Optimal Broadcasting in Metropolitan MANETs Using Multiobjective Scatter Search

Mobile Ad-hoc Networks (MANETs) are composed of a set of communicating devices which are able to spontaneously interconnect without any pre-existing infrastructure. In such scenario, broadcasting becomes an operation of capital importance for the own existence and operation of the network. Optimizing a broadcasting strategy in MANETs is a multiobjective problem accounting for three goals: reaching as many stations as possible, minimizing the network utilization, and reducing the makespan. In this paper, we face this multiobjective problem with a state-of-the-art multiobjective scatter search algorithm called AbSS (Archive-based Scatter Search) that computes a Pareto front of solutions to empower a human designer with the ability of choosing the preferred configuration for the network. Results are compared against those obtained with the previous proposal used for solving the problem, a cellular multiobjective genetic algorithm (cMOGA). We conclude that AbSS outperforms cMOGA with respect to three different metrics.