SIMULATION AND PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS OF DSDV, OLSR, DSR AND ZRP ROUTING PROTOCOLS IN MANETs

Mobile ad hoc network (MANET) is an autonomous system of mobile nodes connected by wireless links. Each node operates not only as an end system, but also as a router to forward packets. The nodes are free to move about and organize themselves into a network. These nodes change position frequently. The main classes of routing protocols are Proactive, Reactive and Hybrid. Ad hoc wireless networks are characterized by multihop wireless connectivity, infrastructure less environment and frequently changing topology. In this thesis the problem of routing is considered. In this thesis we investigated the effect of routing protocol on performance within MANETs. In this work attempt has been made to compare the performance of three types of MANETs:Proactive (DSDV, OLSR), Reactive (DSR), and Hybrid (ZRP) .As per our findings the differences in the protocol mechanics lead to significant performance differentials of these protocols. The performance differentials are analyzed using varying simulation time. These simulations are carried out using the ns-2 network simulator. The results presented in this work illustrate the importance in carefully evaluating and implementing routing protocols in an ad hoc environment.