A Taxonomy for Routing Protocols in Mobile Ad Hoc Networks

Abstract

A Mobile Ad hoc NETwork (manet) is a mobile, multi-hop wireless network which is capable of autonomous operation. It is characterized by energy-constrained nodes, bandwidth-constrained, variable-capacity wireless links and dynamic topology, leading to frequent and unpredictable connectivity changes. In the absence of a fixed infrastructure, manet nodes cooperate to provide routing services, relying on each other to forward packets to their destination. Routing protocols designed for the fixed network are not effective in the dynamic and resource-constrained manet environment; many alternative routing protocols have been suggested. This report provides an overview of a number of manet routing protocols. More importantly, it defines a taxonomy that is suitable for examining a wide variety of protocols in a structured way and exploring tradeoffs associated with various design choices. The emphasis is on practical design and implementation issues rather than complexity analysis