Issues in Scalable Clustered Network Architecture for Mobile Ad Hoc Networks
Sangman Moh, Chansu Yu, Ben Lee · 2004
As a large-scale, high-density multi-hop network becomes desirable in many applications, there exists a greater demand for scalable mobile ad hoc network (MANET) architecture. Due to the increased route length between two end nodes in a multi-hop MANET, the challenge is in the limited scalability despite the improved spatial diversity in a large network area. Common to most of existing approaches for a scalable MANET is the link cluster architecture (LCA), where mobile nodes are logically partitioned into groups, called clusters. Clustering algorithms select master nodes and maintain the cluster structure dynamically as nodes move. Routing protocols utilize the underlying cluster structure to maintain routing and location information in an efficient manner. This paper discusses the various issues in scalable clustered network architectures for MANETs. This includes a classification of link-clustered architectures, an overview of clustering algorithms focusing on master selection, and a survey of cluster-based routing protocols.