Service discovery for mobile Ad Hoc networks: a survey of issues and techniques

Abstract

This article surveys research in service advertising, discovery, and selection for mobile ad hoc networks and related issues. We include a categorization of service discovery architectures for MANETs and their modes of operation, presenting their merits and drawbacks. We pay particular attention to cross-layer service discovery - a special class of efficient service discovery approaches for MANETs. We also present security issues and discuss service description options, service selection mechanisms, and service-state maintenance techniques. We conclude with a summary, an outlook, and directions for future research in this area.