Performance Analysis and Comparative Review of MANET routing protocols

Manet, or mobile ad hoc network refers to a set of wireless mobile nodes that dynamically establish a network topology without relying on pre-existing infrastructure or central management. MANET's are defined by their wireless communication, dynamic network architecture, distributed functioning and ease of implementation. Data transmission occurs from source node to the destination via multiple intermediate nodes following a multi hop approach. The nodes in MANET are self-configurable, constantly moving and travel at a variety of speeds thus making the network unpredictable. This research analyses the performance of various MANET routing protocols, such as AODV, DSDV, DSR, and OLSR, and also includes an evaluation of the comparison between these four protocols. The parameters that are used for the performance analysis and comparison of these protocols are average throughput, average delay, packet delivery ratio, and packet reception rate. We have used different numbers of nodes in our simulations to try and reproduce as many different real-world scenarios as possible. NS3(Network Simulator 3) was utilized to simulate the protocols. From our study it was observed that each protocol displayed distinct patterns in, packet delivery ratio (PDR),average throughput, packet reception rate and packet delay. Particularly, AODV and DSR in higher node densities in general have increased average throughput and initial receive rates, but they also pose scalability issues i.e both AODV and DSR display notable variations over time. DSDV keeps its PDR relatively constant, while OLSR performs well in congested networks. This research not only brings focus to desideratum of choosing the appropriate routing protocol in MANET’s, however it also provides a complete methodology for assessing how well the perform across various different operational situations. In particular the research concentrates on the significance of choosing the appropriate protocol.