Intelligent cluster routing scheme for flying ad hoc networks

Flying ad hoc networks are used for many critical tasks. The network formation for routing data becomes difficult because of the mobility of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). To solve the communication issue, we propose an intelligent cluster routing scheme for flying ad hoc networks (CRSF). Cluster head (CH) selection in our proposed methodology is based on fitness, which is determined by the position and UAVs’ residual energy. For the efficient management of UAV swarm, a cluster management mechanism is also proposed, inspired by moth flame optimization. In CRSF, for stable cluster maintenance, a CH re-selection mechanism is proposed in detail, which helps maintain the cluster for effective topology management. A routing mechanism for UAV communication is proposed for CRSF. The route selection for transmission of information is performed using the route identification function based on the Euclidean distance and residual energy. The performance of the proposed CRSF is evaluated and compared with the existing routing algorithms.