Introduction to Mobile Ad Hoc

Networks (MANETS)

Prof. Ravindra P. Joshi

International Institute of Information Technology, Pune

Agenda
Introduction
Ad Hoc wireless networks
Challenges for Ad Hoc networks
Media Access and related issues
Routing protocols for Ad Hoc networks
Comparison of few routing protocols
Conclusion

International Institute of Information Technology, Pune

Introduction
Mobile Ad Hoc networks and Wireless sensor networks
are the two special categories of wireless networks that
are attracting attention of industry and academia for quite
some time.
Low cost, low power, low bandwidth, multi-functional
networks
Design and implementation issues
New algorithms for media access and routing are
being designed to optimize the performance

International Institute of Information Technology, Pune

Introduction
Many wireless networks of today need an infrastructure
network, which not only provides access to other
networks, but also include forwarding functions, medium
access control (MAC) etc.
In these infrastructure-based networks, communication
typically takes place only between the wireless nodes
and the access point but not directly between the
wireless nodes.
MANETS use multi-hop radio relaying and are
capable of operating without the support of any fixed
infrastructure.
International Institute of Information Technology, Pune

Infrastructure based and Ad Hoc networks

International Institute of Information Technology, Pune

Introduction to VANETs
Vehicular Ad Hoc networks (VANETs) are a form of
MANETs used for communication among vehicles and
between vehicles and roadside equipment.
Intelligent vehicular ad hoc network (InVANET) is a
kind of Intelligence in vehicle(s) which provide multiple
autonomic intelligent solutions to make automotive
vehicles to behave in intelligent manner during vehicleto-vehicle collisions, accidents etc.
InVANET uses WiFi IEEE 802.11 b/802.11g/802.11p
and WiMAX (IEEE 802.16) for providing easy,
accurate, effective communication between multiple
vehicles with dynamic mobility.
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Introduction to VANETs
Effective measures to track the automotive vehicles,
media download /upload, conference between vehicles
are also preferred.
InVANET can also be applied for artillery vehicles during
warfare, battlefield, and peace-time operations.
Mesh networking in mobile applications have been
demonstrated in multiple military scenarios.

Features of Ad Hoc networks

A mobile Ad hoc network (MANET) is a type of wireless
network that is self-configuring network of mobile nodes
connected by wireless links and forms an arbitrary
topology.
Nodes are free to move randomly and organize
themselves arbitrarily; thus, the network topology
may change unpredictably.
Such a network may operate in a standalone fashion,
or may be connected to the Internet.
Quick deployment, multi-hop topologies
Short lived networks
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Comparison with cellular networks

Cellular networks:
Cellular networks are classified as the infrastructure
dependent networks. The path set-up for a call
between two nodes is completed through the base
station in a centralized manner.
These networks offer single hop wireless links and
guaranteed bandwidth for real time (voice) traffic.
This simplifies routing and resource management,
since the routing decisions are made centrally
at the base station with more information about the
destination node.
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Cellular Networks

B
A

Path from C to E

E
D

Switching center
+
Gateway

10

Comparison with cellular networks

Ad Hoc wireless networks:

Ad hoc wireless networks utilize multi-hop radio
relaying and operate without support of any fixed
infrastructure. This makes the routing complex
compared to cellular networks.
Nodes must communicate to each other regarding
information about other nodes. A node can transmit
and receive data, as well as act as a router for
routing packets from other nodes.
They do not offer guaranteed bandwidth and hence
not suitable for real time (voice) applications.
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Ad Hoc wireless networks

B
A
C

Path from C to E

E
D

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Applications of Ad Hoc wireless networks

Military applications:
Communication between soldiers or tanks in a battlefield.
Reliable, efficient, secure communication is main concern
along with support for multicast routing.

Collaborative & Distributed Computing:

Communication and file transfer between people in a

conference (multicast transmission)

Devices could be laptops with add-on wireless interface
cards, PDAs, mobile devices with high processing power.

