A Q-Learning-Based Topology-Aware Routing Protocol for Flying Ad Hoc Networks

Flying ad hoc networks (FANETs) have emanated over the last few years for numerous civil and military applications. Owing to underlying attributes, such as a dynamic topology, node mobility in 3-D space, and the limited energy of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), a routing protocol for FANETs is challenging to design. Exiting topology-based routing is unsuitable for highly dynamic FANETs. Location-based routing protocols can be preferred for FANETs owing to their scalability, but are based on one-hop neighbor information and do not contemplate the reachability of further appropriate nodes for forwarding. Owing to the rapid mobility of UAVs, the topology frequently changes; thus, some route entries in the routing table can become invalid and the next-hop nodes may be unavailable before a timeout. That is, the routing decision based on one-hop neighbors cannot assure a successful delivery. In this study, we propose a novel Q-learning-based topology-aware routing (QTAR) protocol for FANETs to provide reliable combinations between the source and destination. The proposed QTAR improves the routing decision by considering two-hop neighbor nodes, extending the local view of the network topology. With the Q-learning technique, QTAR adaptively adjusts the routing decision according to the network condition. Our simulation results reveal that QTAR outstrips the existing routing protocols in respect of various performance metrics under distinct scenarios.