Benkhelifa E., Zhukabayeva T., Kathiravelu P., Selvamani S.
From Mission-Critical to Smart Homes: A Decentralized SD-MANET Approach for Reliable IoT Communication // International Journal of Cloud Applications and Computing. — 2026. — Article ID 402703. — DOI: 10.4018/IJCAC.402703.

Abstract: Mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) are dynamic, infrastructure-less systems where nodes self-organize to communicate. They are essential for mission-critical domains such as military operations, disaster relief, and rescue missions, and increasingly support IoT applications in smart homes, smart environments, and Industry 4.0. Despite their flexibility, MANETs face challenges such as frequent topology changes, packet loss, and quality of service degradation. Software-defined networking (SDN) provides centralized visibility and control, but traditional SD-MANET architectures suffer from scalability limitations and single points of failure. This paper proposes a decentralized SD-MANET architecture that distributes control across clustered Ryu controllers coordinated via Apache ZooKeeper for leader election and Redis for synchronized state management. Simulation in Mininet-WiFi demonstrates improved throughput, scalability, and fault tolerance, along with reduced control overhead compared to centralized SD-MANETs. The results show that replacing a single controller with a distributed cluster enhances system resilience and makes the framework suitable for IoT-driven smart environments requiring high reliability and mobility support.

Link / DOI: https://doi.org/10.4018/IJCAC.402703