Enhanced Routing System for Packet-Switched Network Using Ant Colony Optimization Algorithm

Abstract

Network communication is a process that involves the technique of routing for delivering the packet by choosing an optimal path from one network to another. One of the major challenges that require attention in network communication is the problem of finding the optimal routing path for packets movement. The problem usually arises in a packet-switched network as the size of the network increases, thereby making routing becomes more complex due to the number of nodes in the network. Thus there is need to develop a better routing algorithm to provide effective traffic routing system that can update their path by finding the optimal network nodes that will allow effective and fast access to the network within a real-time interval. This paper developed an improved routing system by application of a natured inspired metaheuristic algorithm to reduce the routing congestion problems. Experimental results showed that the shortest path (1-2-3-4) had the lowest average delay time of 2.03 s with packet size of 56mb, while the 64mb with the shortest path (1-2-4-5-3-6) gave the lowest path congestion ratio of 43.