Design of Self‐Healing Mesh Architecture: A Proof‐of‐Stake <scp>AODV</scp> Routing Protocol With Autonomous Adaptability

Abstract

ABSTRACT The emergence of wireless technology brought about enhanced communication across various devices, resulting in the demand for efficient and reliable wireless networks, like wireless mesh networks (WMNs) and mobile Ad‐hoc Networks (MANETs). MANETs are known for their decentralized nature, rapid deployment, infrastructure‐less operation, adaptability, and ease of use in several applications and outdoor events. Despite their flexibility, they often face challenges relating to security vulnerabilities, together with blackhole and grayhole attacks, and trade‐offs in terms of performance relating to reliability and integrity. This paper proposes an improved, innovative routing protocol for Ad‐hoc On‐Demand Distance Vector (AODV) by infusion of blockchain's proof of stake (PoS) consensus mechanism named PoSAODV, whose objective is to enhance security, energy‐efficiency, and adaptability while reducing packet loss rate, routing overheads, and increasing throughput. Smart contract‐based validator selection was utilized to ensure fairness and reduce blackhole and grayhole attacks. The result obtained through simulation demonstrates that PoSAODV outperforms the original AODV by reduced latency of 0.79 ms , average throughput of 45 Mbps , and packet delivery ratio of 80%–100% in both unsafe and safe environments. This makes PoSAODV suitable for resource‐constrained ad‐hoc networks with dynamic topologies.