Impact of Node Density on the QoS Parameters of Routing Protocols in Opportunistic Networks for Smart Spaces

The need and importance of Smart Spaces have been potentially realized by the researchers due to its applicability in the current lifestyle. Opportunistic network, a successor of mobile ad hoc networks and a budding technology of network, is a best-suited technology for implementing Smart Spaces due to its wide range of applications in real-life scenarios ranging from building smart cities to interplanetary communication. There are numerous routing protocols which are available in opportunistic network, each having their pros and cons; however, no research till the time of listing has been done which can quantitatively demonstrate the maximum performance of these protocols and standardize the comparison of opportunistic routing protocols which has been a major cause of ambiguous performance evaluation studies. The work here presents a categorical view of the opportunistic routing protocol family and thereby compares and contrasts the various simulators suited for their simulation. Thereafter, the most popular protocols (selecting at least one protocol from each category) are compared based on node density on as many as 8 standard performance metrics using ONE simulator to observe their scalability, realism, and comparability. The work concludes by presenting the merits and demerits of each of the protocols discussed as well as specifying the best routing protocol among all the available protocols for Smart Spaces with maximum output. It is believed that the results achieved by the implemented methodology will help future researchers to choose appropriate routing protocol to delve into their research under different scenarios