Quality-of-service-Aware cluster-based service discovery approach for mobile ad hoc networks

Abstract

This paper presents a quality-of-service (QoS) distributed service discovery approach for mobile ad hoc network environments. The approach builds upon a clustered topology, where the clusterhead (CH) is assigned additional roles having to do with maintaining a directory of services in the network and aggregating and computing QoS scores about service providers (SPs) from requesting nodes (RNs) and the providers themselves. To reduce the amount of overhead traffic, the design makes extensive use of piggybacking for relaying and updating the CHs with QoS scores. A mobile device that is interested in a certain service submits a request to its CH, which uses cached QoS data to return a ranked list of SPs that offer the type of requested service. On the basis of its interaction with the SP, the device sends the CH next time it makes a request a score reflecting its perception of the SP's QoS. Over time, the CH develops robust QoS data that it uses to help devices obtain the best available service. Theoretical analysis and experimental evaluation based on simulations prove the advantages of the proposed system and the effectiveness of its operations. © John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.