Application of Ant Colony optimization for MANETS

Abstract

All networks tend to become more and more complicated. They can be wired, with lots of routers, or wireless, with lots of mobile nodes… The problem remains the same: in order to get the best from the network, there is a need to find the shortest path. The more complicated the network is, the more difficult it is to manage the routes and indicate which one is the best. The Nature gives us a solution to find the shortest path. The ants, in their necessity to find food and brings it back to the nest, manage not only to explore a vast area, but also to indicate to their peers the location of the food while bringing it back to the nest. Thus, they know where their nest is, and also their destination, without having a global view of the ground. Most of the time, they will find the shortest path and adapt to ground changes, hence proving their great efficiency toward this difficult task. The purpose of this project is to provide a clear understanding of the Ants-based algorithm, by giving a formal and comprehensive systematization of the subject. The simulation developed in Java will be a support of a deeper analysis of the factors of the algorithm, its potentialities and its limitations.