Dynamic Probabilistic Forwarding in Wireless Ad Hoc Networks Based on Game Theory

This paper proposes a Forwarding Game Routing Protocol (FGRP), which can be applied to any routing protocol in mobile ad hoc network (MANET) such as Ad Hoc On Demand Distance Vector (AODV) [1] and Dynamic Source Routing (DSR) [2] routing protocols. A node enters the forwarding game upon receiving a flooding packet. In this game, nodes select one of the following mixed strategies: (1) forwarding and (2) not-forwarding. The strategy changes based on player's utility, which is a function of its availability, selected strategy and forwarding probability of other nodes. Each node tries to maximize its utility by selecting the appropriate strategy. Parameters such as residual energy level, channel congestion, number of packets in the node's transmission queue, and the distance from the source of the flooding packet are included in the availability. Since the forwarding decision is made locally by every node, unlike clustering or hierarchical algorithms, there is no extra overhead involved. This paper presents the performance improvement results of FGRP integrated with AODV in network simulator NS-2. Simulation results show that integrating FGRP with AODV improves network performance metrics such as end-to-end delay per packet, and packet delivery ratio.