Component Based Routing: A New Methodology for Designing Routing Protocols for MANET

Large variation of performance due to various environment inputs is a major impediment of implementing existing routing protocols for MANET in the battlefield. Therefore, it is a major challenge to design a routing protocol that can adapt its behavior to environment alteration. In consideration of adaptability to the environment and flexibility in protocol construction, a novel component based routing protocol methodology is proposed in this paper. Distinguished from conventional investigation of routing protocols as individual entities, this paper will firstly generalize four fundamental components for MANET routing protocols. Then, a weak component diagnosis process is proposed to improve a weak component and enhance the overall performance. Finally, preliminary simulation results demonstrate the power of the component based methodology for improving overall performance and reducing performance variation. In conclusion, the evaluation and improvement at the component level is more insightful and effective than that at the protocol level.