Routing Protocols for Mobile Ad-Hoc Networks (MANETs): A Comparison

Abstract

Recently, Mobile Ad-hoc Networks (MANETs) are penetrating the infrastructure of communications more and more. This is attributed to its simplicity as no specific topology is needed. In this paper, a simulation-based approach was adopted to compare the performance of the MANETs using reactive and proactive routing protocols. The reactive routing protocol chosen for the comparison was the Ad hoc On-Demand Distance Vector (AODV); whereas the proactive routing protocols chosen for the comparison was the Destination-Sequenced Distance Vector (DSDV). The comparison was conducted using Linux environment (Linux 18.4). Network simulator (NS-3.32) and network scenario generator (NSG2.1) were engaged to implement the comparison. The performance of the reactive-based MANETs and proactive-based MANETs was compared based on the following network metrics: total sent packets, total received packet, total lost packet, Packet Delivery Ratio (PDR), and end-to-end delay. It is confirmed based on the results obtained that using reactive routing protocols leads to a better MANETs performance as they show a higher value of received packets, a smaller value of lost packets, and a higher value of packet delivery ration; however, using reactive routing protocols leads to increase the end-to-end delay.