Emergency operations:
Search and rescue operations
Crowd control
Earthquake hit areas
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Wireless mesh networks

Wireless mesh networks are Ad Hoc networks that are
formed to provide an alternative communication
infrastructure for mobile/fixed users, without the spectrum
reuse constraints.
Mesh topology provides many alternative paths for a data
transfer session.
Quick reconfiguration of a path is possible, in case the
existing path fails or node failure occurs.
These networks provide most economical data transfer
capability coupled with the freedom of mobility.
Support high data rates, quick and low cost of deployment,
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high availability and low cost per bit.

Wireless mesh network deployments

Infrastructure can be built in the form of small radio
relaying devices fixed on top of the houses in a
residential zone.
Possible deployment includes small residential
building complexes (where a broadband Internet
connectivity is required)
Highways (where a communication facility for
moving automobiles is required)
Business zones (where an alternative communication
system to cellular networks is required)
University campus (where inexpensive campus wide
network coverage is required).
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Wireless mesh network (residential zone)

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Wireless mesh networks

Wireless mesh networks operate at the license free
ISM bands around 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz, depending on
the technology used for the physical and MAC layer
communication, data rates of 2 Mbps to 60 Mbps can
be supported.
Incremental or partial deployment can also be done
and hence the deployment time can be shortened.
When deployed on highways, truck driver can utilize
location discovery services, hence spotting his location
on an updated digital map is possible.
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Wireless mesh network (on a highway)

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Issues in Ad Hoc wireless networks

Medium access scheme

Routing
Multicasting
Transport layer protocol
Pricing scheme
Quality of Service (QoS) provisioning
Self-organization
Security
Energy management
Addressing and Service discovery
Scalability
Deployment considerations

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MAC layer issues

Medium access scheme:
Performance of any wireless network is related to the MAC
layer protocol and following are major considerations,

Distributed operation:
Polling may be required at regular intervals, but with minimum
overheads

Synchronization:
Time synchronization is required, but with optimum usage of
bandwidth and battery power.

Hidden node and exposed node problems:

MAC layer protocol should take care of these problems
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MAC layer and routing issues

Location dependent contention:
Load on the wireless channel varies with the number of nodes
present in a given geographical region. Good routing protocol
should avoid channel contention at high loads.

Resource constraints:
Constraints such as computing power, battery power, buffer
storage etc. also limit the capability of a routing protocol.

Minimum route acquisition delay:

This delay may vary as per size of the network and network load.
Quick route reconfiguration:
Loop-free routing:
Due to movement of nodes, transient loops may get formed
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Challenges in routing
Issues to be considered for while designing routing
protocols for Ad Hoc networks:
Mobility of nodes
Frequent path breaks
Disruption due to movement of nodes
Resource constraints
Bandwidth constraints
Less control overheads
Battery life and processing power
Error prone channel
Shared broadcast radio channel, interference, fading
Hidden & Exposed terminal problems

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Issues related to multicasting

The challenges for multicasting are,

Robustness:
Multicasting protocol should be able to recover and reconfigure
quickly from the potential mobility induced link breaks, thus making
it suitable for dynamic environments.

Efficiency:
Should have minimum number of transmissions to deliver a
packet to all group members.

Control overhead and Quality of Service:

Efficient group management:
Accepting the session members and maintaining the connectivity
between them until the session expires.

Scalability and Security:

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Other challenges
Self organization:
Ad Hoc networks should organize and maintain the network by
itself. The major activities in this are neighbor discovery,
transmitting beacons to detect the neighbor activities, topology
organization and re-organization.

Security:
For military networks, this is an important aspect. Lack of
central control and shared wireless medium makes them more
vulnerable to attacks. Main security threats are Denial of
Service, Resource consumption, Information disclosure and
Interference.

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Other challenges
Scalability:
Due to the constraints mentioned earlier, scalability will be
limited for Ad Hoc networks.

