Performance comparison of two on-demand routing protocols for ad hoc networks

Abstract— Ad hoc networks are characterized by multi-hop wireless connectivity, frequently changing network topology and the need for ef- ficient dynamic routing protocols. We compare the performance of two prominent on-demand routing protocols for mobile ad hoc networks — Dynamic Source Routing (DSR) and Ad Hoc On-Demand Distance Vec- tor Routing (AODV). A detailed simulation model with MAC and physi- cal layer models is used to study inter-layer interactions and their perfor- mance implications. We demonstrate that even though DSR and AODV share a similar on-demand behavior, the differences in the protocol me- chanics can lead to significant performance,differentials. The perfor- mance differentials are analyzed using varying network load, mobility and network size. Based on the observations, we make recommendations about how the performance of either protocol can be improved. Keywords—Ad hoc networks, wireless networks, mobile networks, rout-