Abstract
Mobile ad hoc network (MANET) is a dynamically reconfigurable wireless network with time-variable infrastructure. Given that nodes are highly mobile, MANET's topology often changes. These changes increase the difficulty in finding the routes that the packets use when they are routed. This study proposes an algorithm called genetic algorithm-based location-aided routing (GALAR) to enhance the MANET routing protocol efficiency. The GALAR algorithm maintains an adaptive update of the node location information by adding the transmitting node location information to the routing packet and selecting the transmitting node to carry the packets to their destination. The GALAR was constructed based on a genetic optimization scheme that considers all contributing factors in the delivery behavior using criterion function optimization. Simulation results showed that the GALAR algorithm can make the probability of packet delivery ratio more than 99% with less network overhead. Moreover, GALAR was compared to other algorithms in terms of different network evaluation measures. The GALAR algorithm significantly outperformed the other algorithms that were used in the study.