Comparative analysis of routing protocols in MANETS

Mobile networks have become one of the most popular forms of modern world communication. These are different from conventional networks because they lack a fixed infrastructure. Since the nodes are mobile, therefore routes have to be constantly updated. The data transmission on these constantly changing routes has to be maintained efficiently with respect to successful delivery of data packets between source and destination, and delay in this transaction. Along with these two, several other parameters have also to be taken care of. There are several protocols available for data transfer on mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs). No single algorithm could be termed best for all applications. Optimal results for any algorithm depend on the conditions in which it is used, and the parameters which are given high priority. In this paper, some popular routing protocols for MANETs including both proactive protocols such as DSDV, OLSR, FSR and reactive protocols such as AODV, DSR, TORA have been compared and found that on-demand protocols are more befitting than table driven protocols, especially with increased number of nodes and mobility. At low mobility, table driven protocols perform better than on-demand protocols.