With the increase in the evolution of wireless communication, the ad-hoc networks are gaining attention and are significantly becoming the technology solutions to the various problems. Mobile ad-hoc Networks (MANETs) are envisaged to grow as a main component in the today 4G architecture, and ad hoc networks are projected to be a significant element of the whole future wireless communication. The MANETs are infrastructure less, self-forming and self-organizing network in which there is no control of any centralized entity. The nodes are free to move around the network with dynamic topology. But this self formation, flexibility and scalability create many challenges and design constraints like hidden  terminal, limited bandwidth, limited energy of a node, unpredictable change in the topology etc. Bandwidth and energy are the scarce resources of the network. In order to effectively manage the consumption of bandwidth and energy, an algorithm is proposed which is the extension of traditional Dynamic Source Routing (DSR) reactive routing protocol. The extended protocol applies the mobile agents to carry the data. The proposed work is intended to optimize the bandwidth and making the protocol energy efficient.

In today's world mobile agents and mobile adhoc networks are the two technologies that are contributing towards better connectivity and communicability. When the two technologies used jointly, the interest is increased. Due to the properties like selfconfiguration and infrastructure-less, the mobile ad-hoc networks provide various remarkable features. But the various challenges are also associated with mobile ad-hoc networks like dynamic topology, mobility, energy constraint etc. Mobile agent provides solution to these challenges. A mobile agent is a new way of computer interactions and provides better options for the developers to create applications based on connectivity. Mobile agents move around the ad-hoc networks in a different and better way than the other widespread client server architecture based applications. Due to their mobility and autonomy these agents can perform various functions in mobile ad-hoc networks like topology discovery, routing, key management, congestion control etc. The paper reviews the role of the mobile agents in the mobile ad-hoc networks, and emphasizes its application on the various layers of a layered architecture of mobile ad-hoc networks and concludes its merits as compared to other conventional approaches.Index Terms-Mobile ad-hoc networks, mobile agents, routing, key management, topology discovery.Role of Mobile Agents in the Layered Architecture of Mobile Ad-hoc Networks

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In the emerging world, in a resource constrained network like mobile ad hoc network, the mobile agent is becoming a favorable option for creating applications like service discovery, network discovery, automatic network reconfiguration etc. due to its astonishing features like autonomy and mobility. The joint venture of the two technologies mobile agent and mobile ad hoc network is contributing towards an ameliorate communication. There are diverse issues that are associated with mobile ad-hoc networks like the unexpected change in topology, mobility, power constraint, bandwidth limitation etc. A mobile agent is one of the solutions to conquer these challenges. A mobile agent interacts with the node in a better way and provides enhanced options for the developers to design applications based on the disconnected network. Although mobile agents take advantages over the general client-server applications, still, the mobile agents are at high-security risks due to its mobility and autonomy. The various security solutions are there to secure the mobile agents. But not all the security solutions precisely work in the mobile ad-hoc network because the network is unpredictable and subject to dynamic change in topology. The paper intends to review the vulnerabilities associated with mobile agents when applied in the mobile ad-hoc networks and studies the various approaches to overcome the risks associated with mobile agents.