An energy aware algorithm for OLSR clustering

One of the important aspects of a mobile ad hoc network (MANET) is the limitation of the amount of available energy and the network lifetime. The tremendous amount of using mobile nodes in wireless communication medium makes energy efficiency a fundamental requirement for MANETs. In this paper, we propose a novel energy aware clustering algorithm for the optimized link state routing (OLSR) routing protocol. This algorithm takes into account the node density and mobility and gives major improvements regarding the number of elected cluster heads. Our objective is to elect a reasonable number of cluster heads that will serve for hierarchical routing based on OLSR. The proposed algorithm aims to increase the network lifetime by considering the ad hoc residual energy while taking routing decisions. It also optimizes the delay of carried flows by adopting a selective forwarding approach based on a hierarchical routing model. © 2013 Institut Mines-Télécom and Springer-Verlag France.