In mobile ad hoc networks, nodes are mobile and have limited energy resource that can quickly deplete due to the multi-hop routing activities, which may gradually lead to an un-operational network. In the past decades, the hunt for a reliable and energy-efficient MANET routing protocol has been extensively researched. In this thesis, a novel routing scheme for MANETs (so-called MAntNet) has been proposed, which is based on the AntNet approach. Precisely, the AntNet algorithm is modified in such a way that the routing decisions are facilitated based on the available nodes energy. Additionally, some energy-aware conditions are introduced in MAntNet and replicated in the conventional AODV routing protocol for MANETs. The resulting energy-aware M-AntNet (E-MAntNet) and energy-aware AODV(E-AODV) are analyzed using NS2 simulations. The results show that E-MAntNet performs significantly better than MAntNet and E-AODV both in terms of network residual energy and number of established connections in the network.
EAOR: Energy Aware Optimized Routing Protocol in Mobile Ad Hoc Networks