Deployment considerations:
Low cost of deployment
Incremental deployment
Short deployment time
Ability to Reconfigure
Area of coverage
Operational integration with other infrastructure
Choice of protocols

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Classification of MAC layer protocols

28

Classification of MAC protocols

Classification of MAC protocols:
MAC protocols can be classified into various categories
based on various criteria such as initiation approach, time
synchronization and reservation approaches.

Following are the there basic types of classification:

Contention based protocols
Contention based protocols with reservation
mechanisms
Contention based protocols with scheduling
mechanisms
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MAC protocols

Contention based
protocols

Contention based
protocols with
reservation
mechanisms

Sender
Initiated
protocols

Single
channel
protocols

DPS

Receiver
Initiated
protocols

Multi
channel
protocols

MACAW

BTMA

FAMA

DBTMA
ICSMA

Contention
based protocols
with scheduling
mechanisms

DWOP
DLPS
Synchronous
RI -BTMA protocols
MACA-BI
MARCH

Other MAC
protocols
Protocols
using
Directional
antennas
MMAC
MCSMA
PCM

Asynchronous
protocols

D -PRMA

MACA/PR

CATA

RTMAC

RBAR

HRMA
SRMA/PA
FPRP

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Contention based protocols

Contention based protocols:

They follow contention based channel access policy

Node does not make any resource reservation.
These protocols can not provide any QoS guarantee

They are further divided into,

Sender initiated protocols:
Single channel type:
Total bandwidth is available

Multi channel type:

Bandwidth is shared among channels
Enables several nodes to transmit data using
separate channel

Receiver initiated protocols

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Contention based protocols

Contention based protocols with reservation mechanisms
Bandwidth is reserved, hence they can support QoS

Synchronous protocols:
They require time synchronization among all nodes in the
network, so that reservations made by a node are known
to other nodes in the neighborhood.

Asynchronous protocols:
These protocols use relative time information for effecting
reservations.

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Contention based protocols

Contention based protocols with scheduling mechanisms
These protocols focus on packet scheduling at nodes and also
scheduling nodes for access to the channel.
Node scheduling is done in a manner so that all the nodes are
treated fairly and no node is starved of bandwidth.
Scheduling based schemes are also used for enforcing priorities
among flows whose packets are queued at nodes.
Some scheduling schemes also take into account remaining
battery power, while scheduling nodes for access to the channel.

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Classification of routing protocols

34

Classification of Routing Protocols

The classification is based on four categories:
1) Routing Information Update Mechanism:
Table driven (proactive):
Destination Sequenced Distance Vector (DSDV)
Wireless Routing Protocol (WRP)
Optimized Link State Routing (OLSR)
Source Tree Adaptive Routing (STAR) protocol
Cluster-head Gateway Switch Routing (CGSR)
Protocol

35

Classification of Routing Protocols

On-demand (reactive):
Dynamic Source Routing Protocol (DSR)

Ad Hoc On-demand Distance Vector (AODV)

Hybrid Routing Protocols:

Combine the advantages of above

E.g. Core Extraction Distributed Ad Hoc Routing

(CEDAR) Protocol

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Classification of Routing Protocols

2) Based on the Routing Topology:
Flat topology routing protocols

Dynamic Source Routing (DSR) protocol

Ad Hoc On-demand Distance Vector

Flow Oriented Routing Protocol (FORP)

Hierarchical topology routing protocols

Cluster-head Gateway Switch Routing (CGSR)

Protocol

Fisheye State Routing (FSR) Protocol

Hierarchical State Routing (HSR) Protocol

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Classification of Routing Protocols

3) Based on the utilization of specific resources:
Power aware routing
Protocols under this category aim at minimizing
consumption of battery power, either locally or globally.
Routing decisions are based on this objective.

