Performance Comparison of Reactive Routing Protocols for Hybrid Wireless Mesh Networks

Wireless mesh networks have recently gained a lot of popularity due to their rapid deployment and instant communication capabilities. These networks comprise of somewhat static multi-radio Mesh Routers, which essentially provide connectivity between the mobile single-radio mesh clients. Special routing protocols are employed, which facilitate routing between the mesh routers as well as between the mesh routers and the mobile clients. AODV is a well known routing protocol that can discover routes on-the-fly in a mobile environment. The protocol is highly scalable and can support thousands of nodes making it an ideal protocol for wireless mesh networks. However, as the protocol was actually developed for single-radio nodes, it frequently lacks the ability to exploit the potential offered by the mesh routers and, hence, sub-optimal routing takes place in a mesh environment. This paper gives an overview of four variants of the AODV routing protocol that can potentially be used for mesh formation. In order to determine their aptness for application to hybrid wireless mesh networks, this paper presents their characteristics and functionality, and then provides a comparison and discussion of their respective merits and drawbacks.