Opportunistic Neighbour Prediction Using an Artificial Neural Network

Device mobility is an issue that affects both MANETs and opportunistic networks. While the former employs conventional routing techniques with some element of mobility management, opportunistic networking protocols often use mobility as a means of delivering messages in intermittently connected networks. If nodes are able to determine the future locations of other nodes with reasonable accuracy then they could plan ahead and take into account and even benefit from such mobility. Location prediction in combination with geographic routing has been explored in previous literature. Most of these location prediction schemes have made simplistic assumptions about mobility. However more advanced location prediction schemes using machine learning techniques have been used for wireless infrastructure networks. These approaches rely on the use of infrastructure and are therefore unsuitable for use in opportunistic networks or MANETs. To solve the problem of accurately predicting future location in non-infrastructure networks, the authors have investigated the prediction of continuous numerical coordinates using artificial neural networks. Simulation using three different mobility models representing human mobility has shown an average prediction error of less than 1m in normal circumstances.