Routing Mechanisms for Mobile Ad Hoc Networks Based on the Energy Drain Rate

Untethered nodes in mobile ad-hoc networks strongly depend on the efficient use of their batteries. In this paper, the authors propose a new metric, the drain rate, to forecast the lifetime of nodes according to current traffic conditions. This metric is combined with the value of the remaining battery capacity to determine which nodes can be part of an active route. They describe new route selection mechanisms for MANET routing protocols, which they call the Minimum Drain Rate (MDR) and the Conditional Minimum Drain Rate (CMDR). MDR extends nodal battery life and the duration of paths, while CMDR also minimizes the total transmission power consumed per packet.