E.g Power Aware Routing (PAR) protocol

Geographical Information assisted routing
Protocols under this category improve the routing
performance and reduce the control overheads by
efficiently using geographical information available.

E.g. Location Aided Routing (LAR) protocol

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Table driven (proactive) routing protocol

Destination Sequenced Distance Vector (DSDV)

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Table Driven Routing Protocols

Destination Sequenced Distance Vector Routing
(DSDV) Protocol
Each node maintains a table that contains the shortest
distance and the first node on the shortest path to every
other node in the network.
It incorporates table updates with increasing sequence
number tags to prevent routing loops.
Routes to all destinations are readily available at every node
at all the times. Tables are exchanged between the
neighbours at regular intervals to keep an up-to-date view
of the network topology.
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Network topology
Destination node
15
14

13
12

11
10

8
7
4

3
2

1
Source node

41

Destination Sequenced Distance Vector (DSDV)

Routing Protocol
Advantages:
Availability of routes to all destinations means less delay
in the route set up process.
Mechanism of incremental updates with sequence
number tags makes the existing wired network protocols
adaptable to Ad Hoc networks.

Disadvantages:
Updates due to broken links are propagated to the whole
network, hence more control overheads.
Even a small network with high mobility of nodes, or a
large network with low mobility can choke the network.
43

On-demand (reactive) routing protocols

Dynamic Source Routing Protocol (DSR)

Ad Hoc On-demand Distance Vector (AODV)

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Dynamic Source Routing (DSR) Protocol

Dynamic Source Routing (DSR) protocol is an ondemand protocol designed to restrict the bandwidth
consumed by periodic update packets in the tabledriven approach.
DSR does not require any periodic Hello packets
(beacons).
The route to the destination is established by flooding the
RouteRequest packets in the network. The destination
node (upon receiving the RouteRequest packet) responds
by sending a RouteReply packet back to the source,
which carries the route information through which the
packet has traversed.
45

Dynamic Source Routing (DSR) Protocol

When the RouteRequest is flooded through the network,
each node (upon receiving the RouteRequest packet),
rebroadcasts the packet to its neighbours if,

It has not forwarded already

If the node is not the destination node
If the packets Time to Live (TTL) field is not exceeded

Each RouteRequest carries a sequence number generated

by the source node and the path it has traversed.
A node (upon receiving a RouteRequest packet) checks
the sequence number on the packet before forwarding it.
The packet is forwarded only if it is not a duplicate
RouteRequest.
46

Dynamic Source Routing (DSR) Protocol

The sequence number on the packet is used to prevent
loop formations and to avoid multiple transmissions of
the same RouteRequest by an immediate node that
receives it through multiple paths.
Thus all nodes (except destination node) forward a
RouteRequest packet during the route construction phase
A destination node, after receiving the first RouteRequest
packet replies to the source node through the reverse
path the RouteRequest packet had traversed.
For example, source node-1 initiates the RouteRequest
packet to obtain the path to the destination node-15.
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Route Establishment in DSR

Destination ID
15

RouteRequest

14

13
RouteReply
12

11

Network link
10

8
7
4

3
2

Path-1: 1-2-3-7-9-13-15
Path-2: 1-5-4-12-15
Path-3: 1-6-10-11-14-15

1
Source ID

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Advantages of DSR protocol

Advantages:
No periodic updates required, saving of network bandwidth
Route is established only when it is required.
Control overhead is reduced since intermediate nodes
can use their cache information effectively

49

Disadvantages of DSR protocol

Disadvantages:
Route construction mechanism can not repair the
broken link locally.
Stale route cache information could result in
inconsistencies during route reconstruction phase.
Higher connection set-up delay.
Performance degrades due to mobility of nodes
Routing overhead is proportional to the path length.

