited bandwidth and power energy. Main source of power for nodes are batteries in Mobile Ad hoc Networks (MANETs). The mobile nodes consumes power mainly due to transmission of data traffic and receiving of data and mobility etc. If a mobile node fails because of failure of power, then this will not only affects the node itself but also its ability to forward packets on behalf of others and hence overall network lifetime. Because the mobile nodes are powered by batteries, so therefore to replace or recharge them might not be possible. In order to enjoy full advantage of node’s life time routing of the traffic should be done in such a way that power consumption is minimized. Most of the conventional routing protocols do not consider energy of nodes while selecting routes. If we use the same route for a longer duration then it will leads to partitioning of the network. Therefore, if we consider energy of the nodes while selecting a route efficiently, then it will leads to full utilization of the node’s energy and also helps in increasing the lifetime of the network. In this paper, enhancement of existing AODV protocol is proposed by using Ant Colony Optimization (ACO). To reduce energy consumption by nodes in mobile ad hoc network (MANET) and to make existing AODV protocol more energy efficient by better route discovery is the main purpose of this enhancement. Keywords— Mobile Adhoc Network(MANET), ants, ACO, AODV, multipath, optimization, energy, network simulator.