Research Article Open Access

A Light-Weight Service Discovery Protocol for Ad Hoc Networks

Ranwa Al Mallah and Alejandro Quintero

Abstract

Problem statement: In mobile ad hoc networks devices do not rely on a fixed infrastructure and thus have to be self-organizing. This gives rise to various challenges to network applications. Existing service discovery protocols fall short of accommodating the complexities of the ad-hoc environment. However, the performance of distributed service discovery architectures that rely on a virtual backbone for locating and registering available services appeared very promising in terms of average delay but in terms of message overhead, are the most heavy-weight. In this research we propose a very light-weight, robust and reliable model for service discovery in wireless and mobile networks by taking into account the limited resources to which are subjected the mobile units. Approach: Three processes are involved in service discovery protocols using virtual dynamic backbone for mobile ad hoc networks: registration, discovery and consistency maintenance. More specifically, the model analytically and realistically differentiates stable from unstable nodes in the network in order to form a subset of nodes constituting a relatively stable virtual Backbone (BB). Results: Overall, results acquired were very satisfactory and meet the performance objectives of effectiveness especially in terms of network load. A notable reduction of almost 80% of message signaling was observed in the network. This criterion distinguishes our proposal and corroborate to its light-weight characteristic. On the other hand, results showed reasonable mean time delay to the requests initiated by the clients. Conclusion: Extensive simulation results obtained confirm the efficiency and the light-weight characteristic of our approach in significantly reducing the cost of message overhead in addition to having the best delay values when compared with strategies well-known in the literature.

Journal of Computer Science
Volume 5 No. 4, 2009, 330-337

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3844/jcssp.2009.330.337

Submitted On: 20 November 2008 Published On: 30 April 2009

How to Cite: Mallah, R. A. & Quintero, A. (2009). A Light-Weight Service Discovery Protocol for Ad Hoc Networks. Journal of Computer Science, 5(4), 330-337. https://doi.org/10.3844/jcssp.2009.330.337

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Keywords

  • Service discovery
  • ad-hoc networks
  • virtual backbone
  • stability