Mobile ad hoc network

Introduction

Wireless network
There are two types of mobile wireless network 1. Infra structured network 2. Ad hoc network

Infra structure network

those networks with fixed and wired gateways. The bridges for these networks are known as base stations. A mobile unit within these networks connects to, and communicates with, the nearest base station that is within its communication radius. As the mobile travels out of range of one base station and into the range of another, a handoff" occurs from the old base station to the new, and the mobile is able to continue communication seamlessly throughout the network. Typical applications of this type of network include once wireless local area networks (WLANs).

Infrastructure less network

The second type of mobile wireless network is the infra structure less mobile network, commonly known as an ad-hoc network. Infrastructure less networks have no fixed routers; all nodes are capable of movement and can be connected dynamically in an arbitrary manner. Nodes of these networks function as routers which discover and maintain routes to other nodes in the network. Example applications of ad-hoc networks are emergency search-and-rescue operations, meetings or conventions in which persons wish to quickly share information, and data acquisition operations in inhospitable terrains.

Mobile ad hoc network

MANET is formed by mobile communicating nodes, interconnected by wireless communication links. It is selfconfiguring upon changes in topology occurring due to the random movement of communicating nodes. The main features of MANET are: a) routes between nodes may contain multiple hops; b) rapidly deployable due to selfconfiguring capability; c) dynamic changes in network topology. Among the challenges are: limited wireless transmission range, packet losses due to transmission errors and, operational requirements under energy constraints. Ongoing work in the above area focuses on the development of communication protocols with power awareness.

Application
The popular IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi) wireless protocol incorporates an ad-hoc networking system when no wireless access points are present, although it would be considered a very low grade ad-hoc protocol by specialists in the field. The IEEE 802.11 system only handles traffic within a local "cloud" of wireless devices. Each node transmits and receives data, but does not route anything between the network's systems. However, higher-level protocols can be used to aggregate various IEEE ad-hoc networks into MANETs

issues
Scientists say that MANETs and WSNs throw several challenges to those involved in their design. MANETs require complex routing strategy to provide highly reliable communication amongst the nodes. In the case of WSNs the challenge lies in routing under severely constrained energy availability.

Y it called a mesh network?

Ad-hoc networks form spontaneously without a need of an infrastructure or centralized controller. This type of peer-to-peer system infers that each node, or user, in the network can act as a data endpoint or intermediate repeater. Thus, all users work together to improve the reliability of network communications. These types of networks are also popularly known to as "mesh networks" because the topology of network communications resembles a mesh.

What is its advantage?

The redundant communication paths provided by ad hoc mesh networks drastically improve fault tolerance for the network. Additionally, the ability for data packets to "hop" from one user to another effectively extends the network coverage area and provides a solution to overcome non-line of sight (LOS) issues.

Mobile ad hoc network

Mobile applications present additional challenges for mesh networks as changes to the network topology are swift and widespread. Such scenarios require the use of Mobile Ad hoc Networking (MANET) technology to ensure communication routes are updated quickly and accurately. MANETs are self-forming, self-maintained, and self-healing, allowing for extreme network flexibility. While MANETs can be completely self contained, they can also be tied to an IP-based global or local network (e.g. Internet or private networks). These are referred to as Hybrid MANETs. ie.

Example
As you can see above we have three selfconfiguring mobile routers connected by wireless links creating MANET. However, as the routers approach the other two IP-based global or local networks, they form a network which connects them all through those other networks,

ROUTING PROTOCOLS:
A routing protocol is a protocol that specifies how routers communicate with each other, disseminating information that enables them to select routes between any two nodes on a computer network, the choice of the route being done by routing algorithms. Each router has a priori knowledge only of networks attached to it directly. A routing protocol shares this information first among immediate neighbors, and then throughout the network. This way, routers gain knowledge of the topology of the network. For a discussion of the concepts behind routing protocols

Y routing protocol?
To discover path for routing b/w to nodes to exchange data in proper time Route construction should be done with a minimum of overhead and bandwidth consumption

What is Ad hoc routing protocol?

An Ad-hoc routing protocol is a convention or standard that controls how nodes come to agree which way to route packets between computing devices in a MANET

How new node can be added in manet?

In ad-hoc networks, nodes do not have a priori knowledge of topology of network around them, they have to discover it. The basic idea is that a new node announces its presence and listens to broadcast announcements from its neighbors. The node learns about new near nodes and ways to reach them, and announces that it can also reach those nodes. As time goes on, each node knows about all other nodes and one or more ways how to reach them.

What algorithm consist?

Algorithm is a program, set of instructions, consist of Routing algorithms have to: Keep routing table reasonably small; Choose best route for given destination (this can be the fastest, most reliable, highest throughput, or cheapest route); Keep table up-to-date when nodes die, move or join; Require small amount of messages/time to converge.

Classification of ad hoc routing protocol

Table driven (pro active)

Need one or more consistent and up to date routing table at every node and respond to change in topology by propagating updates through out network. This type of protocols maintains fresh lists of destinations and their routes by periodically distributing routing tables throughout the network. .

Disadvantages and examples

The main disadvantages of such algorithms are: 1. Respective amount of data for maintenance. 2. Slow reaction on restructuring and failures Examples : Destination-Sequenced DistanceVector Routing (DSDV), Cluster head Gateway Switch Routing (CGSR), The Wireless Routing Protocol (WRP)

DSDV algorithm
Every mobile node in the network maintains a routing table in which all of the possible destinations within the network and the number of hops to each destination are recorded. Routing table updates are periodically transmitted throughout the network in order to maintain table consistency

Source-Initiated On-Demand Routing (reactive)

This type of routing creates routes only when desired by the source node. This type of protocols finds a route on demand by flooding the network with Route Request packets. The main disadvantages of such algorithms are: 1. High latency time in route finding. 2. Excessive flooding can lead to network clogging.

Ad-hoc On-Demand Distance Vector Routing (AODV)

The Ad-hoc On-Demand Distance Vector (AODV) routing protocol builds on the DSDV algorithm It minimize minimizes the number of required broadcasts by creating routes on an ondemand basis, As nodes that are not on a selected path do not maintain routing information or participate in routing table exchanges.

Cont
Let S want to communicate with D but it have no established path. To establish a path S will send a path discovery process by broadcasting a rout request packet (RREQ) to its neighbor nodes and in turn they will send to its neighbor and so on Each node have a sequence # and broadcast id. The broadcast ID is incremented for every RREQ the node initiates, and together with the node's IP address, uniquely identifies a RREQ.

Cont
AODV utilizes destination sequence numbers to ensure all routes are loop-free and contain the most recent route information. Once the RREQ reaches the destination or an intermediate node with a fresh enough route, the destination/intermediate node responds by uni casting a route reply (RREP) packet back to the neighbor from which it first received the RREQ. As the RREP is routed back along the reverse path, nodes along this path set up forward route entries in their route tables which point to the node from which the RREP came. These forward route entries indicate the active forward route.

AODV Operation
RREP
Broad cast id 5 Node seq # 1-7

RREQ

X X
S

Route establishments in AODV

Route maintenance in AODV

Dynamic Source Routing (DSR)

The Dynamic Source Routing (DSR) protocol is an on-demand routing protocol that is based on the concept of source routing. Use cache to enter when learn a new route Cache is updated continuously after new entry. The protocol consists of two major phases: route discovery and route maintenance.

Route establishments in DSR

Route maintenance in DSR

Performance comparison
The following three things are analyzed for performance based on observations. 1. Varying network load 2. Mobility 3. Network size

For network size

Simulation models: on op-net