Quasi-tree mobility management for internet connectivity of mobile ad hoc networks

The location of mobile nodes must be managed to enable Internet connectivity of mobile ad hoc networks. Node mobility can be managed efficiently using a tree topology in which a mobile node registers with an Internet gateway along a tree path without using flooding. However, a node that loses connectivity to its parent has to find and connect to a new parent through a join-handshaking process. This tends to increase control overhead and impose some delay on on-going communication. Furthermore, the node may join its descendant because of the synchronization delay in updating topology change, creating a loop that significantly increases control overhead. We improve these problems by maintaining a quasi-tree topology in which a node maintains multiple parents. We also present a technique for detection and resolution of loops. The simulation results show that the quasi-tree mobility management approach far outperforms the traditional approaches and is highly robust against the significant increases in tree size and node mobility.