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Ad Hoc On-demand Routing (AODV) Protocol

AODV is also on-demand routing protocol, hence the

route is established only when it is required by the
source for transmission of data packets.
DSR uses source routing in which a data packet carries
the complete path to be traversed, whereas in AODV
the source node and intermediate nodes store the nexthop information.
AODV uses destination sequence number (DestSeqNum)
to identify the most recent path to the destination. A node
updates its path information only if the DestSeqNum of the
current packet received is greater than the last
DestSeqNum stored at the node.
51

Ad Hoc On-demand Routing (AODV) Protocol

A RouteRequest packet contains,

Source Identifier (SrcID)

Destination Identifier (DestID)
Destination Sequence Number (DestSeqNum)
Broadcast Identifier (BcastID)
Time-to-live (TTL) field

DestSeqNum indicates the latest state of the route

accepted by the source.
When an intermediate node receives a RouteRequest,
it either forwards it or prepares a RouteReply if it has
valid route to the destination.
Validity of route is determined by comparing the
sequence number at the intermediate node with the 52
DestSeqNum in the RouteRequest packet.

Ad Hoc On-demand Routing (AODV) Protocol

When a node receives a RouteReply packet, information
about the previous node from which the packet was
received is also stored in order to forward the data
packet to this next node as the next hop towards the
destination.
Source node-1 initiates the path finding process by
originating a RouteRequest to be flooded in the network
for destination node-15.
Assume that the DestSeqNum is 3 and source sequence
no. is 1. When nodes 2, 5 and 6 receive the RouteRequest
packet, they check their routes to the destination.
In case the route is not available, they forward it to their
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neighbors (nodes 3, 4 and 10)

Route Establishment in AODV

Destination ID
15

RouteRequest

14

13
RouteReply
12

11

Network link

Cashed route 14-15

10

8
7
4

Path-1: 1-5-10-14-15
Path-2: 1-5-4-12-15

2
1
Source ID

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Ad Hoc On-demand Routing (AODV) Protocol

Advantages:
Since destination sequence number is used, the
connection set up delay is less.
Disadvantages:
Intermediate nodes can lead to inconsistent routes if
the source sequence number is very old and the
intermediate nodes have the higher (but not the latest
DestSeqNum), thereby having stale entries.
Multiple RouteReply packets in response to a single
RouteRequest packet can lead to heavy control
overheads.

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Comparison of characteristics of table driven

Vs on-demand routing protocols

56

Performance evaluation of routing protocols

In this paper, performance of two on-demand reactive

routing protocols, namely DSR and AODV is compared

with the table driven (proactive) DSDV protocol.

Simulation using Network Simulator (NS-2) is carried out

using a network of 50 nodes, which are 100m apart from
each other. Transmission range of each node is 250m
(default configuration used in NS-2).

57

DSDV throughput

DSDV has less throughput with higher mobility of nodes

due to high overheads in maintaining routing tables and
update mechanism of broadcast nature.
58

DSR and AODV throughput

59

DSR and AODV performance

On demand routing protocols such as DSR and AODV

perform better under higher mobility conditions.
DSR maintains caching and maintains multiple routes per
destination.
AODV uses routing tables and one route per destination
and destination sequence numbers.
AODV outperforms DSR with lower mobility.

60

Conclusion

On demand routing protocols such as DSR and AODV

perform better under higher mobility conditions as
compared to DSDV.
DSR maintains caching and maintains multiple routes per
destination.
AODV outperforms DSR with lower mobility conditions.
DSDV generates more routing load due to its inefficient
route update mechanism. Hence on-demand routing
protocols work more efficiently than table driven routing
protocols.

61

Text books/ references

Ad Hoc Wireless Networks Architectures & Protocols

(Pearson Education)
By C. Siva Ram Murthy and B. S. Manoj

Wireless Sensor Networks (Springer press)

By C. S. Raghavendra, Krishna M. Sivalingam, Toieb Znati

Ad Hoc Networks Technologies & Protocols

(Springer Press)
Edited by Prashant Mohapatra and Srikanth Krishmurthy

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